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