Salton Sea
In early January 2018, we left Caliente Springs near Desert Hot Springs for places south, stopping for 4 days at the Salton Sea to do some bird watching. This area of California was once a thriving tourist destination after the ‘Sea’ was created by an engineering mistake - the valley flooded from the Colorado River in 1905. Because the water is evaporating faster than any water entering the sea, the volume of the sea is decreasing, leaving piles of barnacle shells and dead fish on the shore. The tourists have left but the birds return to one of the most important birding areas on the Pacific Flyway.
(click on any of the photos to see larger photos and/or hover over a photo for text)
It was a bit smelly for the first day but after it rained, the smell from the rotting algae bloom disappeared and we were able to explore the area. We drove down to the southern end of the Sea to the Sonny Bono National Wildlife Refuge for the Snow Geese and Burrowing Owls.
On our way back, we stopped to see Salvation Mountain and Slab City, a patch of desert behind Niland. The ‘mountain’ had been created by an eccentric named Leonard Knight and is now being maintained by some who squat with their broken-down RVs in Slab City (use your imagination on that one). We also drove into Bombay Beach, which is really a ghost town with some owners still keeping their homes decent while others crumble around them. The Drive In theatre is still operational with the side of a semi-truck as the screen. Comfy seats available in the old cars lined up in front of the ‘screen’.
Yuma, Arizona
Moving south again, we stayed for a month at Westwind Resort in Yuma which is twice the size of Caliente Springs with lots of activities offered but no waterball which we really missed. This resort is a very musical place with jam sessions, choral practises, dances every Friday with a live band, Tribute concerts (The Eagles and CCR) every Saturday attended by 600+ people. The outdoor shuffleboard courts were well maintained so a delight to play on. Most of the folks here were from Alberta or Saskatchewan – maybe they feel at home in the desert as it’s flat with a few mountains on the horizon.
Looking for something to do while in Yuma, we drove 155 miles north to Lake Havasu which was hosting a balloon festival. The festival is not on the scale of the one we’ve heard about in Albuquerque, New Mexico but we had fun with photographing the balloons. On our way back to Yuma, we stopped at Cibola IBA (Important Bird Area) along the Colorado River to see the flocks of migrating Sandhill Cranes, Canada Geese and a coyote setting out for his nightly prowl.
The Imperial National Wildlife Refuge in the Yuma area was calling us so one day we visited the outdoor museum at the Yuma Proving Grounds where decommissioned tanks and rockets are on display. We also explored the McAllister Lake area, looking for birds.
Another day, we visited Algodones in Baja, Mexico to have our teeth cleaned and buy reading glasses. Many Americans from the southern States go to Mexico for cheaper medical care - there are more than 350 dentists within 10 minutes walking distance of the border, along with cheap booze and even cheaper prescription drugs. We braved a lunch at a café on a side street – very tasty and inexpensive. Algodones is a 30 minute drive from Yuma, where you can park for US$6 and walk over the border with little hassle – the US border folks aren’t interested in us senior Canadians.
Each Wednesday, we joined a group of birders at the East Wetlands in Yuma. One morning, we stayed later and browsed the grounds of the Yuma Territorial Prison (1876 To 1910) and another day visited the West Wetlands Park which has been reconstructed from a landfill to a bird and people friendly area. There was even a Date Festival with the usual community activities – dancing presentations, street fair with food, evening entertaining and booths selling hand bags to carry your guns!
San Diego
February 2nd saw us on the road from Yuma, Arizona and 3 hours later we arrived in San Diego, California. San Diego is one of our favourite cities as it has a mild climate and we were back at the ocean again.
Later that day, we made our way down to the San Diego airport and picked up our Victoria friend, Cathy Corbett. She would spend 6 days with us exploring some of the sights of San Diego such as Balboa Park, San Diego Safari Park, the La Jolla shoreline, Imperial Beach and some of the great birding sites in the San Diego area. There was even a bit of time to do some shopping but alas, the time went by way too fast and then Cathy was on her way back to the frozen north.
Jeannie and I spent the next several weeks birding in some of the areas we had known about from previous trips and found a number of nice birds such as Red-crowned Parrots, an Allen's Hummingbird and an immature Tricolored Heron. We joined an audubon group to visit a working salt works and saw thousands of Horned Grebes
Finally the Audubon Bird Festival was on and for 4 days we were fully involved in talks, workshops and field trips, all to do with local birds.
One trip was along the U.S. and Mexican border where, contrary to what one might believe, there are a number of walls which divide the two countries. These walls have been in place for many years. We could easily see Tijuana across the walls. Interesting that in Mexico the houses are built right up to the edge of the border while in the U.S. there is nothing but empty land for many hundreds of meters away from the walls.
Another trip took us up into the mountains east of San Diego. There was a fair amount of snow on the ground which made moving around a little more difficult but we did not see much that was new to us although a flock of wild turkeys were unusual.
A third trip took us to Lake Hodges where we were able to watch Western Grebes and Clark’s Grebes do their mating dances called a “rush”. I was able to get some good photos of this behaviour and this was a first for us. Our guide was exceptional in that she could tell from some of the birds’ vocalizations when they were going to “rush” and where in the large lake to point our cameras.
Our fourth trip was called San Diego 100 and it was an intense 12 hour day as we moved from site to site with our very knowledgeable guides in an attempt to see or hear and identify 100 different species in the trip. We finished the day with 116 species and some very tired birders. We did see or hear several birds that were new to us including California Gnatcatcher, Red-masked Parakeets, Scaly-breasted Munia and two Nazca Boobies! The Nazca Boobies are normally found in southern Baja so they were a rare sighting for San Diego. We arrived at the beach and were told to look at the aircraft carrier in the middle of the picture below. The two birds were on the red float under the numeral 6 on the ship. You can see a white dot on the float which was a little clearer in the spotting scopes but some people will be to any length to get that "life bird".
We spent a couple of cloudy and rainy days after the Festival in the RV getting caught up on sleep and editing all the photos that we had taken in the previous 5 days. We ended up with a total of 161 species of birds for our time in San Diego.
One afternoon, we drove the Jeep up to Corona Del Mar near Los Angeles and spent a wonderful evening visiting with my cousin Mary Cosgrove Jamieson and her two daughters Kim and Becky along with their husbands and families. It was an evening of discovery for us as we had met Mary only once before and had never met her daughters and their families. Looking forward to when we can do this again.
Fateful Journey Home
March 5th saw us on the move again. This time it was back to Desert Hot Springs and our friends at Caliente Springs Resort.
Unfortunately our plans were waylaid, 30 minutes from Desert Hot Springs, by a large piece of metal on the I-10 freeway. When switching lanes to pass a semi, the rig hit this piece of metal and it punched holes in our fuel filter, water/fuel separator and broke a clamp on the exhaust system.
We managed to coast off the freeway and down an exit ramp where the rig died. The California Highway Patrol stayed with us for the 3.5 hours it took to get a tow truck that could pick up our rig – we were partially blocking access to the road. As we sat waiting for our tow truck, another vehicle (green SUV) stalled in the intersection and was unable to start so vehicles had to squeeze between us and the SUV, except for the semi who decided to drive off the side of the road to go around us, wiping out a road side as he passed. When we noticed another vehicle on the exit ramp with it’s hood up, we knew we were in the “Bermuda Triangle of the Interstate 10” highway.
It took over a week for us to get the rig back and that meant staying in two different park models in Caliente and moving all the food from the rig to park model 1, then park model 2, then back to the rig. Not what we really wanted to do but being at Caliente and among friends was great. Exercise classes, water ball, euchre, bridge and cards with friends made the delay tolerable.
Lots of conversations with insurance companies but yet to be completely resolved (Coach Net and ICBC did eventually cover most of the costs including the $1000 towing bill and our rentals at Caliente).
We drove from Caliente Resort up to Lost Hills Resort and then spent the next day birding in Kern National Reserve in central California. We did see a great variety of birds but, as in many reserves, hunting is allowed and the birds are very nervous about humans so photos are really hard to get.
Drove on to Auburn and spent a week with our daughter and her family. A wonderful visit and a bit of a celebration because our daughter had received her California certification as a Veterinarian Technician. We are so pleased for her and so proud of her accomplishments and all that she does for injured wildlife. We were able to catch a volleyball game that our grand-daughter played in.
Spent an afternoon with Susie and Sev Byerrum, discussing our upcoming trip to the Mediterranean and what activities we wanted to do at each of our 21 ports of call. We are so hyped for this trip! Thanks for the wonderful dinner, Susie.
On our way north, we stopped for a day at Medford, Oregon so we could go back to Klamath Falls. This area hosts many birds in the lakes and fields.
Alas, our time with friends and loved ones in the U.S. was over and we had to head back to Victoria. Three fairly easy days of driving plus a ferry trip and here we are back in Victoria at Oceanside RV. Unbelievable gas prices here at $1.45 per litre or $6.00 per gallon which was selling for $3.05 per gallon in Port Angeles, just across the Strait.
All the overcast and cool weather does not do much for our tans but it is good to be back among our Canadian friends, if only for two weeks. Perhaps we can top up the tans in the Mediterranean? Stay tuned.