Rose-ringed Parakeet

Do not dismiss this post as a silly little story about a tiny parakeet. This is a big story about a big bird.  This is a much larger bird than you would think to be carrying the parakeet name, at sixteen inches in length. We found this bird while birding at the Hart Memorial County Park in Bakersfield California yesterday. It was quite by accident, and I took a photo hoping to learn more about the bird, and it turned out to be a new Life Bird for us. Not much can be learned from looking at bird guides, but by searching the Internet specifically for Bakersfield, I learned it is a pretty big story.  In 1977 a huge wind storm of 100 miles per hour in the area broke apart a private aviary  and released some birds including two pair of Rose-ringed Parakeets.  They were able to successfully reproduce and today there are in excess of 3,000 birds completely living a natural life in Kern County  Birders from all over the world travel to Bakersfield to seek out this large beautiful parakeet. We were amazingly lucky to just stumble on this bird in the park. True this is not a native species to North America, but like other immigrants to this country, their numbers are so large they should not and can not be denied.

Stop at the Salton Sea

We left Vallecito Stage Station County Park early yesterday morning and continued our circle of the Salton Sea. This area has so many memories of past trips here to the Imperial Sea View Spa where my mom, and later sister Kathy and husband Gary lived. We particularly enjoyed recalling bicycle camping tours that we made around the sea, the Imperial Valley, and Anza-Borrego State Park. Our stop for the day was the Salton Sea State Park Visitor Center and Campground.  The nice ranger at the gate informed us that the campground was closed due to a sewage problem, but said that the Mecca Beach Campground one mile to the South was opened.  He waived the day pass at the Visitor Center so that we could bird, trusting us to camp later at Mecca Beach, eighteen dollars for a dry site. The water level continues to drop in the Salton Sea, but the birds are still numerous, and the weather was perfect.  We made a good observation list of 27 species with 13 photos, which you can see here.

Soaking Up The Sun

We are continuing the quest to spend our time in warm and sunny areas, and with that in mind we drove south today to the Vallecito Stage Station County Park.  We stayed here last winter and enjoyed our time and birding.  Again this year we are the only campers in the 44 site RV area.  There is also a tent camping area, and an equestrian area, both of which are also empty.  We like it quiet, so we are happy.  It is one of the few campgrounds in the Anza-Borrego Desert that has cell service.  It is dry camping, meaning there are no hook-ups, but the site we always choose, number 24, is right next to a water faucet, so we hook up our hose, and we have solar to take care of our electical needs. This winter has been the grand experment with solar.  We had solar system installed this summer, but it wasn't until we were totally dependent on it at Cattail Cove State Park this winter that we came to realize that it was taking care of our electricity.  Basically we never actually need to be hooked up to electricity. Every day our solar panel soaks up the energy from the sun and charges up the batteries.  So, when I refer to soaking up the sun, I am not only refering to Jeanette and I soaking up some sun, but our RV is also soaking up some sun.

Adventures in Southern California

Palm Canyon Campground

 Anza-Borrego Desert State Park

Monday afternoon we said good-by to Arizona, crossed the Colorado River into California and began a bit of a post-volunteer adventure before heading back to Oregon.  A big factor is the weather, so we are in effect killing some more time in the sunny South-West before attempting the mountain passes.  Our first night's stop was at Lake Tamarisk Desert Resort, a pleasant repeat from last year. It was thirty-five dollars for full hook up.  Strange to hook up to electricity, our first time since December. (Solar is great) On Tuesday we ventured on to the greater Palm Springs area checking out some birding spots before meeting friends Kerry and Debbie Kliever for a night, parking at the Augustine Casino. Birding spots in the Palm Springs area proved to be pretty much a flop.  Most eBird Hot Spots do not allow dogs or are at private clubs and golf courses. A brief look at the eBird Hot Spot map made the area look like a gold mine, but after checking closer, we were ready to move on.  The Augustine Casino however was a winner for both parking and meals. This morning we traveled on to Anza-Borrego Desert State Park and the town of Borrego Springs. We stopped at the Christmas Circle and made up a bird list as we strolled accross the green lawn.  Next was a list at the Botanical Gardens, followed by lunch in the Serenity before moving on to the Palm Canyon Campground where we are camped next to our friends Dan and Elaine Scott in a dry camping site for twenty-three dollars.  We made another bird list for the campground and then took a nice walk to the Visitor's Center and another list.  No dogs are allowed on the hiking trails, but the nice 3/4 mile paved path between the campground and the Visitor's Center is OK dogs and bicycles and made for a good walk. Buster watched for lizards while we watched for birds. Below are some of the birds I managed to photograph in town and in the park.

Northern Mockingbird

Verdin

Western Bluebird

Last Day at Cattail Cove State Park

This is our Serenity waiting patiently next to the Cactus Garden this morning, waiting for me to finish  my morning guided bird walk. Today was our last day at Cattail Cove State Park for this season of volunteering.  It has been a very rewarding experience.  In our two months here I have logged 225 volunteer hours, led 40 guided bird walks, plus a half-dozen other un-official hikes and bird walks. Sixty-six different species of birds have been identified in this period, making Cattail Cove State Park the number one eBird Hot Spot of the 76 Hot Spots in Mohave County year-to-date. But even more rewarding have been all the wonderful people we have interacted with.  I've found it very enjoyable to have new people show up each day eager to learn more about the birds to be seen here in the park.  An additional pleasure has been the 15 or so friends and past bird walk participants that have come to attend these bird walks, some to even camp here.  We left today looking forward to returning next year.  Because the weather is not that great back in Oregon yet, we have decided to take a little more circuitous route back catching some warm weather in the vicinity of the Salton Sea. After leaving the park this morning we stopped in Parker for lunch, groceries and fuel, and drove on to Lake Tamarisk Desert Resort where we have a site for the night.

Arroyo De Camino Cactus Garden

Ladder-backed Woodpecker

For our days off this week from our volunteering duty at Cattail Cove State Park, we drove to Lake Havasu City, to meet up with friends, eat out, and grocery shopping. As you might guess, we also did what we like to do the most---go for a bird walk. We are camping in the overflow lot at Lake Havasu State Park, so it was an easy choice to spend some time yesterday afternoon in the Arroyo De Camino Cactus Garden.  We were pleased to be able to say hi to Ray, the ever faithful volunteer and gardian of the garden.  A year around resident of Lake Havasu City, he continues to maintain and improve the paths, benches, and vegetation of the cactus garden.  We enjoyed our time watching a busy Ladder-backed Woodpecker male in his search of larva or something.  Also at least two pair of Verdin were busy gathering twigs to for nest construction.  Both Anna and Costa male hummingbirds were seen. A couple of Yellow-rumped Warblers, some Gambel's Quail, a Say's Phoebe, a Great-tailed Grackle, two Ruby-crowned Kinglets, a Black-tailed Gnatcatcher, and two Turkey Vultures, finished off our bird list.  It was a very pleasant time spent in the cactus garden in the sunshine, tucked in out the wind blowing accross Lake Havasu.  Tomorrow brings the start of our final week of leading bird walks at Cattail Cove State Park, and then our migration north begins.   

Verdin

Common Merganser Looking for Fish

I've learned so much this winter while leading bird walks at Cattail Cove State Park, some things just from daily observations, some things from research, and some things from participants on the bird walk.  This piece of new knowledge came from a participant a few weeks ago.  We were watching a couple of Common Merganser females swimming along the surface of the water with their head partially under water like this photo I took today.  I hadn't given it much thought, but the participant asked if the duck was possibly looking for fish.  The light went on, of course!  As you may notice her head is just under the surface to the point of allowing the eye to see under water.

This photo is taken of the same bird, a mere 10 seconds later after an unsuccessful dive.  I now have a new understanding and appreciation for the times I see this behavior.