Anza Borrego State Park

We were going to Anza Borrego State Park today, but the winds have kicked up again. All that blowing sand would not have made the hiking very pleasant! We will try again tomorrow.

Yesterday we took a short drive to Thousand Palms Oasis. This is a stand of Fan Palms right on the San Andreas fault. The fault allows water to surface there year-round so it supports the palms. Took an unplanned hike to another oasis a mile away. At this one, there is a pond. It was a very peaceful, relaxing place. In between the two oases is, of course, desert. We didn't plan on the walk, so we had no water with us and I was wearing sandals! It was also around 90 degrees. It got us to thinking about the early pioneers and Indians of this area. How wonderful to come across an oasis such as these after traveling across miles of hot desert!

A couple of days ago, we returned to the Salton Sea area. This time we went to the south end to the Sonny Bono Wildlife Refuge. It was a great place to do some bird-watching. I identified over 40 different birds and 14 were new to my life list! Glenn is working on adding the list to our website. Some of the birds we saw were: Bullock's Oriole, Greater Roadrunner, Black-necked Stilts, Green-winged Teal, Cinnamon Teal, Common Yellowthroat, Snow and Ross' Geese, Western Kingbird, and Least Sandpipers. There were a lot of gulls, but I didn't pay much attention to them because I find them so hard to identify. When we were leaving the area, I read that the Salton Sea is the only place in North America to see the Yellow-footed Gull. Rats! If I'd known that earlier, I would have tried to find that one.

Before we left the Thousand Trails campground, we went with a group to the Big Morongo Preserve for a hike. This is a birding "hot spot" because it has year-round water and large cottonwood trees. We saw a few birds, but when you are hiking with a group it is hard to stop and look for the birds. We did have a Western Scrub Jay follow us along the way. I understand that this is not unusual and there is often a pair. They are not shy at all and we got some great close-up pictures. After the hike, we drove on to Pioneer Town. This is basically a western movie set. A lot of TV westerns and movies were filmed here. A movie used this location just last year and has not made it to the theaters yet. We had lunch at Pappy and Harriet's Pioneer Palace. It is a popular eating place for bikers in the area and we can see why - great food! The sandwiches are enormous and mm,mm good!

Glenn and I returned to Big Morongo Preserve alone a couple of days later to hike around and make use of my new spotting scope. We were rewarded with a sighting of a Vermillion Flycatcher among other birds. This little bird, about the size of a Goldfinch is a brilliant red with black wings and back. It was not hard to spot at all, once we got in the right place. That's another new one for me. Also saw a Hooded Oriole, Bushtit, Western Bluebirds, Nutall's Woodpecker and a Cedar Waxwing.

When I reconstructed my Lifelist back in January (I lost the info when my 'puter crashed) I had around 100 birds on it. I thought maybe I could get to 200 by the time we returned home. I'm now at 184 and counting! Looks like I may exceed my goal. I know I'll add to it when we get to Trevor's because he will know what we saw together on our last trips there that I may have forgotten.

We've been enjoying the pool here and beefing up our tans. We know they will begin to fade shortly as we head north to cooler weather. We've really enjoyed this warm, sunny weather here in the desert, but we are looking forward to some new, greener scenery and to see the ocean again. The landscaped areas in the Palm Springs region have been beautiful to behold!
Between the native spring blooming plants and the petunias, geraniums and such, it almost makes your eyes hurt! Right now, the Palo Verde trees are blooming and their yellow blossoms remind me of the forsythia at home.