Trail Maintenance at Calavera

My neighbors Jerry and Wanda have worked for years to maintain the trails at nearby Lake Calavera Preserve.  I have helped Jerry a few times in the past couple years doing trail work. Tuesday, we cleared out mud and vegetation that was clogging the water flow under a small bridge.  This is volunteer work authorized by preserve personnel.

 During the last big rain, water flowed over and around the bridge and was beginning to wash out the trail. Jer is assessing the job.

 Before...

...and after.  Hopefully this will help save the bridge and the trail.

Birding at San Elijo Lagoon

Sunday afternoon, we went for a little hike along the shores of one of San Diego's largest coastal wetlands, the San Elijo Lagoon.  It is now under conservancy protection, but has suffered much damage from the past when it was used for salt harvesting, sewage pond settling, and duck hunting.  It is still compromised by being crossed by Interstate 5, The Coast Highway, and railroad tracks. Nevertheless, it is a great place to see a variety of birds and other wildlife.

Where I could, I stated if  a duck was displaying its breeding plumage.

 Northern Pintail, adult male breeding.

 Northern Pintail, adult female.

 Green-winged Teal, male and female breeding.

 American Wigeon, male and female breeding.

 American Wigeon, male breeding.

 Ruddy Duck, male.

 American Wigeon preening.

 Snowy Egret.

 Dowitchers.

 Clapper Rail.

 The Clapper Rail was a first for us, and it gave us a good show.

 It found a crab in the mud.

 Hello, rail!

 Meanwhile, this Great Egret had a much more patient hunting approach.

 We watched this White-tailed Kite take off from this perch, circle around the area, hover and drop to the grass, and return with this mouse -  all in about 2 minutes.

 After eating some innards, it swallowed the rest, whole.

 A pair of Northern Shovelers, breeding.

 A pair of Gadwalls, breeding.

 Female Gadwall.

Male Gadwall, breeding.

It was exciting to have seen such a variety of birds in less than two hours.  The late afternoon sunlight added richness to the colors, also.  We are looking forward to seeing this area again soon!

Anza-Borrego Desert Overnight

Saturday, we headed out to our get-away spot in the Anza-Borrego Desert for an overnight stay.

On the way, we took a side trip up Mine Wash to the site of a seasonal Kumeyaay village.  There were over a hundred grinding holes, or morteros, in the rocks.

 Nearby was this interesting split through this massive boulder.

We drove on further to our camping area in Pinyon Wash.

We awoke to a spectacular sunrise.  Our goal for the day was to do a trail-less hike up Bighorn Canyon, which we'd done several times before, then cross over a ridge and hike down Nolina Canyon back to our camp, a nine mile trek.

 One of the few plants flowering this time of year.

 The morning light back-lighting the cholla cactus.

 This is a male Phainopepla, a rather enigmatic bird. I read that it breeds twice each year but in two entirely different habitats - the desert, and then the forests in southern Mexico. In the desert, it eats mistletoe berries, approximately 1,100 per day which gives it the water it needs.  When pursued by predators or handled by humans, it can mimic the calls of at least 13 other bird species.

 Up near the top of Bighorn Canyon there are eerie looking mudstone caves.  Nearby, we checked on Blue Spring for wildlife activity.  We were seeing numerous Bighorn Sheep tracks and scat, but no sightings were to be had.

Our new route now was to go up and over this ridge.

 Gail manages a smile coming up the steep, crumbly, and thorny slope.  Moments later, I had my knee stabbed by a yucca spine, which broke off in my knee.  Luckily, I was able to pull up my jean leg and pull it out. They hurt more than you would think - there must be some toxin in those spines!

 I took a few thorn and spine pictures afterwards -  cholla here.

 Yucca spines like the one in my knee.

Ocotillo shoots are well armed.

 This snail shell was a bit puzzling, considering how dry the desert is.

 Another thorny bush.  I didn't get a good photo of cat's claw, which has disguised thorns that point backwards.  Once they catch you, you have to reverse direction or they will rip your clothes.

 It would be fantastic to watch an earthquake in these canyons.  There are so many boulders ready to fall down most of the canyon slopes.

As we came out onto the flatter Mescal Bajada, we passed an unidentified tree, also protected with spines.

Well, time to head on out.  It was a fine hike, even if we didn't see much exciting wildlife.  We did see a couple jackrabbits, hummingbirds, a red-tailed hawk, ravens, and a dragonfly, in addition to the numerous Phainopeplas.  I can't wait for spring and the emergence of reptiles!