March 28 --- Sunrise with Bill Stewart and Salton Sea birds

On the morning of Friday, March 28,  Bill Stewart and I headed over the the Headquarters area of the Salton Sea State Recreation Area to check out the birds at sunrise, which was around 6:45am. It was, in a word, amazing -- no wind and partly-cloudy skies, and Cormorants were flying in V formation --sometimes a hundred or so in a flying wedge -- and both American White and Brown Pelicans were flying high, or gliding in a sinuous "S' wave over the water. And the Pelicans were flying together, too --

Here are some other photos from that morning and the previous evening -- 

Black-bellied Plovers (that's not dirt on the camera sensor; those "spots" are flies and gnats)

Bonaparte's Gulls in breeding plumage 

Western Grebe

Eared Grebe in breeding plumage; the Salton Sea hosts thousands of Eared Grebes during spring migration

An American White Pelican banking on approach

A Great Egret in breeding plumage

A Great Egret, with 2 Great Blue Herons lined up behind him

A Caspian Tern with a catch of the day evades a California Gull

Just before Bill and Anne left, Anne pointed out a Yellow-headed Blackbird at the campground, attracted by bird food seeds she had spread on the ground --

After Bill and Anne left -- heading for Calico ghost town, about 150 miles to the west -- I cleaned out the back of my truck, for the FIRST time since I left San Pedro last May. The 20-pound bag of bird seed that I had got from Wild Birds Unlimited had broke, so I spent the rest of the morning cleaning up the truck bed and rearranging items. In the late afternoon I went back to the Headquarters area of the state recreation area and got a good photo of a Bonaparte's Gull with its breeding "black head" and also was rewarded with a nice Salton Sea sunset -- 

And a pastel one with a Great Blue Heron -- 

March 27 -- Through Joshua Tree Nat'l Park to the Salton Sea

Remember that "Third World" road I mentioned earlier, the one that leads into the Black Rock Canyon campground that has potholes? Well, I heard the reason for its state of disrepair is -- no one wants to take responsibility for repairing it. The Park Service says it's not on Park grounds, so it's not their problem.  And apparently no one knows whose problem it is...So nothing gets done, and chances are good someone will end up with a broken axle -- if it hasn't already happened...The folks who told me about The State Of The Road were Bruce and Shannon Pound, owners of another Lance 1685 who were using the RV dump just as I pulled up on the other side. They've traveled quite a bit since leaving their home in Seattle, Washington. So we talked Things Lance and I took their photo, and posted it on the Lance Owners of America website --

The took the main north-south road through Joshua Tree National Park. The wildflowers are just starting to bloom, but I just had to walk back 300 yards to get a shot of these cacti in the Joshua Tree high desert -- 

There is an Ocotillo "garden" along the southern section of the road --

As with so many plants and animals in the desert, its beauty masks barbed danger -- 

And its blooms are delicate; this was taken with my new "macro" setup, the Canon 40D with the 17-55mm f/2.8 lens with a 12mm Canon tube extension added -- 

I arrived at the campground along the north shore of the Salton Sea around 3pm, and was greeted by friends Bill Stewart and Anne Smiley, snowbirding Canadians who were on their way back north but spent an extra day with me. I had dinner with them in their RV, then I went to bed knowing that the excitement of being at the Salton Sea during early spring had just begun...

March 25 and 26 -- Return to Big Morongo and Covington Park, and a wind-blown layover day...

Tuesday, March 26 was a great day to be out and about here in California's high desert -- at least in the morning, before the temps got too warm. The birds were everywhere and singing, and looking at the habitat at Big Morongo during this time of year you can see why --

Looking west to the San Bernardino Mountains (snow on top)

The viewing deck looking south

Down Canyon Trail

Up Canyon Trail

And now, on to the birds -- 

Bewick's Wren

Mrs. Anna's hummingbird with her 2 days-old nestlings

Feed me -- NOW!

California Thrasher along Canyon Trail

California Thrasher portrait along Mesquite Trail

Western Kingbird (note white on outer edges of tail; Cassin's Kingbirds lack that)

Mr. Western Bluebird collecting nesting material at Covington Park

Cedar Waxwings take a water break at Covington Park

An immature Vermilion Flycatcher male, possibly less than a year old, at Covington Park

Meanwhile, back at "the ranch" (aka the campground at Joshua Tree Nat'l Park), here's my travel trailer "Discovery" and the Tundra --

Tuesday night's dinner was at a Mexican restaurant here in Yucca Valley with Dave and Callie, my friends from Boulder, CO. Good friends and good food once again...Tuesday at Big Morongo was perfect both weather- and bird-wise; Wednesday the 26th was another matter. A cold front blew in, creating wind gusts up to 40mph and temps in the upper 50s, so it was a day to hunker down and ride it out. I was scheduled to leave, but the people who reserved the spot starting that day canceled, so I thanked the gods, went to Starbucks for more work on my MacBook Pro, then went back to Discovery and fired-up the generator to charge batteries, give the trailer batteries more juice, etc. So now it's Thursday and I'm here back at McDonald's in Yucca Valley, having breakfast and doing this post. In a few hours I'll be back on the road, heading back to the Salton Sea for a few days...

March 23 and 24 -- The Drive to Joshua Tree, and Birding Big Morongo Preserve

I REALLY hated to leave Robbins Nest RV Park, the town of Overton, the wildlife area down the street, the spectacular Valley of Fire, and incredible Gold Butte, home to Little Finland, Falling Man and Khota Circus, but I'll be back in December to spend the winter there, and perhaps the the winter after that...So with that in mind, I drove Tundra and Discovery down the Northshore Road at Lake Mead one more time, and after passing Boulder City ("home of Hoover Dam") headed south on Hwy 95. After stopping off at Searchlight (mind the speed limit of 25mph going through town) I entered California and turned onto the old "Route 66", which is now merely County Road 66 and a place lined with derelict buildings, though some speak of an interesting past -- for instance, "Roadrunner Restaurant", with a zippy Roadrunner on its sign, or a roadside stop with a water fountain full of plastic pink flamingos, relics of the flashy, tacky 50's. I arrived at Joshua Tree's Black Rock Canyon campground around 4pm, and found myself bouncing around on an entry road full of potholes so numerous that I couldn't avoid them; a fellow RVer quite rightly described it as a "Third World" road. In talking with the ranger on duty at the front desk, I discovered that the campground and surrounding area is now considered to be the best area of the park for birds now that the Cottonwood area in the south of the park has become degraded from flood damage and acids from old mines leaching into the soil. So I took my 500 f/4 for a stroll before sunset -- but only came upon a male House Finch on top of a Joshua tree (trying to do his best to look like a Purple Finch) a Western Scrub Jay, and a California Quail, a different species from the Gambel's Quail I saw in Nevada --

But there's always tomorrow, and the chance of seeing something "good", especially as spring migration has started...

Monday, March 24 -- Early breakfast at Denny's here in Yucca Valley (the scrambled eggs are excellent, very light, not heavy, and the waitress says the cook has been complimented many times on the quality of his egg dishes), then I head over to Big Morongo Preserve to meet up with Dave and Callie and Mark Stewart and Bill Stuart for a day of birding "Big Mo", Covington Park across the way, and Whitewater Preserve down the road on Interstate 10. I pull in to the Big Morongo Preserve parking lot --

I hear the drumming of a Woodpecker (probably at Nuttall's or Ladderback, the "regulars" here) and bird calls are all around me. Dave and Callie pull up, and we begin our bird walk. Anna's hummingbird is there on a snag, along with Black Phoebes and sparrows, mostly White-crowned, then we decide to go over to Covington Park across from the preserve. We see and FOS (First Of Season) Hooded Oriole male, some Western Bluebirds -- but no Vermilion Flycatchers or Summer Tanagers, "residents" there during spring and summer. But there WAS a "bad karma" human resident, who was cursing at people  birdwatching at the park, telling them to go look for birds over at the preserver. He was quite nasty, and even told the same thing to me, Callie and Dave when he came upon us. What an idiot. But we didn't let him dampen our day...Mark Stewart, who works at the Salton Sea Nat'l Wildlife Refuge, joined our little group, accompanied by Bill Stewart from Vancouver Island, and we had a blast, having lunch at the Morongo Diner, then spending the afternoon at Whitewater Preserve. Interesting thing about Whitewater, which is the name of the mountain river that carved the canyon where the preserve is -- the river went "underground" recently, which a gal hiking along a trail there told us happens on occasion. The recent large rainfall caused it to "disappear" and hopefully it will "return" as it has done in the past. So there weren't as many birds there as we were expecting, but it was still worth the visit. Then Mark and Bill left, and Callie, Dave and I returned to Covington Park -- and found the Vermilion Flycatcher that had been reported there a week earlier. 

It was a great end to another spectacular day with good birds, good friends, and spring weather in California's high desert. 

From left, Callie, Dave, Mark and Bill at the Morongo Diner

March 22 -- Gold Butte's Khota Circus, and how I almost missed it...

I wanted one last grand finale before leaving SE Nevada today (Sunday), so I headed to the Gold Butte area and the longest rock art panel in in Clark County, if not in all of Nevada. The 6am morning sky was cloudy, perfect weather for viewing petroglyphs. I turned off onto the dirt road from the Gold Butte Byway and parked about a mile from the start of the trail to Khota Circus as I'd been told that the road after the poppy re-vegetation sign was "questionable" (it wasn't; my 4-wheel-drive Tundra could have done it in a snap). Here's the view looking back on the road I traveled --

And the parking area --

And a closeup of the sign for the replanting of the rare Las Vegas Bearpoppy (I didn't see any) --

 I hiked down the road -- and actually had to hunt for the Khota Circus entry point as there were spur roads that were temporarily confusing --

Ah -- THERE it is!

The trail (well marked) goes along a sandy wash -- VERY sandy in spots. But the views more than made up for the slog -- 

OK, time for a somewhat of a self-portrait, featuring my well-worn Asolo hiking boots and gaiters --

And a bit of an expressionistic self-portrait --

Spring blooms are just beginning, at least in this section of Nevada --

After about 2 miles from the trailhead I came upon this viewpoint, little knowing that I could actually SEE the rock panels from here -- if I only knew where to look. Can you make them out?

A little further on, the trail wound down into a canyon. I'm still looking for the rock panels --

I took this photo, not noticing that, once again, the petroglyphs are in my field of view --

Wow, a nice sandstone sculpture! But meanwhile, I still can't discern the petroglyphs, even though 

they are just to the right of this photo --

I spied this shrub full of these exquisite, tiny flowers and used my 17-55 f/2.8 lens with my new extension tube on, making it a macro lens. Now I could spot THIS, but I didn't see the eye-level rock art panel just to the left --

So I continued hiking along the edge of the formations, though there wasn't much of a trail. But the views were spectacular --

Then the formations ended, and I decided to head back as it was after 11am. So after this photo, I had lunch in a shaded alcove, took a short snooze, lying down on a flat rock...

OK, one last time before I head out...I go back to that earlier viewpoint -- and I can FINALLY see them. Weird -- how could I have missed them when they were practically in my face? Perhaps the powers that seem to be here didn't want me to "see" them until now...

Khota (supposedly the name of the local who first came upon them) Circus, the longest rock petroglyph panel in Nevada.

Some of the scenes and symbols were obvious; others, less so. 

I then took some macros of some of the figures, using my tube extension -- 

You can see the deep incisions into the rock. 

And then I looked up to the right -- and saw the most pristine set of rock petroglyphs that I've ever seen; it was as if they had been done yesterday, and the reason for their pristine quality has to be their inaccessibility -- 

A closeup --

And the panels in relation to each other -- 

What an amazing, magical and utterly mystical place. I thanked the gods for giving me the "sight" to see these, and headed back on the trail, where I was blessed with this lizard, which I nearly trod on as it blended so well with the sand -- 

A delicate butterfly -- 

Back at the trailhead to Khota Circus --

And on the way out of the Gold Butte area, small signs that a colorful spring is just around the corner --

Khota Circus was truly the culmination of my stay here in SE Nevada. I'll be back in December for further adventures and exploration...