The Great Remember: All About the Birds - From San Diego to Morongo Canyon and Back Again

Costa's Hummingbird

I see the resemblance

Day 2 Sighting: Costa's Hummingbird
Spotted at Elijo Lagoon in San Diego: he was clinging to the top of a puff-less cattail reed, blowing in the wind, his violet mustachios glistening in the setting sunlight.

FUN FACTS!
Costa's hummingbirds are named after a 19th century, French politician with a passion for ornithology, Louis Marie Pantaleon Costa, Marcuis de Beauregard (a fancy enough namesake for this hummingbird).

Collective nouns are a "bouquet," "glittering," "hover," "shimmer," or "tune" of hummingbirds. CH grow no bigger than 3.5" in length. During the swooping arches and dives of its courtship display CH considers the angle of the sunlight to ensure his violet gorget catches the rays just right. Habitat is the Sonoran and Mojave deserts into Baja California.

Normally, a hummingbird's heart beats 500-900 times per minute. During the evening hours and on low temperature nights CHs' enter a torpid state, when heart rate plummets to 50 beats per minute.

The Great Remember: All About the Birds - From San Diego to Morongo Canyon and Back Again

Female - Hairy Woodpecker

Day 2 Sighting: Hairy Woodpecker (female)
Spotted in Cuyamaca Rancho State Park on the West Mesa Loop Trail along Cold stream: she was excavating for insects in a sycamore tree for a good 45 minutes, while patiently and with snacks, we sat at the fork of the trailhead watching bark and small branches rain down from the tree. 

FUN FACTS!
Hp's are prolific North American woodpeckers. Mating pairs share incubating responsibility. Perhaps that's why they are so prolific ;) Males incubate at night and females during the day (and now, in my head, I sing "Ladies Night" by Kool and the Gang). Okay, sorry, no more commentary.

Female - Downey Woodpecker

Collective nouns are a "descent," "drumming" or "gatling" of woodpeckers. Average size is 9.5 inches, considered medium-sized. You can find them in deciduous forests throughout Canada, US, and Mexico. Watch out! HP's can be confused for the Downey woodpecker, a much smaller species with almost identical markings. A good way to differentiate them is DP's bill is shorter relative to head size.

Pee Wee's Bird Adventure! Days 5-8

LA la la... la la la la la la... I forcibly share my interest in birds with everyone I meet. I am a bird nerd. Here is the story of my spring break bird adventure.

Day 5-8: Campground - Black Rock Campground (Joshua Tree?) then Back to the Salton Sea.

The night of the 4th/5th day, we left the Salton Sea (Ocotillo Wells camp) to try and make it to Joshua Tree to capture a camp site in the first come first serve Bella Campground. We didn't. So we had to fall back on the not so impressive Black Rock Campground. IT is not inside Joshua Tree NP proper, it is located on the outer most region of the NP in the city of Joshua Tree. The site was a typical family, crowded campground. Though it saved us from the lack of a place to park and provided a close home base to Morongo Canyon Reserve, we didn't stay long. Description: Although technically in the park, this campground is not on the main road through the park.It is situated uphill from the city of Joshua tree, barely inside the park's boundaries. Amenities are water, flush toilets, and a ranger station. Site are too close together for privacy seekers like us. No boulders in sight. Each site provides table and fire pit with a grill. $15/night.

That said... it's the closest campground to Morongo Canyon Preserve (for birder's who want to travel on the cheap).

Birds spotted at Morongo Canyon Preserve. FYI spend a whole day there, pack a lunch, and wait -especially near the wet land/marshy area. Description of MCP: Preserve desert riparian oasis. Boardwalk through wooded marsh, maintained trails through hilly manzanita and creosote. 2nd highest density of breeding birds in CA.

Phainopepla ^ 

Bushtit

Ladderbacked Woodpecker (or Nuttall's WP)

Red-Tailed Hawk

Bewick's Wren

Wilson's Warbler

Gambel's Quail

We probably would have seen more if we had had more time and spent another day there.

Birds spotted at the Salton Sea - Corvina Camp Ground Description: Kayaking entrance, flat dirt parking lot along the water's edge. A few picnic tables. One central pit toilet and showers. Unpleasant rotting fish smell close to the entrance, but less smelly at the back of the site. Beach consists of heavy layer of barnacle and tube worm shells and ring of fish bones. Muddy shallow pools provide good plover and sandpiper sightings. Train runs behind the campground, though silently so.

Caspian Tern ^

Great blue heron

American Avocet

Pacific golden plover >

American white pelican

Various gulls

Brants

Western grebe

Great egret

Bonapart's Gull

Eared grebe   >

Pee Wee's Bird Adventure! Days 3-5

LA la la... la la la la la la... When out of the corner of my eye, I see the flashing of iridescent Hummingbird wings, it's a vivified moment that thrills me every time. I am a bird nerd. Here is the story of my spring break bird adventure.

Day 3-5: Campground - Vallecito in Anza Borrego, wait rewind, scratch that... Ocotillo Wells (BLM)
Day three (3) woke up to a storm that rained and snowed on us a substance that looked and felt like partially frozen balls of mystery flavored Slurpee. Leaky Pew Wee trailer and more rain forecasted in Vallecito forced a campground change. Ocotillo Wells BLM is free, has showers and potable water, and most concerning at the time was that the weather forecast for the area was dry with no rain and the promise of gale-force winds that we would use to dry out our soggy gear.

Ocotillo Wells birding consists of ravens, the occasional sparrow, and a crazy military bird named after a feathered bird, the osprey. So the plan was to use the site as home base from which we would explore the Salton Sea, a Mecca for birders. The Salton Sea during migration season houses clouds of up to 400 bird species, though some are year round residents. So, if you're thinking of taking a nice birding trip, the Salton Sea provides excellent birding during any season.

Long story short, the Salton Sea birding was outstanding!

Birds spotted at a mix of sites the Sonny Bono Natl. Wildlife Refuge, along the side of the roads and shore, and on the Wister Preserve. * Seen at all three spots.
Unit One                                     Visitor Center                                   Driving Around
*Kildeer                                     *Cassin's Kingbird                               Burrowing Owl
*Gambel's Quail                         *Cinnamon Teal                                   Greater Roadrunner
*Snowy Egret                               Verdin                                            *Western Meadowlark
*Black Neck Stilt                         Common Ground Dove                       *Northern Mockingbird
*Great Blue Heron                       *White Crowned Sparrow                  *Red-winged Blackbird
*Black Phoebe                            *Great-tailed Grackle                         Baird's Sandpiper
 Northern Harrier                        *American Avocet                             *Barn Swallow
 American White Pelican              Ruddy Duck                                     
 *Great Egret                               Northern Shoveler
                                                 *Turkey Vulture
                                                  Least Tern
                                                  Black Skimmer
                                                  Eurasian Collared Dove
                                                *Coot
                                                  Common Moorhen
                                                  Snowy Plover

Pee Wee's Bird Adventure! Days 1-3

LA la la... la la la la la la... When I hear the high-pitched whistle of a glittering, golden necked Allen's Hummingbird, the sound unearths me. I am a bird nerd. Here is an account of my bird adventure over spring break.
Day 1-3: Campground - Laguna/El Prado
Upon entering the Laguna/El Prado camp site, on Laguna Mountain near San Diego, we knew that the birding was going to be awesome! When we arrived, no less than 4 species greeted us. The camp site was spacious, with loads of evergreens and deciduous trees, 5000 feet above sea level, flush toilets, showers (closed during the winter), potable water, a little pond/lake (probably buggy in the Summer), and overall a pretty quiet campground.

Birds spotted in and near (cold stream trail-south of Cuyamaca Lake off the 79) our camp.
Western Bluejay                     Hairy Woodpecker                       (possibly) 
Stellar Jay                             Double-Crested Cormorant            Cassin's Kingbird
Common Raven                      California Quail                           Greater Peewee
Pygmy Nuthatch                     Red tailed Hawk
American Robin                     Brewer's Blackbird
Acorn Woodpecker                 Canadian Goose
Mountain Chickadee               Coot
Mallards                                Band-tailed Pigeon
European Starling                  White-Breasted Nuthatch

Day trip birding to SAN DIEGO: Elijo Lagoon
Willet
Whimbrel >
Sora
Red-winged blackbird
Widgeon
White Crowned Sparrow
< Least Tern
Snowy Egret
Green Heron (pretty sure)
Towhee
- Spotted and CA
< Costa's Hummingbird