Jet-set Birding With The Salton Six

The Salton Six

We slowly emerged from the clouds over Southern California as we began our descent into the Palm Springs Regional Airport in Thermal. I looked around at my fellow passengers, all five of them, as we bumped our way down out of the sky and thought to myself, "this is the life!" The circumstances that led me to be aboard this small jet are easily explained. Last year my friend Jeff Manker took a master birding class with the Golden Gate Audubon Society in which he studied hard, went on field trips, presented papers, made friends, and otherwise distinguished himself with the in-crowd of GGAS. As a result of his ornithangelizing and general good nature he made some cool new friends, one of which was celebrating his birthday this past weekend with a birding trip to the Salton Sea area. Jeff was invited to come along and he even got to bring a friend - me. The trip was all set up by Kenneth's partner Duncan and we were all treated to a once-in-a-lifetime experience that was both eye-opening and extremely enjoyable. Suffice it to say that it was not your normal birding trip. Also on the trip were two other members of the GGAS master birder class, Anushka and Marisa. When we stepped off the plane and into our vehicles we were a team of 6, ready to discover what this part of Southern California had to offer.

We used recent e-bird sightings and Jeff and my knowledge of the area from previous birding visits to put together a rough itinerary for our 2+ days and we started by chasing a wintering Pyrrhuloxia that was not far from where we landed. We missed it but still made a good start on our trip list at Lake Cahuilla Park seeing Verdin, Black-tailed Gnatcatcher, Osprey, American White Pelican and Costa's Hummingbird. This turned out to be our only stop on Friday afternoon as we got a little rain and ran out of daylight.

Vermillion Flycatcher

Saturday we decided to start our day in Big Morongo Canyon Preserve, a place that I have concluded never disappoints. In general, we were too early for spring migration but had the advantage of leafless trees as most of them were only just beginning to start the process of leafing out. We enjoyed good looks at Vermillion Flycatchers, Phainopeplas, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Orange-crowned and Yellow-rumped Warblers, White-winged Doves, Mountain Chickadees, and 3 wintering Long Eared Owls.

Burrowing Owl

For the rest of the day we circumnavigated the Salton Sea. We stopped at several locations along the eastern shore and added Eared Grebe, Great Egret, Horned Lark, Killdeer, Blue-winged Teal, Sora, and Black-necked Stilt. We weren't seeing very many birds until we hit Davis Road and the Imperial Wildlife Area Wister Unit. At the intersection of Hwy. 111 and Davis Rd. they have some nice ponds and an observation platform. Here we added Northern Harrier, Gambel's Quail, White-faced Ibis, Cinnamon and Green-winged Teal, Northern Shoveler, Long-billed Dowitcher and American Kestrel. Alongside flooded farm fields further south we found Long-billed Curlews, thousands of gulls (Ring-billed) and the largest concentration of Cattle Egrets I have ever seen. Reaching the southern end of this series of roads we came to the refuge headquarters of Sonny Bono NWR. As we were driving the approach road we spotted an active burrow of Burrowing Owls. These birds are in decline so it is always good to see them. What makes the refuge headquarters a great birding location is the oasis like garden they have built that is full of feeders and water. I recall my first visit here in 1983 and back then it was just a small building and a parking lot. Here we saw Hooded Oriole, Abert's Towhee, Gambel's Quail, and my one life bird for the trip - Common Ground Dove. Our final stop for the day took us to the southern most viewing platform to try for the Stilt Sandpipers that have been reported there. We were unable to get a look as the pond where they were probably roosting was beyond the "Closed, Do Not Enter" signs.

Common Ground Dove

Our final day started with a small hiccup as poor Duncan and Kenneth had to deal with a flat tire on their car but that only slowed us down a little. We began the day at Whitewater Preserve, a birding spot I had heard about but never seen. What a beautiful place this turned out to be with snow-covered San Gorgonio Peak in the background and a good deal of water flowing in the canyon. Two highlights at this location were California Thrasher and a pair of copulating Peregrine Falcons (awesome spot Marisa!). We then spent the remainder of our day touring through Joshua Tree National Park entering at the west entrance and making our way down to the southern entrance. We didn't see a lot of birds but we did see a lot of people. It was a Sunday and I think Joshua Tree was a major draw to many storm-weary resident Los Angelinos. We found White Throated Swifts and did have some exceptional looks at Black throated Sparrows here.

Black-throated Sparrow

All in all it was a great weekend and was a chance for me to make some new friends and try out a mode of transportation that I was quite unfamiliar with.  As we pulled up to the plane in our rental vehicles and boarded for the flight home our mood was jovial. We had all enjoyed one another's company and I felt that we had achieved that important measure of camaraderie that I always strive for - we could make fun of each other! As our trip ended I felt sure that the "Salton Six" would ride again sometime in the future but probably not with a plane involved.

Whitewater Preserve

The Whitewater River