Ash Canyon - December 30, 2024

 I actually went birding on December 23 and had pretty good success, including a Sharp Shinned Hawk that perched on a dead branch less than thirty feet from me.  We stared at each other for perhaps ten minutes, then the Sharpie moved to another branch and posed some more.  Since this was the first time I've been so close to one, I took lots of photos.  Unfortunately, after moving the photos to my laptop, the hard drive on my laptop failed before I could back up the files.  Bummer.  A local repair shop replaced the hard drive but couldn't recover the data.  I haven't given up on recovering the data myself, so I'll keep you posted.  In the meantime, I'm back in business with a commitment to back up files before doing anything else.

There was a small, but congenial group of us at the sanctuary for my last outing of the year.  While there was nothing particularly noteworthy, I did get a nice variety.  On the way home, I stopped by a location known to have Scaled Quail, Gambel's Quail and occasionally others.  However, it is a private residence with a large yard.  The lighting was terrible and there is no place to park, so I stayed in my car and watched for traffic.  With all these handicaps, my photos weren't very good.  I'll have to return another time and try again.

White-crowned Sparrow

Western Bluebird (J)

Curve-billed Thrasher

Chipping Sparrow

Northern Mockingbird

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Inca Dove

Lesser Goldfinch (M)

Lesser Goldfinch (F)

House Finch (M)

House Finch (F)

White-winged Dove

Mourning Dove

Canyon Towhee

Bush Tit

Cactus Wren

Anna's Hummingbird

Scaled Quail
Gambel's Quail (M)

Greater Roadrunner & Scaled Quail


Comments

  1. Ashley ParkerJanuary 2, 2025 at 11:33 PM

    What beautifully sharp, well-framed shots. These birds must have known they were going on the blog and sat still for a moment.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Anza-Borrego Desert, California - April 7, 2024

Image
 I put this in the Arizona blog because it's a short trip and almost in Arizona, but I'm sharing it with Travelogue regulars as well, if that makes sense.  Anyway, I hope everyone enjoys a few scenes from the desert. The Anza-Borrego Desert is a huge area of sand, rock, mountains, canyons, arroyos, washes, a variety of plants and wildlife, and many unique formations and features.  There is a state park of some 640,000 acres, a state recreation area dedicated to off-roading of some 85,000 acres, the town of Borrego Springs at 28,000 acres and 4000 people, plus BLM land of untold number of acres.  Many snowbirds spend the winters here, while many off-road enthusiasts come year round to play in the vast sand box with 500 miles of suitable trail.  The entire area is available for camping without facilities, and there are several designated camping areas with facilities. The desert averages about five inches of rain each year, but there are years when winter rains ar...
Read more

Anza-Borrego Desert, California - April 8, 2024

Image
 A stop at the Visitor Center showed me the best spots for wildflowers were near the town of Borrego Springs, about 35 miles from my campsite.  This is a lovely town surrounded completely by the state park.  With seven acres per person, the town has lots of open spaces, filled mostly with creosote bushes and other desert plants.  There is a range of housing styles, from downright shabby to very nice, pueblo style or ranch style.  Cost of living here is pretty high, due to the usual California factors plus the remoteness of the area.  Regular gas was $6.10 and $6.30 at the two stations in town, diesel over $8.  Milk was $4.00 for a half-gallon, a box of crackers $5.59.  I managed to avoid buying anything else. The desert has many arroyos, so the roads can be somewhat like a roller coaster.  On the way into Borrego Springs, I entered the largest "dip", called Texas Dip because of its size.  I would guess it's about 75 feet deep and a quart...
Read more

Sierra Vista & Ramsey Canyon, AZ - May 30, 2024

Image
 For a change, I decided to visit San Pedro House and arrived before 7 am.  Apparently this was too early because there were almost no birds around, particularly none around the feeders.  Obviously, the volunteers had not yet arrived to put out the feed that brings in the birds.  It's clear the birds are smarter than I am.  So, I could either wait a while or go elsewhere.  Since I was wearing only shorts and a tee-shirt, and the wind was somewhat chilly at 59 F, I decided to go to Ramsey Canyon.  Along the way, I explored a couple side roads and found a few birds willing to pose. Northern Mockingbird House Finch (F) Scott's Oriole (F) Red-tailed Hawk Red-tailed Hawk Pyrrhuloxia (M) American Kestrel At the Ramsey Canyon bird sanctuary, I was surprised to learn there are only a couple hummingbird feeders in front of the office, where there used to be several more.  This is the area where I normally hang out, since I have trouble walking the steep tr...
Read more