We got to Wawona about noon, Thursday, August 23rd. The info center told us there were few campsites to be had. We decided to get one of the last reservation required sites at Wawona campground. The reservation clerk found us a really nice site, up a hill, above the campground proper and near a bathroom (most important at night!) We set up our tent and drove down to Bridalveil Falls viewing area. There were no swifts by the falls, but a couple of granite pillars to the right, John spotted them. He has 18 power image stabilized binoculars so eventually he managed to see the field marks on all three species of swifts that had been reported there, Black, White-Throated, and, the one he needed, Vaux's Swift. 629
If you have never been to Yosemite, you must come in by the tunnel view road.
It was only 3:10 PM, John wanted to go out to Glacier Point. The drive there is SLOW. We started on the trail to Ilouette Falls about 4 PM. On the first switchback, I spotted the White-Headed Woodpeckers way high in a tree. There were a couple of chipmunks up there fighting the birds for the tastiest cones. John finally got good looks. 630 Later, some WHWO came in at eye level to pose for great pictures and chuckle to each other.
Unfortunately, some hikers returning from the falls said that they had seen tame 'chickeny' birds on the trail. Could there be Sooty Grouse out there? We would have to hike further than we had planned. Later, we canvassed some other hikers and they had not seen the 'chickens'. We turned back. Still, there were flutters and tweets to check out on the way. We didn't get back until about 6. We opted to take a trail to the point, then I opted to take a shortcut straight down to the parking lot and saw movement in some bushes. John! Take the shortcut! Mountain Quail! A whole flock of them! A male, two females, two immature males and several half-grown chicks. Before this, we have only had fleeting glimpses of this species. These birds wandered under some bushes and over some rocks, then across the street a patch of weedy grass by the parking lot. I even got a good picture of the male with my point and shoot. If we hadn't dilly dallied and taken the shortcut, we wouldn't have seen them. 631
We got back to Wawona about 8 and celebrated with a REAL dinner at the Wawona Hotel. We were glad we had set up camp already, crawled into bed and slept until 8:30 the next morning.
Saturday, August 25, 2012
Carmel Delight
Wednesday, August 22nd. Our sure-fire Chestnut-Backed Chickadee site is just before the bridge in Carmel, going south, turn right into a little cluster of cabins. It did take some patient sifting of juncos and Pygmy Nuthatches but we finally spotted the chickadees. 626
While I was buying ice, wine and cokes, John was looking through Birdseye for our next destination. He decided we should head for Yosemite. But, a little out of the way, was a Tricolored Blackbird site. We got to the marsh, no birds, but behind the marsh up a hill was a lovely manure pile. Tricoloreds are clumping birds like the Pinyon Jay. They like to be in a dense colony to roost and they seem to feed the same way. They were all together up by the manure pile, males, females and immatures. The easiest ones to be sure of were the females with their dark bellies below stripes. 627
Instead of heading for Yosemite when we got to the 41, John decided we should try a Birdseye site near Huntington Lake. We got a great campsite in Badger Flats, 00 and 1, the first right turn. It was a bit far from the outhouse, but was nestled under towering pines next to a gurgling creek with no neighbors! My kind of camping. That afternoon and the next morning we drove up towards the pass but saw none of the reported birds John needs.
John checked his official list and noticed he had not included the Lesser Nighthawk in his count. 628
Now we headed for Yosemite.
While I was buying ice, wine and cokes, John was looking through Birdseye for our next destination. He decided we should head for Yosemite. But, a little out of the way, was a Tricolored Blackbird site. We got to the marsh, no birds, but behind the marsh up a hill was a lovely manure pile. Tricoloreds are clumping birds like the Pinyon Jay. They like to be in a dense colony to roost and they seem to feed the same way. They were all together up by the manure pile, males, females and immatures. The easiest ones to be sure of were the females with their dark bellies below stripes. 627
Instead of heading for Yosemite when we got to the 41, John decided we should try a Birdseye site near Huntington Lake. We got a great campsite in Badger Flats, 00 and 1, the first right turn. It was a bit far from the outhouse, but was nestled under towering pines next to a gurgling creek with no neighbors! My kind of camping. That afternoon and the next morning we drove up towards the pass but saw none of the reported birds John needs.
John checked his official list and noticed he had not included the Lesser Nighthawk in his count. 628
Now we headed for Yosemite.
Monday, August 20, 2012
Pinyon plenty
Up along Highway 24 in Riverside County, we turned on Fobe's Ranch Road and wandered amongst the pines and cows awhile. There was a smattering of birds, all already seen, so we started back out. Then I heard a honky, wheezy call. In flew a Pinyon Jay! And another, and more, until at least fifty had passed through the trees by us, all croaking with glee. They are one of those species that 'clumps'. We have been in their proper habitat a lot and have only crossed paths with their mobile colonies a few times. They are definitely fun to see, and John needed them. 624
Down the road a bit, we camped in Hurkey Creek County Park, beautiful setting and nearly empty on a Sunday night. We found an wooded corner, laid our sleeping bags out on a tarp and spent the night watching the stars and hearing owls. The Great Horned Owl started hooting, then a Northern Saw-Whet Owl peeped and shrieked (a new bird! 625), and finally a Western Screech Owl popped popcorn.
The rest of the last two days we spent on dirt roads in beautiful back country where we should have seen some new birds, but didn't. Frustrating, but fun, sort of.
Down the road a bit, we camped in Hurkey Creek County Park, beautiful setting and nearly empty on a Sunday night. We found an wooded corner, laid our sleeping bags out on a tarp and spent the night watching the stars and hearing owls. The Great Horned Owl started hooting, then a Northern Saw-Whet Owl peeped and shrieked (a new bird! 625), and finally a Western Screech Owl popped popcorn.
The rest of the last two days we spent on dirt roads in beautiful back country where we should have seen some new birds, but didn't. Frustrating, but fun, sort of.
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
On the High 'See's
John called from San Diego to report on his pelagic on the Grande, August 13th-15th. The seas were a bit high on Tuesday, otherwise, not bad. Glad I wasn't there!
John saw four storm petrels - Ashy and Least - not great looks but good enough, Leach's and Black- good views. He also got the Sooty and Pink-Footed Shearwater, the Red-Billed Tropicbird and half of the split Xantu's Murrelet - the northern half, Scripp's Murrelet. Unfortunately, though several were spotted, John didn't get to see the southern half, Guadalupe's Murrelet. I checked out the pictures in Sibley, looks like the difference between Clark's and Western Grebes. I do not like pelagics! Besides sea-sickness and LONG periods of no birds, I don't like depending on the on-board experts to spot and identify the pelagic birds. Referencing my last blog, they did NOT see the Cook's Petrel!
John had a whole half of an afternoon to drive home! What to do! So he drove over to the Salton Sea and got the Yellow-Footed Gull! If you want to go back in the archives, you can read his attempt to see the Yellow-Legged Gull back in January. I think the entry is titled 'Watching all the Gulls go by'. Seems ages ago.
John is up to 623!
I am glad to hear that some people he encounters on trips actually enjoy reading my blog. I enjoy writing it.
John will be back late tonight. There is a nasty immigration checkpoint near the Salton Sea that can take a long time to clear. A few days to plan and then we will be off, or not, on a car trip.
John saw four storm petrels - Ashy and Least - not great looks but good enough, Leach's and Black- good views. He also got the Sooty and Pink-Footed Shearwater, the Red-Billed Tropicbird and half of the split Xantu's Murrelet - the northern half, Scripp's Murrelet. Unfortunately, though several were spotted, John didn't get to see the southern half, Guadalupe's Murrelet. I checked out the pictures in Sibley, looks like the difference between Clark's and Western Grebes. I do not like pelagics! Besides sea-sickness and LONG periods of no birds, I don't like depending on the on-board experts to spot and identify the pelagic birds. Referencing my last blog, they did NOT see the Cook's Petrel!
John had a whole half of an afternoon to drive home! What to do! So he drove over to the Salton Sea and got the Yellow-Footed Gull! If you want to go back in the archives, you can read his attempt to see the Yellow-Legged Gull back in January. I think the entry is titled 'Watching all the Gulls go by'. Seems ages ago.
John is up to 623!
I am glad to hear that some people he encounters on trips actually enjoy reading my blog. I enjoy writing it.
John will be back late tonight. There is a nasty immigration checkpoint near the Salton Sea that can take a long time to clear. A few days to plan and then we will be off, or not, on a car trip.
Sunday, August 12, 2012
The long and winding road(s)
John had a few days before his San Diego pelagic and a few birds he could get in our local mountains. I was antsy to join him in adventure so we headed out Friday, August 10th.
Our first stop was Forest Falls along Highway 38. Its canyon was created by the San Andreas Fault and is the headwaters of the Santa Ana River. But where was Monkey Face Falls where the Black Swift was reported? We pulled into a parking area to check our maps. Two ladies with binoculars were parked next to us. John asked them how their birding was going. Big smiles of recognition, and one of the ladies said, "You are going for the Cook's Petrel, aren't you!" Turns out they were Pat and Marian from the boat trip to Attu. They were in the area to go on the pelagic too. But we all were in the canyon looking for the Black Swift, NOT the Cook's Petrel. We conferred and decided to head back to the mouth of the canyon. A narrow crack in the cliff turned out to be Monkey Face Falls. Looking up, we could see clouds of swifts like pepper against the sky. We clambered up a narrow wash and settled down to prise the Black Swifts from the more numerous White-Throated Swifts. Trying to share our sightings was like getting someone else to see a lighting strike. Eventually, John was satisfied that he had gotten a sufficient look at several Blacks. The birds would soon be migrating south so John really needed to see them. 613
Now we would be searching for the Red-Breasted Sapsucker, William's Sapsucker, White-Headed Woodpecker, Pinon Jay and Mountain Quail. There were two promising Birdseye location pins and both were way off the main roads. Here's where 'the long and winding roads' come in. About 3 PM we found where Wild Horse Meadow Road, 2N03, intersected the 38 and started up a really rocky, really rutted road. It was only about 7 miles to the pin but our average speed was probably 4 miles an hour. Wild Horse Meadow is a lovely spot even though none of our target birds showed up. About 7 PM, we spotted a bobcat stalking prey across the meadow. The click of John's camera got its attention and it continued to stare at us until we left. As we drove into Big Bear City for the night, a Lesser Nighthawk darted across the road. 614
The next morning, we searched in the neighborhoods of Big Bear City for the Mountain Quail, no dice. The other Birdseye pin was on Arrastre Creek where it crossed Burns Valley Road, 2N02. This road was worse than Wild Horse, especially right around the creek crossing and again, we saw none of the target birds. We sure have seen some remote, beautiful country really close to a huge metropolis. Somewhere along this road, we saw a Gray Fox. There were extensive stands of big, healthy Joshua Trees as we turned south on Round Valley Road, 2N01back to the 38. I am particularly proud of my Rav4. It is just a 4 cylinder with no 4 wheel drive and it managed the fierce conditions. It has now earned the license plate RUFRD it inherited from our old 4 by 4 Blazer.
But wait! It is not yet noon! Let's try Wild Horse Meadow again! This time we started from Big Bear City. The road up to the meadow from the north side was mostly in pretty good shape. We still didn't see any target birds so we skittered down the rough half of the road back to Highway 38 and home.
Our first stop was Forest Falls along Highway 38. Its canyon was created by the San Andreas Fault and is the headwaters of the Santa Ana River. But where was Monkey Face Falls where the Black Swift was reported? We pulled into a parking area to check our maps. Two ladies with binoculars were parked next to us. John asked them how their birding was going. Big smiles of recognition, and one of the ladies said, "You are going for the Cook's Petrel, aren't you!" Turns out they were Pat and Marian from the boat trip to Attu. They were in the area to go on the pelagic too. But we all were in the canyon looking for the Black Swift, NOT the Cook's Petrel. We conferred and decided to head back to the mouth of the canyon. A narrow crack in the cliff turned out to be Monkey Face Falls. Looking up, we could see clouds of swifts like pepper against the sky. We clambered up a narrow wash and settled down to prise the Black Swifts from the more numerous White-Throated Swifts. Trying to share our sightings was like getting someone else to see a lighting strike. Eventually, John was satisfied that he had gotten a sufficient look at several Blacks. The birds would soon be migrating south so John really needed to see them. 613
Now we would be searching for the Red-Breasted Sapsucker, William's Sapsucker, White-Headed Woodpecker, Pinon Jay and Mountain Quail. There were two promising Birdseye location pins and both were way off the main roads. Here's where 'the long and winding roads' come in. About 3 PM we found where Wild Horse Meadow Road, 2N03, intersected the 38 and started up a really rocky, really rutted road. It was only about 7 miles to the pin but our average speed was probably 4 miles an hour. Wild Horse Meadow is a lovely spot even though none of our target birds showed up. About 7 PM, we spotted a bobcat stalking prey across the meadow. The click of John's camera got its attention and it continued to stare at us until we left. As we drove into Big Bear City for the night, a Lesser Nighthawk darted across the road. 614
The next morning, we searched in the neighborhoods of Big Bear City for the Mountain Quail, no dice. The other Birdseye pin was on Arrastre Creek where it crossed Burns Valley Road, 2N02. This road was worse than Wild Horse, especially right around the creek crossing and again, we saw none of the target birds. We sure have seen some remote, beautiful country really close to a huge metropolis. Somewhere along this road, we saw a Gray Fox. There were extensive stands of big, healthy Joshua Trees as we turned south on Round Valley Road, 2N01back to the 38. I am particularly proud of my Rav4. It is just a 4 cylinder with no 4 wheel drive and it managed the fierce conditions. It has now earned the license plate RUFRD it inherited from our old 4 by 4 Blazer.
But wait! It is not yet noon! Let's try Wild Horse Meadow again! This time we started from Big Bear City. The road up to the meadow from the north side was mostly in pretty good shape. We still didn't see any target birds so we skittered down the rough half of the road back to Highway 38 and home.
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Have some Madera, my dear
After a spectacular lightning show around El Paso, TX, John drove up to Springerville, AZ. Nearby Sipe, a White Mountain nature reserve, was someone's private bit of heaven and is now part of our nation's wild oases. Unlike some similar places, feeders are still being maintained thanks to volunteers. John found it through Birdseye and got the Lewis's Woodpecker and the Calliope Hummingbird there. Near Greer, AZ he saw the Grace's and Red-Faced Warbler again. The Virginia's Warbler is still eluding him and is probably sipping margaritas somewhere south of the border by now. Next year, I would like us to take a trip that targets all the 'regulars' John misses this year. Well, we'll have to see just how long that list is. His found list was now 610.
John drove south to Sunnyside Campground near Portal, AZ, our favorite corner of the world, past that huge pit mine along Highway 191, an unfavorite spot. Camping allows you to taste the full flavor of the environment and you meet such cool people. Driving back out of the South Fork of Cave Creek, John spotted the Arizona Woodpecker, 611.
John drove over the heavily burned Chiracahuas to Onion Saddle. Rustler Park was closed off with gates, but walking entry was permitted. A few Mountain Chickadees flitted around. I drove through the area last fall. There were a few pockets of forest left here and there. Some areas were only ground burns. The Chiracahuas are still worth a visit.
Madera Canyon is a close second to Portal for us. John camped at Bog Springs and hung around Kubo awhile. A lady said she saw coati, gray fox, bear and raccoon there. A guy said he saw black-tailed and tiger rattlesnakes, gila monster and coral snake on the drive in from Green Valley. John missed some possible weird birds but got the Sulfur-Bellied Flycatcher, 612.
Montoso Canyon also had some cool birds reported. John settled for better views and pics of the Varied Bunting and the Nashville Warbler. He says he is on his way home today, August 8th. We will try our local mountains together and John will do a pelagic out of San Diego before we start out on an extended road trip.
John drove south to Sunnyside Campground near Portal, AZ, our favorite corner of the world, past that huge pit mine along Highway 191, an unfavorite spot. Camping allows you to taste the full flavor of the environment and you meet such cool people. Driving back out of the South Fork of Cave Creek, John spotted the Arizona Woodpecker, 611.
John drove over the heavily burned Chiracahuas to Onion Saddle. Rustler Park was closed off with gates, but walking entry was permitted. A few Mountain Chickadees flitted around. I drove through the area last fall. There were a few pockets of forest left here and there. Some areas were only ground burns. The Chiracahuas are still worth a visit.
Madera Canyon is a close second to Portal for us. John camped at Bog Springs and hung around Kubo awhile. A lady said she saw coati, gray fox, bear and raccoon there. A guy said he saw black-tailed and tiger rattlesnakes, gila monster and coral snake on the drive in from Green Valley. John missed some possible weird birds but got the Sulfur-Bellied Flycatcher, 612.
Montoso Canyon also had some cool birds reported. John settled for better views and pics of the Varied Bunting and the Nashville Warbler. He says he is on his way home today, August 8th. We will try our local mountains together and John will do a pelagic out of San Diego before we start out on an extended road trip.
Saturday, August 4, 2012
Groovy!
After we parted in Missouri, John headed down to Texas. July 31st, he went to Laguna Atacosa and saw several Groove-Billed Anis. He returned the next day and saw none there. Such is the hit or miss of birding.
There are several 'missing' birds John could see in Texas. Some, he needs a lead on where they are hanging out. Some can only be stumbled upon, they are so sporadic. Alphabetically, a few 'wanted's are the Aplomado Falcon, Hook-Billed Kite, Muscovy Duck, Red-Crowned Parrot and White-Tailed Hawk.
Friday, August 3rd, John was back in Big Bend National Park. He talked to the rangers and found the Black Hawk's nest but no members of the family. He also took the 9 mile loop up to the Colima Warbler and didn't see it. This time, he didn't even hear it.
In the afternoon, John drove to Christmas Mountain Oasis down a long dirt road with frequent no trespassing signs. He was lucky to have had talked to the owners on the phone and got their permission to visit. He got through the gate and another mile of dirt road. In the middle of miles and miles of desolate, dry and rugged country, the owners maintain several groupings of feeders. A Sharp-Shinned Hawk landed a few feet from John, also attracted by the possibility of many birds. Besides great views of repeat birds, John got the Black-Tailed Gnatcatcher and, after many hummingbirds turned out to be Black-Chinned, male and female Lucifer Hummingbirds showed up. There were also swarms of dragonflies and butterflies. It was a delightful place to spend an afternoon.
John is heading for Arizona and is up to 608.
There are several 'missing' birds John could see in Texas. Some, he needs a lead on where they are hanging out. Some can only be stumbled upon, they are so sporadic. Alphabetically, a few 'wanted's are the Aplomado Falcon, Hook-Billed Kite, Muscovy Duck, Red-Crowned Parrot and White-Tailed Hawk.
Friday, August 3rd, John was back in Big Bend National Park. He talked to the rangers and found the Black Hawk's nest but no members of the family. He also took the 9 mile loop up to the Colima Warbler and didn't see it. This time, he didn't even hear it.
In the afternoon, John drove to Christmas Mountain Oasis down a long dirt road with frequent no trespassing signs. He was lucky to have had talked to the owners on the phone and got their permission to visit. He got through the gate and another mile of dirt road. In the middle of miles and miles of desolate, dry and rugged country, the owners maintain several groupings of feeders. A Sharp-Shinned Hawk landed a few feet from John, also attracted by the possibility of many birds. Besides great views of repeat birds, John got the Black-Tailed Gnatcatcher and, after many hummingbirds turned out to be Black-Chinned, male and female Lucifer Hummingbirds showed up. There were also swarms of dragonflies and butterflies. It was a delightful place to spend an afternoon.
John is heading for Arizona and is up to 608.
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