Stayed at Black Rock Campground in Yucca Valley for a few days. Not sure when the next time I will be in the area during the prime winter, early spring time frame, so wanted to take advantage of it. This campground has great Verizon evdo coverage. Not sure when I’ve had a faster internet connection.

Ten miles south of the campground is Big Morongo Canyon Preserve. It is on an earthquake fault where a spring comes to the surface for a short distance. It is just beautiful and worth a visit. Their land borders on Joshua Tree National Park and is managed by the BLM. They have a goal of making a large corridor for wildlife, so they are not boxed into a small area surrounded by developed areas.

Talk about developed areas, houses have been built right up to Black Rock Campground. So glad Joshua Tree National Park has their land. Otherwise, you know houses would have been built all the way through the park and up to the hilltops.

An antelope ground squirrel.  Have wanted to get a picture of one of these small squirrels for a long time. This guy had a burrow under a yucca plant next to my campsite.

Black tailed jackrabbit.

Cactus wren

Male and female Gambel’s quail

Scrub jay. Also saw a large flock of pinyon jays. They are the only jay that travels in a flock. Didn’t get a picture. Drats!!

A titmouse, either a juniper or oak titmouse, not sure which.

Noticed that it became very quiet after around 3:00 pm most days. That must be predator time. A coyote walked through my camp one day during this time.

Stayed at Salt Creek Campground on the Salton Sea prior to coming to Joshua Tree National Park. Not many pelicans there yet. There is a 10-15 degree temperature difference between the Salton Sea area and Black Rock Campground at 4,000 feet elevation.

Stayed at the Salton Sea State Park one night at their Salt Creek Campground. Enjoyed staying at the no hookup campground next to the water.

The pictures below were taken in the morning light. The protuberances seen on the beaks of the pelicans in the second picture had me concerned. Later found out adult pelicans have these in the breeding season.

Above: Get off my cloud! Some of the pelicans got protective of their fishing areas.

A variety of gulls, along with pelicans and a few herons and terns, roosted on sandbars. Gulls were continuously flying in and out of the roost.

When I went to close the door of my rv after it got dark, saw a lot of pelican activity on the water. Looks like they wanted a bedtime snack.

I have been at the Salton Sea State Park for two days. Came to see some of the birds who stop there on the Pacific flyway. Do a Google on the Salton Sea and you can get an idea of what a controversial place it is. I found it unsettling. In place of sand, you walk on fish bones and fish pieces from numerous fish die offs. It smells…the park handouts say this is from other sources, not the Salton Sea. There are a lot of geothermal power plants in the area, putting out a lot of steam.

Made a quick trip to the Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge. They are doing what I have seen at other wildlife refuges, planting fields and restoring water and marsh areas. Lots of geese there.

The pelicans do not have to dive for fish here, they just dunk for them…or scare them to the surface.

Geese at the wildlife refuge.

Lone blue heron.

Could not resist taking a picture of this hawk next to farmland on the way to the wildlife refuge.

When I left the Blythe area, I planned to stop at the Imperial National Wildlife Refuge that is a little below the Cibola Refuge. I failed to take into account that it was Thanksgiving weekend. Martinez Lake, next to the refuge was full of familes with ATVs. The two RV parks were full. I went on to Yuma for the night. On leaving Yuma and heading west on I-8, noticed a lot of RVs heading east. Soon saw that a lot of them were probably coming from the Imperial Sand Dunes Recreational Area. On heading north to the Salton Sea found that I was in with a HUGE group of RVs, mostly trailers or toy hauler/trailer combos. These seemed to be young families with ATVs. Usually I am a lone trailer with lots of large motor homes, so this was a noticeable change.

On stopping at a rest stop near the Salton Sea, I found myself stuck behind a line of RVs waiting to use the free dump station. I had to wait in line with them till I got to the exit. The caravan continued along the north side of the Salton Sea and into the rare gas station, where people were lined up for gas and the free dump station. Here I turned south, along the other side of the Salton Sea, heading to the Anza-Borrego area. Now all the RVs were on the other side of the highway heading north, I guess to the greater Los Angeles area. Octillo Wells State Vehicular Recreational Area is right next to the Anza-Borrego State Park and a lot of ATVs were still enjoying the area. So glad the Anza-Borrego State Park is there to safeguard it from the ATVs.

Just trying to make the point that there are a lot of young families with trailers or toy hauler/trailer combos out there.