Friday’s foul weather convinced me to find somewhere in Lewiston to settle in for the day. I found a large, unused parking area north of town, between the fairgrounds and a stockyard to settle in. The wet snow created a bit of a muddy mess there, but not so much as to set a trap … Read more
Having spent Monday night at the Narrows RV Park near Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, I was ready to begin closing the gap to see my good friends in Payette Idaho. They served breakfast at the RV park, and I took advantage of their grub before saying goodbye to Malheur. There is a lonely Juniper tree … Read more
Someone kindly pointed out that the Scrub-Jay in this post is a California, not a Woodhouse’s Scrub-Jay. I will make corrections to the gallery at my next opportunity. My decision to visit the Malheur area required a long drive from Joseph to Burns that took me six hours of drive-time. I think there were five … Read more
Citizens Dock and the boat basin in Crescent City’s harbor have provided me with many productive bird meetings in my past travels through this region. During my past visits to the sheltered waters of the inner harbor, I’ve met Common Murres, Common Loons, Great Blue Herons, Black Turnstones, Belted Kingfishers, Wandering Tattlers, Western Grebes, and … Read more
I spent much of my last day on South Padre Island on the sandy flat beach north of the Convention Centre. Until this day, I’d neglected this habitat for gulls, terns, skimmers and shorebirds, and I knew I’d find Black Terns there. I’ve met Black Terns in the Great Basin, but not here in Texas, … Read more
In the coming weeks, I intend to spend as much of my time on South Padre Island as I can. Spring migrant birds could begin trickling into Texas any time. I like my chances of meeting these migrating birds at South Padre Island (SPI), and the more often I can visit, the more my chances … Read more
On this early Tuesday morning, cloudy gray skies greeted me at the South Padre Island Convention Centre (SPICC). I investigated the center’s bayside and its boardwalks, but the birds were not active. It encouraged me to see offerings of nectar and fruit placed around the grounds, even though no migrants were in view. Having these … Read more
In April 2020, as I was ending my first Texas birding adventure, I called my friend Jerry in Albuquerque and told him I was headed his way via Roswell. He suggested I visit the Bitter Lake NWR, and I’m so glad he did. Cassin’s Sparrows and Scaled Quail were the highlights for me on that … Read more
Before I left Albuquerque for points south, I stacked up several days’ worth of images from my last few photo safaris. In most cases, I’d have boondock camped and worked on the blogs to share my images and stories. Here in mid-winter central New Mexico, I felt like settling into a nearby RV Park. For … Read more
There is a broad grassy valley running west from the Ramona Airport through Highland Valley. The County of San Diego has seen fit to make a preserve of the land to protect threatened species such as Burrowing Owls and the Stephens’ Kangaroo Rat. Much of the preserve is out-of-bounds for public access. But near the … Read more
