January - July 2015 -- Overton, Nevada and San Pedro, California

I took a hiatus from Travels of Discovery from January to July, though I did take the class to become a "wildlife interpreter" for the National Association of Interpreters (NAI) held in Las Vegas in January and traded in Discovery I to purchase Discovery II, which is now (August) parked at Overton's RV park where I spent the last 2 winters. After spending the months of February through April at Overton, I went back to my hometown of San Pedro, CA where I stayed from May thru the first part of August. The highlight of my stay in "Pedro" was the discovery of a Mississippi Kite at the South Coast Botanic Garden in Palos Verdes -- the 2nd time I discovered a "MIKI" there; the first was in 2007. This time around it was the 7th recording sighting of a MIKI in Los Angeles County -- and like the 2007 bird, it was a "First Summer" Kite. Alas, it only stayed for 3 days -- but it was a thrill to see another one, which of course was completely unexpected. I first saw it while sitting on a bench next to one of the water fountains; when I realized what it was, I knocked over my 500mm lens and it jammed when I tried to take a photo -- and by the time I fixed it, the Kite was way over on the other side of the Garden. So I legged it over there, carrying my 13 pound-plus camera rig -- when it went back to the other side! Then it seemed to have disappeared. So I headed for the Garden entrance, skunked on getting a photo -- who's going to believe a guy who claimed to have seen TWO Mississippi Kites which shouldn't be here? -- when I saw it again, and took the documentation photos. After posting the finding in the local bird listserve, birders and the curious flocked (so to speak) from all over. Here are photos of the MIKI, taken July 10 (when I first saw it) and July 12; the second photo show it eating an insect (dragonfly?) on-the-wing --

I also discovered, and photographed, a fledgling Phainopepla, on a bridle trail behind the gates in Rolling Hills, the first documentation of the return to the Palos Verdes Peninsula of breeding Phainopepla. Now it's August 11, and I'm back in Overton, Nevada, where I'm taking things out of my trailer, Discovery II, to take down to my house in Portal, Arizona. I'd rented my house (I call it Faranuf, as in FarEnough) from February to June, when the tenants found a place in Tucson and moved out -- so I figured it was time to move in myself. Just to refresh your memory, here are photos of both Faranuf and its back yard, with the bird feeder hangers and killer view of Cave Creek Canyon in the distance -- 

So after another day in Overton to do errands and try to stuff more, er, "stuff" into Tundra "Dos" (as it's my 2nd Tundra; the first was totaled last November after a deer cut in front of me), I head down to Tucson where I'll be spending a few days with my sister-in-law and niece -- then it's on to Portal, and new adventures...