Christmas Bird Count – 29 Palms, California
Indian Cove, Joshua Tree National Park
On Sunday I went to my third CBC in Southern California. Bill and Herman live in the area of Joshua Tree National Monument and were familiar with the areas. Like most birders, Bill checked places where he had seen such-and-such a bird before. For years afterward, certain rocks or trees or areas will always be remembered as “the place I saw….” That’s the way we birders are. Read the rest of this entry »
Christmas Bird Count in Victorville, CA – Part 2
Male Bushtit
One of my favorite birds from the CBC in Victorville this weekend was the bushtit. I’d only seen this chubby little bird once, in Big Bend National Park, Texas, but it was cold and foggy and they didn’t stay long. Read the rest of this entry »
Christmas Bird Count in Victorville, CA – Part 1
Spring Lake community, Victorville, CA
I’ve participated in Christmas Bird Counts in Friendship, Maine; Big Bend National Park, Texas, and Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, Georgia. Here in Southern California, there are opportunities to join many more groups for this annual census of the birds. On Saturday I explored a country-club development and an adjacent community college in nearby Victorville. Read the rest of this entry »
December Birds in Southern California
Cooper’s Hawk Juvenile, Newberry Springs, California
Birds seen on a field trip with San Bernardino Valley Audubon Society and on the Morongo Valley Christmas Bird Count. (Not including ones already featured in recent blogs.) Read the rest of this entry »
Hummingbird with the Amethyst Throat
Male Costa’s Hummingbird closeup
The male Costa’s hummingbird also has a violet crown. This little beauty was seen sitting on a blooming bladderpod bush in California’s Morongo Valley last week.
He was the second Costa’s seen on the Christmas Bird Count. Since the first was at a bladderpod, when I saw another in bloom I hunted for another flying jewel. Read the rest of this entry »
The Peppy Phainopepla
Male phainopepla in flight
The hard-to-pronounce word (fain-o-PEP-la) is Greek for “shining robe” according to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. These unique birds of the Southwest congregate in areas of abundant mistletoe, and they typically eat more than 1,000 of those berries each day. Read the rest of this entry »
Sandhill Cranes in Colorado
Sandhill Cranes, Hayden, Colorado
The Yampa Valley Crane Festival in northwestern Colorado celebrates the fall migration of greater sandhill cranes on their way to their wintering grounds. Sponsored by Colorado Crane Conservation Coalition, the festival drew me to the harvested wheat fields near Hayden to find these handsome birds. Read the rest of this entry »
Zabriski Point’s Last Morning
Zabriski Point, Death Valley National Park, at dawn
It was the last morning that the view from Zabriski Point overlook in Death Valley National Park would be open to visitors. The paved walkway is now closed for stabilization work through April. Read the rest of this entry »
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