I’m still in Southern California taking care of routine maintenance and  taxes. Spring has finally arrived with temps in the 70′s and 80′s. Have not seen any rain for several weeks.

Above pictures are of sculptures on Galleta Meadows Estate in Borrego Springs. Dennis Avery, of Avery Labels, has a winter home in Borrego Springs, California and owns a lot of land. He had artist Ricardo Breceda create  and place sculptures of creatures and people from Borrego Springs’ past all around the area. I tend to be drawn to the nearby Salton Sea when I’m in this area, because of the birds, but know I’ll be back to stay in Anza-Borrega State Park and Borrego Springs.

The herons are still adding twigs to the two nests at Rancho Jurupa Park. They have been through some strong winds and rain. Glad to see they are still there.

Below, panda mom, Bai Yun, takes a mini nap while laying on her back eating bamboo.

Have been at one of my frequent stopping points, Rancho Jurupa Park in Riverside, California for the past week. Had gone without hookups for more than a week, so really appreciated having electricity again. The weather fronts with rain keep coming through California on a regular basis. Today heavy rain and thunder have been present most of the day.

Two pairs of herons are reusing two nests from last year. Saw one heron bring one twig to the heron in a nest and the waiting heron spent some time arranging that one twig. A red-tailed hawk landed between the two nests one day. The herons in the nests flew away and one came back so it was facing the hawk and started hissing at it till the hawk flew away. Heron’s can hurt hawks with their beaks if they are facing them and are not taken by surprise.

Have seen both herons and egrets hunting gophers in the field by me. The gopher exterminator that was here in the fall must have left some.

Saw an adult and then a juvenile night heron resting in the same tree on two different mornings.

Northern flicker

Cormorants. Have read where some places are killing them because they eat fish meant for fishermen.

Say’s phoebe. Probably the same one I saw in the fall, at least it was hunting and perching in the same spot.

Mallard. Have also seen a small group of ruddy ducks.

Feel like I’m seeing old friends when I see the geese mascots that have been here as long as I’ve been coming here. Glad to see they have made it through another season of kids, dogs, and fishermen.

Have been at Rancho Jurupa Regional Park in Riverside for about a week. Have been surprised at the wide variety of birds I have been seeing. There are the regulars that I have seen in the past, as well as some new ones.

Do not recall seeing a kestral (above) before.

Have seen a number of black-crowned night herons, as I have in the past.

Blue herons and egrets are here as well. Saw a blue heron hunting for gophers this morning. The park has finally hired a gopher control professional who is putting some type of gas into the gopher tunnels.

It’s funny how a blue heron, a night heron, and a great egret will stand side by side next to the water, but will usually get territorial and chase away their own species.

Black phoebe (top) and a Say’s phoebe (lower).

Not sure what kind of woodpecker this is. Doesn’t look like any of the pictures in my bird book.

A lot of birds are here as part of a flock. These include Western kingbirds (top), Western bluebirds (middle), and Cedar Waxwings (botton). I have never seen cedar waxwings here before. Also have had first time sightings of Western meadowlarks, but haven’t gotten a good picture yet.

A few more photos from the San Diego Zoo. Above is a Turkmenistan Caracal, an endangered cat found in the Middle East and Africa. At the zoo it is located next to the polar bears. I was watching the polar bear cam the other day and saw the outline of the cat’s ears in the background. If you didn’t know better, you’d think it was an antelope or deer.

Below, Frank the one-year-old male gorilla, is watching an adult female gorilla eat a green pepper. Parts of it is in her right hand and her left foot. Frank had tried to get some of it, but she wanted it for herself.

I have been in the Riverside area for two weeks getting routine maintenance done on my truck, trailer, and myself. Spent one day at Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve in Huntington Beach while my trailer was being serviced and was really impressed. There was a twenty year court battle with a land developer to create this refuge along the coast where almost every square inch is developed. My hats off to the people who fought this battle.

Above: An adult breeding snowy egret wrangles a fish.

On walking along the trail at Bolsa Chica, an adult killdeer got my attention by running to the side of the trail and looking like she was nesting (top picture). When I started to move on, the killdeer ran back to the trail and seemed to try and get my attention. Then I saw two young killdeers exploring the side of the trail. The mother seemed to have been trying to divert my attention from them.

Greater scaups.

Yellowlegs (greater or lesser).

I spent most of my time at Rancho Jurupa Park in Riverside. There are two pairs of herons nesting in tall trees there. Also saw a lot of western bluebirds (below).

Stayed at Prado Regional Park a few days, where I saw the peacock below. There are around 25 of them that stay around the park office area.

From San Diego I returned to Rancho Jurupa Park in Riverside for a few days. It turned into a week because of the fierce winds that kicked up and perpetuated the Southern California fires.

Above, an adult night heron on top and a group of egrets and herons seen at Rancho Jurupa.

I finally made my way to Blythe. It was unseasonably hot there, so after two days, I decided to press on to New Mexico. I took the I-10 to Phoenix and then the I-17 to Flagstaff. Northern Arizona was at least 10 degrees cooler than Southern Arizona was my reasoning. I’ve never taken the I-17 before. It was a nice drive, but there is a pretty steep grade.

Below: A falcon seen at Cibola Wildlife Refuge in the Blythe area. There were a hundred or so sandhill cranes there.

On the I-40 in Arizona, I stopped at Homolovi Ruins State Park in Winslow, Arizona. Ended up staying two days because it was so nice. In the past, I’ve always hit severe winds coming through this area. It was calm and peaceful this time, with only a couple of other visitors in the park. It got down to freezing at night, but by mid-day, it warmed up.

My camp site is shown below. There are both pull-throughs and very wide back-ins.

I’m back at Rancho Jurupa Park in Riverside, California for a few days. Back to 90+ degree temps. Riverside has really done a good job in removing all their dead brush. It is really noticeable.

Above: Saw this young night heron this morning. Some adult night herons landed nearby high in the trees. Maybe relatives of this young one. It’s the first time I have seen night herons here.

Think this is a vireo. Don’t know which one.

It has been a while since I’ve posted pictures of herons and egrets.

The two pairs of mascots that I’ve spoken of before are still here. They have returned to their roots…water! It is the first time I have seen them in the water. It may be just because it’s been hot. Also, they are doing a lot of construction work here at the park and that may have pushed them back to the water. The two pairs of mascots, some cormorants, and some other birds rest together on the grass next to the water. The cranes most likely rest in some trees or some other safe spot.

Have been back at Rancho Jurupa Park in Riverside for the past two weeks. Wanted to get some things done. Plan to start heading North next week.

Above, an adult breeding wood duck that was by the marsh area at the park.

Think this is an adult, breeding ring-necked duck. Also seen by the marsh area.

There were several sets of mother and baby ducks. The ones above look like teenagers.

Came across a female goat that was in distress on park property. There are small ranches with all kinds of animals right next to the park. The goat must have gotten through a hole in a fence, then could not find her way back in. She was in distress and looked like she needed to be milked. All my pictures of her were a little blurry. Between her chasing Jake (and me) and my trying to keep Jake by my side, it was hard to stand still. I walked around to the street with the ranches and came across the son of the owner of the goat. He came and rescued her.

The two sets of mascots are still here. The male muscovoy duck is really dominant. Saw him chase down and bite some feathers off the large white male goose. He has also done this to the female muscovoy duck. Despite this, you often see the four of them resting together as a group.

Both sets of mascots were going from rv to rv looking in the screen doors, hoping for a handout. There have been less people at the park due to construction, so handouts may be harder to come by.

There only seems to be the one, full-time, blue heron here now. The ones that went gopher hunting here in April have probably headed North. Still plenty of gophers around.

Rancho Jurupa Park is right next to the Santa Ana River Wildlife Area. There are marsh areas on both sides of the river, along with miles of sandy horse trails that you can also walk or ride a bike on.

The herons were on gopher patrol again this morning. Two herons both caught one each. They hunt and swallow the gopher whole, just like they do fish. They have to be a little harder to go down than fish. In the picture above you can see the lump in the heron’s throat after swollowing the gopher.

Here is a short clip of the turkey-ducks muscovy ducks coming to the door seeking food.

Have been in Rancho Jurupa County Park for more than a week. It is not so much a destination, as a place to get things done. Have to admit I appreciate the California spring weather in the 60′s and 70′s.Top picture above, a tree with character that I see from my window. Below, what is behind the tree, lots of 30-40 foot palm trees that have never been trimmed and other trees all covered with some kind of vine.

Fellow campers bribe their cats with food to get them to come outside. The swans are always on the lookout for dogs and small children, but seem to know when an animal is no threat to them.

The female swan tried so hard to take a bath in the water I put out. She could not understand why she could see the water, but could not put her head through the side of the container. Not sure why the swans don’t go in the fishing pond here.

Two days in a row I have seen blue herons hunting in the field I see outside my window. Both days at least one gopher was caught. The picture above was taken through my window glass, hence the poor quality.

The herons cannot fish in the pond here because there are no shallow areas for them to wade in.

Movie below is called “I’m top duck here, don’t make eye contact”.

Spent close to two weeks in the Los Angeles area. First in Riverside, at Rancho Jurupa County Park, then the KOA in Pomona. At Rancho Jurupa, the two pairs of ducks that were there before are still doing well. Also, in their small fishing pond, there were some visiting white pelicans, cormorants and a blue heron.

There is no shallow area in the pond for the blue heron to wade in. It kept watching the cormorants catch fish and wanted in the water, but it was too deep.

I stayed a few days more than I had to in Pomona waiting for mail that had been forwarded to me. Finally had to give up on it and head down to San Diego. At least I payed all my bills online, so there should not be any outstanding bills.