Another Sojourn at The Sea

On Saturday, I had the opportunity to attend a day trip to the Salton Sea with the Junior Naturalists from Sea and Sage Audubon. I was just there less than a month ago with my dad and John Garrett, but birding around the Salton Sea is always worthwhile and I reckoned we might find a few different birds. I was right.

Instead of taking the boring freeway route to the sea through Riverside, we decided to take a more winding route through the mountains and desert of San Diego County. I met Kate Grabenstein (the head of the Junior Naturalists) and Alison George (one of the other Junior Naturalists) at the Audubon House in Irvine and we quickly set out. We met up with a few other Junior Naturalists at a rest stop near Oceanside, where I actually found some of my best photo opportunities of the day. A bunch of tame California Gulls and Red-winged Blackbirds roamed the parking lot, posing nicely for the camera.





After a lengthy drive through the heart of San Diego County, we pulled into the parking lot at Ocotillo Wells in the Anza-Borrego Desert. Birds were not very plentiful in this arid region.



We took a quick stroll through the surrounding desert to view the plentiful wildflowers. In a short time we found a variety of flowers, some with illustrative names, including Sand Verbena, Arizona Lupine, Brittlebush, Desert Sunflower, and Brown-eyed Primrose.



I also came across this gaudily colored lizard here. I was hoping it would be an exciting one I’d never seen before, but a quick check in my reptile field guide revealed that it was a Common Side-Blotched Lizard. All the lizards I photograph turn out to be Western Fence-Lizards or something with “common” in its name…



We drove the last few miles through increasingly desolate habitat towards the sea. It wasn’t until late morning that we arrived at Unit One of the Sonny Bono Salton Sea NWR at the end of Vendel Road. The thousands of Snow Geese present last month were nowhere to be found. The lack of geese was somewhat disappointed, though we did find Loggerhead Shrike, Sora, and Clapper Rail as consolation prizes.



Our growling stomachs demanded food, so we drove on to Obsidian Butte for a picnic lunch. Perched on rocks above the beach, we studied gulls, shorebirds, and ducks while munching on sandwiches. Again, there seemed to be fewer birds than last month, but still plenty to keep us occupied. Once we finished, we packed up the remnants of our lunches and headed on to the headquarters of the Sonny Bono Salton Sea NWR.

The patches of trees and bushes around the refuge headquarters provide some habitat for land birds, which are generally relatively scarce around the Salton Sea because of the lack of trees. It didn’t take long to spot an Abert’s Towhee, a new species for several of the other Junior Naturalists, clinging precariously from a feeder by the parking lot.



We wandered through the trees by the headquarters and admired the Eurasian Collared, Mourning, and Common Ground-Doves waddling around all over the place. Gambel’s Quail, White-crowned Sparrow, and Verdin were also rampant. A ranger from the refuge headquarters appeared out of nowhere and asked, “Wanna see a Barn Owl?” Of course we did. He directed us to a palm tree by the parking lot, and sure enough, a lovely Barn Owl was tucked back behind some of the fronds.



The long loop trail around the refuge was too alluring to resist, so we spent at least an hour hiking the loop. We finally found a few hundred Snow Geese, along with some Ross’s Geese, feeding in the big field by the observation tower. There were lots of birds in the ponds and on the seashore, but nothing really new. It was a long and hot walk back to the cars.

Red Hill, perhaps the single most famous (and even infamous) site at the Salton Sea, was next on our agenda. I couldn’t resist taking some cheesy landscape shots here.



The birds did not disappoint at Red Hill. Thousands of gulls, shorebirds, and ducks swarmed all over the mudflats and water around the marina. In short order we spotted the first Dunlin, Western Sandpiper, Western Grebe, Marbled Godwit, and Long-billed Curlew of the day. With my scope I managed to spot a Yellow-footed Gull resting on a mudflat at least half a mile away. It was soon joined by a Glaucous-winged Gull. Alison and I took off across the mudflat, which was nice and dry in most areas but treacherously slimy in other parts, in order to obtain photos of the Yellow-footed Gull. When we finally drew close to the gull, we discovered there were actually two Yellow-footed Gulls.



We could have easily spent the remaining daylight birding at Red Hill (there are so many thousands of birds to sort through!), but everyone else was interested in seeing Burrowing Owls. We sped over to the intersection of Sinclair and Blair Roads were my dad, John, and I saw a pair in February. On the way we happened across a burned field covered in Mountain Plovers, which was worth a quick stop to scope out. We located the Burrowing Owls without any trouble.



By now light was fading as the sun slowly sank toward the hills to the west. Kate, Allison, and I (everyone else had headed for home by this point) made a quick stop at the Wister Unit to see what was around. We were treated to a lovely sunset over the sea. I attempted to document it, but my camera did wacky things to the background.



Daylight was almost entirely gone by now, but we decided to take a cruise down Davis Road to see if we could hear anything. An American Bittern flushed from a roadside ditch as we slid past, and a short distance farther down a Clapper Rail was calling incessantly from a small patch of cattails near the road. In just a few more minutes of birding, we heard several more Clapper Rails, a few Soras, and a Common Moorhen. Now birding in utter darkness, we left the Wister Unit to the howling Coyotes (there were many) and started the homeward journey. I finally got home around nine-thirty.

It was, as every jaunt I’ve taken to the Salton Sea has been, an awesome trip. I didn’t see any life birds, but everyone else got at least one. I just enjoy seeing the sea and all the birds it hosts. I can’t wait for my next trip over there, which probably won’t be until next winter; in the summer, the sea smells horrific and the temperatures are crushingly hot.

See Ya at the Sea - Part I

Two happy birders...

The Salton Sea, while relatively unheard of among non-birders, is famous among birders. However, the Sea’s fame is mostly caused by its population of non-breeding Yellow-footed Gulls. This hulking, dark-backed gull has a rather limited range, being found mostly in the Sea of Cortez. The Salton Sea is the only spot in the United States where this species can be found reliably.

Unfortunately, the Salton Sea is often passed off as a one-species hotspot. This could not be farther from the truth. The area around the Salton Sea is an excellent birding destination at any time of the year. I was keen on visiting sometime this winter, and after convincing my dad that a camping trip to the Salton Sea would be fun, we scheduled a weekend trip to the Salton Sea the second weekend in February. I dragged my friend John Garrett along, even though he was terrified of getting bogged down in the mud wallows of roads around the south end of the Sea.

We left my house in the afternoon on Friday. The horrific traffic through Riverside slowed us down a little, but we made it to Mecca Beach Campground at the north end of the Salton Sea in about three hours. The choice birding areas are around the southern end of the Sea, but Mecca Beach, an hour from the southern end, was the closest civilized campground. Before we even exited the car, I spotted the previously reported Lesser Black-backed Gull loafing on the beach. The presence of this bird was one reason why I chose this particular campground. John and I abandoned my dad as he registered and sprinted down the beach to the gull as light was fading.



John and I realized that it might be a good idea to get the tents erected before it grew completely dark. We managed to do so, even though a strong wind was whipping in off the sea. The tents firmly staked down, we joined my dad as he prepared our dinner of kebabs and beans. I discovered that it is possible to toast bread over an open fire. Plain toast isn’t very appetizing, but to my delight I found that toast slathered with pork and beans is downright delicious.



After a fitful night of alternately dozing lightly and listening to trains roaring by on the nearby tracks, I awoke at five fifteen. We hurriedly gathered our things and departed the campground, burrowing south through the darkness towards the south end of the Salton Sea. Our first stop was Davis Road and the Wister Unit. We weren’t looking for anything in particular, but instead marveled at the thousands of ducks, shorebirds, pelicans, cormorants, gulls, and swallows. John and I couldn’t resist photographing a massive tornado of swallows that were swarming on the telephone wires along McDonald Road. Look carefully – there are three species of swallows on that wire!



I had no solid itinerary for the day, so we decided to move on to some areas around Calipatria. As we were cruising south along Highway 111, John and I simultaneously noticed a burned field full of shorebirds. I fumbled with my binoculars, attempting to identify them. “Uhhh…” I mumbled as I signaled to my dad to pull over. John was faster. “Mountain Plovers!” he shouted as we rolled to a halt on the muddy shoulder of the highway. We tumbled out of the car and enjoyed fine looks at these classy little plovers foraging in the field. Life bird for me. The entire field was sprinkled with them – I estimated there were at least three hundred birds present. John and I intrepidly started crawling through the field, attempting to approach the birds for photos.



Unfortunately, the plovers were rather skittish and wouldn’t allow us to slither any closer than about thirty feet. This isn’t close enough to obtain good photos with our little three hundred millimeter lenses, but we still filled up lots of space on our memory cards with plover photos. We ended up with dozens of distant plover pictures and really sooty jeans.



Our next major stop was the Calipatria State Prison, or rather a big field adjacent to the prison. A handful of Sprague’s Pipits have been wintering in this particular field. This is one vast field, so we were faced with a needle in a haystack search. The only way to get a glimpse of these elusive little brown birds is to walk them out of the field, so we set off, trudging through the short dead grass. We immediately began kicking up Savannah Sparrows and Horned Larks, but no pipits. John and I made a couple passes through the field, which was at least half a mile long, with no luck. We couldn’t spend the entire day walking around a barren field, since there were plenty of other birding spots waiting to be visited, so we reluctantly aborted the mission. The only consolation prize was a quick sighting of a small flock of Chestnut-collared Longspurs, another life bird for me. I had fun photographing a big flock of Cattle Egrets that flew in just as we were leaving.





As we were speeding down Sinclair Road toward the actual seashore, my dad suddenly swerved the car to the side of the road. The reason? Two absolutely stunning Burrowing Owls, perched beside their lair like two little statues. Traffic was nonexistent along this road, so we slowly backed up along the road and John and I began clicking away at the two owls through a rolled-down window.



This was the best look at a Burrowing Owl I had ever had. We saw only a few others throughout the rest of the day, despite John’s promise that they would be “all over the place.” Here’s a shot of the second owl.



By now it was lunchtime, so we dined on peanut butter and grape sandwiches at Red Hill. Red Hill, located right at the edge of the sea, is an excellent spot for finding shorebirds, gulls, and others. During our brief visit we spotted Common Goldeneye, Yellow-footed Gull, and dozens of others.

The whole story of our Salton Sea trip is too long to fit into one blog post, so I’ll leave you hanging here. So far, it’s been an excellent trip. Look for part two in a few days!