We would leave Bakersfield very early the next morning to be at Butterbredt Spring by sunrise. While our two mornings at Butterbredt did not produce the spectacular waves of migrants that we had last year, we did enjoy the spectacle of migration as birds were definitely moving through the canyon and spring on their way north. We had a fair number of Western Tanagers as well as Costa's Hummingbird, MacGillivray's Warbler, Lazuli Bunting, and Scott's Oriole to name a few. We then made our way up through Butterbredt Canyon, over the pass and down into Kelso Valley eventually coming out to Hwy. 178 at the Audubon Kern River Preserve. Interesting additions to our bird list along this stretch were: Willow Flycatcher, Woodhouse's Scrub Jay, Cassin's Vireo, and California Thrasher. We were unable to enter the Preserve which was not surprising for this time of year as the South Fork of the Kern River, carrying snow melt from the southern Sierra, cuts off the access road. This is an important preserve for the Yellow-billed Cuckoo which nests within its boundaries. I have heard them here in summer and hope to visit again at this time of year to see them once again. We were able to add Tri-colored Blackbird to our trip list here as there is a local population in the fields around the preserve. We then made an obligatory stop at "Migrant Corner" on Sierra Rd. and added Wood Duck and Barn Owl to the list.
From here we went east on 178 to check out another location that I had only just learned about, Canebreak Ecological Preserve, an interesting spot where the Kern River exits the mountains and turns westward into the Kern River Valley before flowing into Lake Isabella. By this time it was close to the middle of the day and not the best time for birding. We walked the trail, adding a few more species to the list, but perhaps the coolest part of this stop was the snowstorm of cottonwood seeds that surrounded us on our walk down the trail.
The next phase of this very interesting birding day was a drive up into the Owens Peak Wilderness on Chimney Peak Rd. This road climbs steeply up into the mountains and then travels north to intersect with Sherman Pass Rd. We decided to drive the entire road if we could and it proved to be quite easy. We enjoyed a nice lunch stop at Chimney Creek Campground about halfway along the route. Birds of note for this part of the day were Mountain Quail, Black-throated Gray Warbler, Olive-sided Flycatcher, and Mountain Bluebird.
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| Along Sherman Pass Rd. (Jeff Manker) |
We came back around via Walker Pass and made our way back to Butterbredt Spring to camp for the night. On our way back along Kelso Valley Road we stopped at another desert migrant trap called Frog Spring which proved to be very productive especially for warblers. Here we counted six different species: Yellow, Wilson's, Yellow-rumped, Nashville, Townsend's, and Orange Crowned. Although not a large area, it's blend of Cottonwoods, Willows and a 2,000 sq. ft. pond formed from the spring make this a top notch habitat for migrating birds.
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| Butterbredt Spring (Jeff Manker) |
We had one more morning at Butterbredt Spring before transfering from the northern to the southern Mojave and Joshua Tree National Park. Along the way we stopped at the Park in California City and picked up Neotropic Cormorant and a really nice Cooper's Hawk and at Mojave Narrows County Park where we added Vermillion Flycatcher and Black-chinned Hummingbird. Our accomodation in Joshua Tree for the next three nights had a nice patch of desert behind it that brought a group of Verdins in close. Other neighborhood birds were Lazuli Bunting, Hooded Oriole, and a pair of Great Horned Owls that emerged from the trees in the evening.
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| Big Morongo Canyon (Jeff Manker) |
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| Hiking down Big Morongo Canyon (Jeff Manker) |
Over the course of the next two days Paul would join us from Tucson and we would bird Big Morongo Canyon Preserve, Whitewater Preserve and several other local spots. One of the other spots that proved to be most interesting was Knott Sky Park in Twentynine Palms. We went there because of an ebird report of a Summer Tanager which we didn't see there but we found a bunch of other stuff including Gray Flycatcher, Cactus Wren, a variety of warblers, Chipping Sparrows, Black-headed Grosbeaks, Red-naped Sapsucker, and a hungry Sharp-shinned Hawk on the prowl. We returned in the evening expecting the lights to be on at the softball fields (a great way to see nighthawks) but they were not. There were parking lot lights though and many bats were flying around and eventually two Lesser Nighthawks made an appearance to add to our list.
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| Summer Tanager at Big Morongo Canyon Preserve |
Big Morongo Canyon Preserve is another great spot for birds. Another place in the desert where water comes to the surface and creates an ideal spot for both resident and migrating species. Over the years they have done an excellent job of constructing trails and boardwalks in the preserve and they have a nature center with many types of feeders set up that always puts on a good show. We made several visits to the preserve while in the area, one of which involved hiking the length of Big Morongo Canyon from top to bottom. Some of our highlights were Summer Tanager, Black-tailed Gnatcatcher, White-winged Dove, Brown-crested Flycatcher, Bell's Vireo, and Yellow-breasted Chat.
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| Sunset over Joshua Tree |
Our final night in Joshua Tree brought us an incredible sunset as well as time plenty of time to sing and reminisce about the past (see Paul's video for details). The next morning we were off early to bird the eastern shore of the Salton Sea. Jeff and I had been there a few years ago for our "Jet-set birding adventure" which I wrote about HERE. Michael and Paul had not been back since our original 1986 trip when we camped on Carcass Beach amongst the carcasses. The east shore was surprisingly quiet as we headed south. We did pick up Wilson's Phalarope and Vaux's Swift at the State Recreation Area. Things began to pick up when we left the main road at the Wister Unit of the Wildlife Refuge. We were hoping to find a Yellow-footed Gull but all of our candidates proved to be too far off for identifiable viewing. We did well with Terns however. Gull-billed, Least and Forester's all made appearances, the Gull-billed being a lifer for Jeff. We also found Common Gallinule, American White Pelican and Burrowing Owl on our way to the Refuge Headquarters where we also added Abert's Towhee and Common Ground Dove. Leaving the Headquarters it was a short jump over to Carcass Beach where we had our most productive encounter with the Sea. This of course was the place we had camped on our way back into California back in 1986. Arriving there very late at night and throwing out our sleeping bags to wake up the next morning surrounded by dead fish, something Paul's wife Irene will never let us forget. Here we found quite a few Snowy Plovers, Least Sandpipers, Red-necked Phalarope, Red Knot, Willet and Bonaparte's Gull.
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| Carcass Beach at the Salton Sea (Jeff Manker) |
As the afternoon progressed the wind began to rise in the Imperial Valley sending quite a bit of dust into the air. Our guidebook told us that there was the chance of a Gila Woodpecker in a park in Brawley and since we were on a mission to get to 200 species on this trip, every bird counted. We went for it and to our surprise found a nesting pair pretty easily. From here we headed back north to check out an oasis called Dos Palmas Preserve. It turns out that the San Andreas Fault runs right under it and is responsible for bringing water to the surface in a very dry area. This oasis was pretty spectacular, so densely packed with palms it was hard to find the water but it was there. Walking along the barely discernable path, one of us said it was like being on a Disney movie set. There were many Orioles and Grosbeaks but the best moment was when I looked up and said, "That looks strange," and Michael looking over his shoulder at what he thought was just a Turkey Vulture jokingly said, "Probably a Zone-tailed Hawk." Well, I took a moment to look a little more closely and sure enough it was a Zone-tailed Hawk. We had seen plenty of these in Arizona but this was the first time any of us ever saw one in California. This was probably the best surprise sighting of the trip.
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| Zone-tailed Hawk (Jeff Manker) |
The rest of our day involved getting ourselves to Corn Spring Campground in the new Chuckwalla National Monument. Google maps said this would take us about and hour and a half but as Paul said, "Chuck knew a short-cut that would take at least twice as long so we took that." In my defense I had contacted the local BLM office about the road and was told it was doable even with 2-wheel drive. This turned out not to be the case. Summit Road definitely required 4-wheel drive and it was a little rough at times but we eventually made it out to Interstate 10 where we took a brief dinner break. We rolled into Corn Spring Campground after dark and it wasn't long before we were all in the sack under the stars.
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| Dinner beside I-10 (Paul Sheppard) |
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| Corn Spring in Chuckwalla National Monument |
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| Petroglyphs at Corn Spring |
The next day we had an enjoyable morning birding the area around the campground and checking out the petroglyphs there, some of which date back as far as 10,000 years. They are said to be one of the finest examples of rock art in the Colorado desert. We did not add any new species to our trip list here and we were beginning to think we might not make it to 200 by the end. When we returned to the interstate it was time to break our fellowship, Paul headed east back to Tucson and summer field camp for his dendro class. Michael, Jeff, and I took the road through Joshua Tree National Park where we finally managed to nab a Canyon Wren before heading back north across the Mojave where we planned to camp on Greenhorn Summit near Lake Isabella. Acting on some intelligence we gleaned from ebird, we made a stop at Silver Lakes in San Bernardino County. This is another of those desert communities centered around artificial lakes. I suppose that they make desert living more comfortable but I wonder at the sense of this when water is such a scarce commodity. Anyway, it does attract birds and we added Red-breasted Merganser, Lesser Scaup, Franklin's Gull, Common Loon and Yellow-rumped Warbler to the list.
The drive north on Hwy. 395 was very scenic and pleasant, we joined 178 and went over Walker Pass for the second time on this trip and headed for Kernville for dinner in the pub there. We planned to camp at Greenhorn Park but Kern County had not opened it for the season yet so we ended up back down on the shores of the lake. We did have a very cool bird encounter near Alta Sierra as we were looking for somewhere to camp. Rounding a bend in the road we picked up the eye-shine of a Common Poorwill in the road. We were able to watch it for a minute or two before it moved into the trees and then again on our way back down. We hear this bird often but rarely see it so it was a treat for all of us.
We began the next morning at 187 species and we hoped that the montaine area around Greenhorn Summit would turn up 13 new birds before we left the mountains. Here is what we found up there: Dusky Flycatcher, Steller's Jay, Mountain Chickadee, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Brown Creeper, Townsend's Solitaire, Purple Finch, Fox Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, Hermit Warbler, Band-tailed Pigeon, and Hammond's Flycatcher. We were one short of our goal. We descended out of the mountains on Hwy. 155 hoping to pick up one more bird before declaring our trip over. This was another California road that I had not traveled on before and although it was pretty twisty it was quite scenic. As we left the mountains and entered the foothills we were saved by the noblest of birds (according to Benjamin Franklin that is) the Turkey. Crossing the road right in front of us, we hit species number 200.
Once again we had a great trip. It is always a highlight for me to take trips with these characters. The bonds we forge in college are the type that prove to be resistant to the forces of time. When we get together, barring appearances, not much seems to have changed. Paul says he's going to retire soon so maybe he'll be able to join us more often. As he left he was talking about Florida in 2 years time. I have a lot of birds to add to my list if we go there.
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| Inside Dos Palmas Preserve (Jeff Manker) |
