BMB05/14 Section 6 & Pipe's Canyon 21st March 2005

Six BMBs including the welcome return of Denny, and including flower hotshots Margaret and Betty had a wonderful morning at Section 6 and went on to visit Pipe’s Canyon, which raised more questions about how best to proceed.

Section 6 is immature, although there is plenty to see. Fiddleneck and Desert Dandelion abound, but many flowers are still in bud and a return visit in about two weeks would be fruitful. We mixed birds flowers and cottontails and here is what we found – although I am sure some were missed;

Canterbury Bells
Fiddle neck
Phacelia
Rock Wren
Gambel’s Quail
Cranesbill (Red-stemmed Filaree)
Desert Dandelion
Wallace’s Woolly Daisy
Scalebud
CA Tick seed
Chia
Desert Aster
Encilia
Lupine
Forget-me-not
Black-throated Sparrow
Fremont Pin Cushion
Indian Paint Brush
Purple Mat
Brown-eyed Primrose
Heliotrope
Lotus (Desert Rock Pea)
Chicory
Say’s Phoebe
Woody Bottle-washer?
Little Gold Poppy
Wishbone
White-throated Swift
Silver Puff
Gilia
Popcorn
Desert Mallow
Desert Tobacco
Sage Thresher
Red Tail Hawk (Pipe’s hereon)
Tidy Tips
Sand Verbena
Desert Almond
Golden Desert Trumpet
Baby Blue Eyes
Cactus Wren
Phainopepla
Scrub Jay



Pipe’s was a problem; part of the road to the trailhead has been washed away and access is via the ranger’s house. The wash has running water and quite dangerous rocks in it (at least Cadillacs don't like them). The trail is broken right at the start by running water, which is very pretty but does make for communication problems. There was no colour obviously visible and the canyon is clearly not mature in terms of flowers. The bottom line is don't feel guilty about missing it - but the hillsides down Pipe's Canyon Road from Old Woman Springs are covered with carpets of yellow.

Emily arrived yesterday and visited Section 6 with Mike in the afternoon. MrsM had hip replacement surgery yesterday and by evening was chirpy as you like and offering advice to the Eisenhower help. The signs are good.

Good Birding………….bb


Barry Parkes
bbparkes@ix.netcom.com
bigmorongobirders@earthlink.com

BMB05/13 Anza Borrego 14th March 2005

What can I say?

Twenty BigMorongoBirders left the truck stop at 7am and arrived at the Hawk watch shortly after 8am. We found an enthusiastic group of hawk watchers looking one or two miles to the east, trying to find some of the 150 Swainson’s Hawks which had arrived the night before. We watched, and looked through scopes at spots in the distance, said to be SWs, and moved to an area closer to the migrating SWs, where we did see some interesting kettles and migration. Several of our birders joined in trying to assist the Hawk watch team and having identified 141 Swainson’s Hawks migrating, the watch was suspended for the morning. Several of us agreed that this was an exceedingly steep learning curve, which we would hesitate to repeat.

At this point the vehicles scattered to the four winds, all, we think, via the excellent Visitor Centre. Some went to Henderson Canyon, some to the Salton Sea (where Dee and his army had lunch at Sonny Bono) but it seems many enjoyed their day, which is gratifying. Lucky MrsM was not there; she would have spoken directly. Apologies for the confusion - we will ensure better communication in the future.

Very fine flowers, limited in variety but good volume – lots of Indigo in flower, remarkably similar to Smoke Tree.

Nothing scheduled, but Good Birding……….bb

BMB05/12 Indio Hills 7th March 2005

Twelve Big Morongo Birders had a very fine day in the Indio Hills, which were awash with colour ranging from green mountains to yellow/blue/purple swathes, which were a sight to see – and surpassed the fine showing we had last year. We ran the no-name trail off Dillon and led by the inestimable Mr Smiley successfully challenged the unpaved road to Frontage junction, then on to the lower park at Cottonwood Springs. We saw so many species and your scribe’s record, which is only partial, was around sixty. Having been shamed by Linda into continuing my list it is included in my email advice - if you would like a copy please ask.

More flower walks will be arranged shortly (we hear that Section Six is almost ready) but we should find interesting flowers on our scheduled visit to Anza Borrego on Monday 14th. Meet at the truck stop at 7am, bring lunch and water. I have been reminded that this will probably be a full day outing, so be prepared.

Good Birding………..bb

BMB05/11 Indio Hills and Anza Borrego

Monday 7th March Indio Hills Wild Flowers. A repeat of last year's first flower walk, meet for car pool at Big Morongo, 7.15am and T/A Truck Stop (Burns Bros) at 8am. Bring water and a snack; we have no good feel for timing and will play it by ear.

Monday 14th March Anza Borrego. Intended as part of Anza Borrego hawk watch, very much with Swainson's in mind, but hopefully including interesting flowers. Meet for car pooling at Big Morongo 6.30am, T/A Truck Stop (Burns Bros) at 7am. Bring water and a snack; we expect to be back by lunch time.

We had a good walk this morning with twenty five birders (including three part-timers who left for the docent course). We saw 37 species including the Red-naped Sapsucker, several Lawrence's Goldfinch and one male Summer Tanager. Wonderful weather, and Spring is really on the way - and the Vermillion demonstrated that!

Your scribe visited Cibola last weekend and if you need to see Sandhill Cranes it has to be a good place to go. I saw close to a hundred in Alfalfa fields and flying, and dancing - quite a sight, with many Cattle Egrets mixed in.. Also lots of Kestrels, Meadowlarks, Cowbirds and zillions of GT Grackles. Many blackbirds mostly Red-wing and quite wonderful Yellow-headed. Interesting that the Cottonwoods there are fully leafed, and way ahead of those at Big Morongo.

Good Birding...........bb

Barry Parkes
bbparkes@ix.netcom.com
bigmorongobirders@earthlink.com