BMB06/13 General Update

Migration having wound down, our walks and our birds are not so busy as they recently were. On the Preserve, Vermilions are not so numerable as in the past, and two pairs of Cooper's are making an impact; one pair at the the new classroom deck has four healthy chicks which watch us down by the motor car, and Mom sits on the nest in the copse by the tennis courts and palms at the edge of the meadow.

Pipe's Canyon 2nd June 2006

A small group had a pleasant walk in quite warm weather, but it is fortunate that our interests spread beyond birds to flowers, butterflies, lizards and snakes, as our specie count reached an abysmal ten with no Mountain Quail seen or heard. It has to be said that our eyes and ears were not with us that day and the high spot may well have been the gourmet lunch following our walk.

Big Bear 10/11th June 2006

Eric and Ann Brooks, instructors at South Coast Botanic Gardens, and Margaret's mentors, very kindly invited us to join the field trip of their group to Big Bear. A very full two days of birding, reaching over 8,000 feet, brought a count of 69 species and your scribe saw a very fine immature Red Crossbill which posed for the scope for several minutes; sadly that was one that MrsM missed. Margaret provided the attached specie count listing for which we are thankful.

It was a great pleasure to spend two days with Eric, Ann and others of South Coast Botanic Gardens and we very much appreciated their hospitality.

Top of the Tram Friday June 30th
Meet at the tram around 930am for the first tram at 10am. We will take the one and a half mile Long Valley loop; bring a picnic lunch and water. There is a fair amount of water, though not so much as last year, and Hidden Lake is looking good; we might be persuaded to go there after the walk if people are interested.

Friends of Big Morongo now have very attractive embroidered polo shirts and caps for sale; as usual Betty is in charge.

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

Barry Parkes

bbparkes@ix.netcom.com