AR04/03 SB County Museum 23FEB04

Braving inclement weather, 21 Big Morongo Birders went to Redlands when the museum is closed to the public, and were entertained by Gene Cardiff who took us on a guided tour of the most wonderful displays of birds, nests, eggs and pictures. Not content with that, we were shown to the library, remarkable in itself, and shown - and handled - examples of the vast number of stuffed birds in storage. Gene estimated a total in excess of 20,000!. Later he demonstrated his technique for stuffing and mounting the birds.

Following a picnic lunch by the Santa Ana River, thankfully without rain - we were very fortunate - we had a short bird walk and saw;

American Goldfinch Lesser Goldfinch Turkey Vulture
Bushtit House Finch Red Tail Hawk
Yellow Rump Warbler Western Meadowlark Black Phoebe
California Thrasher Spotted Towhee White Crown Sparrow
Bonaparte's Gull Brewer's Blackbird Red Shafted Flicker
Phainopepla California Towhee Downey Woodpecker
Western Bluebird American Crow Red Wing Blackbird
Killdeer Bewicks Wren Song Sparrow
Coopers Hawk American Kestrel Common Yellowthroat

The down side was that many of us were very conscious of having insufficient time to do justice to the very extensive and beautifully arranged displays - but then that is encouragement to return!

Our sincere thanks go to Dee for arranging today and especially to Gene who gave us his time, and whose patience made the difference on this very special day.

Barry Parkes
bbparkes@ix.netcom.com

AR04/02 Salton Sea 13FEB04

Sixteen Big Morongo Birders spent around twelve hours driving around the Salton Sea in weather straight from Central Casting, and seeing 69 species. I drove 180 miles, Wander Woman rode 306 miles - and not once did she stop talking!
Low Spot: we didn't get a good sighting of a Burrowing Owl, although we did briefly see two. Sorry Kay; failed.
High Spot: We saw a Peregrine Falcon and a Merlin on exactly the spar and in exactly the tree respectively, that Kay sent us to: full marks! Also we met Linda and Sharon, both wasting away from too much Hiking and not enough Birding: super to see them both after so long, but we failed to find the Least Bittern that Linda had taken a fine picture of. We had very good sightings of American Redstarts.
California Towhee White Crown Sparrow Red Wing Blackbird House Finch Blue-Grey Gnatcatcher
Verdin Yellow Rump Warbler Black Phoebe American Redstart Ladderback Woodpecker
Coot Great Blue Heron Northern Shoveler Pintail Green Winged Teal
Orange Crown Warbler Ruddy Duck Pied Billed Grebe Song Sparrow Black Crowned Night Heron
Marsh Wren Northern Harrier Say's Phoebe Mallard Double Crowned Cormorant
Gambel's Quail Great Tailed Grackle Cowbird Brewer's Blackbird Black Tailed Gnatcatcher
White Faced Ibis Abert's Towhee Ruby Crown Kinglet Great Egret Black Necked Stilt
Cinnamon Teal Violet Green Swallow Tree Swallow White Throated Swift N Rough Winged Swallow
Barn Swallow Peregrine Falcon American Pipit Snowy Egret Ring-Billed Gull
Long Billed Dowitcher Killdeer Western Sandpiper Black Bellied Plover Snow Geese
Burrowing Owl Long Billed Curlew Cattle Egret Western Meadowlark Mountain Plover
American Kestrel Merlin Red Tail Hawk Cooper's Hawk House Sparrow
Common Ground Dove Moorhen Loggerhead Shrike American Wigeon Black-shouldered Kite
White Pelican Savannah Sparrow Blue Winged Teal Mourning Dove ................. and two Coyotes
It was a really good and very tiring day; thanks to all, and to Margaret for the Specie List. It's always fun to argue about the specie reconciliation!
Next outing scheduled is San Bernardino County Museum and Gene Cardiff on 23rd February. Meet at Denny's at I10and Indian at 9am. Usual pool from High Desert.

Queries or suggestions, e-mail or call me at 760 328 6750. Good Birding!..................bb

Barry Parkes
bbparkes@ix.netcom.com