Memories of Dos Picos Park

White-Breasted Nuthatch - Sitta carolinensisIn a deep, narrow valley west of Ramona California, is Dos Picos County Park. This is a nice little park with a little bit of everything for its visitors. Most of the facility is geared for camping, and on weekends, especially in the evening it can get pretty boisterous. I like to time my visits here for early weekday mornings, when the hoi polloi has resumed their day-to-day routines and peace and calm returns to the park.

Dominating the camping and picnic areas of this park is a mature coastal live oak woodland where the usual suspects of nuthatches, titmice, woodpeckers, warblers, jays, towhees, sparrows, thrashers, thrushes, hawks, crows and others make their permanent or seasonal homes. Near the the eastern side of the park at the bottom of the woodland, is a small pond where encounters with blackbirds, grackles and waterfowl are common. Up-slope, south of the main park is a hiking trail that can deliver meetings with chaparral loving species and provide commanding views of the valley.

The gallery below shows some of my favorite image from the park, and provide a sampling glimpse of the creatures that can be found here.

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