Swift-Tuttle and the Salton Sea

Thursday, we drove to the desert hoping for a good night of viewing of the the much hyped meteor shower.  Friday morning after 1:00 AM was supposed to be optimum for viewing up to 200 meteors per hour, caused by the earth passing through the debris trail from the Swift-Tuttle Comet.  It was considered an "outburst" due to the influence of Jupiter's position and gravitational pull.

We packed minimally, and headed to Little Blair Valley in the Anza Borrego Desert, arriving around 5 PM as the temperature started to ease.  There were some towering thunderclouds overhead, but we figured they would dissipate in the evening.

 Gail checks the area with binoculars...

and looks to the heavens.

We had time to kill, so took a little hike across the dry lake-bed, and up a rocky slope.  Can you see Gail near the middle of the picture?

 We had a fine view of the sinking sun and clouds.

There were a few other people who had driven to the area for the night views - ordinarily a rarity this time of year.

Back at our camp we ate sandwiches and spread out our sleeping bags.

The sky cleared, and after the moon went down around 1:00 AM, the Milky Way was quite easily seen.  The meteors were spectacular!  We saw smaller meteors every minute or so and a few big boys every now and then that left lingering trails for a few seconds.  We were not disappointed!  I tried to photograph them, but all my pictures were a letdown.  We slept little all night, partly due to the biting ants that were coming out of the ground next to our sleeping bags.

In the early morning, we could feel the heat rising, and drove out of the area.  On a whim, we decided to go explore the Salton Sea, about 40 miles to the east.

 Going down a rural highway near the south end of the sea, Gail spotted a burrowing owl.  We u-turned and drove back to find two at their burrow on a small levee.

 Burrowing Owls hunt at night, but often perch out in the daylight.  Here they are looking at a mouse that was approaching them, but they didn't go for it.

 Driving a little further, we saw more.  Some were even on power lines.

You can see two in the tree, and one on the ground (photo by Gail)

 The owls were near the town of  Westmorland just south of the Salton Sea.

 Some of the local artwork in the town of Calipatria.

 Interior decorating, too.

 Trying to make our way to the sea, we passed fields that had flocks of birds.

 There were many White-faced Ibis like the one preening here, white Cattle Egrets, and gulls.  Also in this picture is a smaller bird that I think is a Brown-headed Cowbird.

 In the background is a Long-billed Dowitcher (I think).

Next stop was the Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge.  The Salton Sea has become an important bird refuge on the Pacific Flyway due to the loss of marshland where the Colorado River used to flow into the Sea of Cortez.   I read that every species of bird in the continental U.S. has been spotted at the Salton Sea.  The refuge is huge, but I think we were the only ones there, probably due to the high humidity and 100 degree temperature.

 A pair of non-breeding Cinnamon Teal (I believe).

 Black-necked Stilt

 American Avocets

 American White White Pelicans have a wingspan only one inch shorter than California Condors.

 White-faced Ibis

 The refuge has various levees and ponds that cover miles.  I got to try out my new tracking skills in the dried mud on the levees.

 The next stop was the town, or almost ghost town, of Bombay Beach.  We are showing off our water skiing technique.

 Bombay Beach has a very tall undisguised cell phone tower.

 It has been called the poorest town in the state.  It has suffered floods from the Salton Sea, due to its elevation of 225 feet below sealevel.  It was a thriving resort and retirement community in the 50's and 60's.  Now it only has about 300 inhabitants.  Awhile back we had seen a documentary titled Bombay Beach that features some of the quirky residents - mostly a few kids that were growing up here, and their problems.

 Remnants of the flood section.

 Piers and docks left over from better times.  The sea has been dropping in level, exposing a dust that is becoming a serious air pollution problem.  Residents around the Salton Sea have a four times greater incidence of asthma, lung cancer, and other respiratory problems.

 A Brown Pelican diving for a fish.  We saw groups of White Pelicans and Brown Pelicans.

 The shore was littered with dead fish.  Smell was almost gagging in places.  There are big fish die offs due to the high salt concentration of the water and eutrophication caused by agricultural runoff.  There have been die offs of birds, too, including 10,000 pelicans in one instance, and 8% of the entire Eared Grebe population in another.  The bird die offs were caused by toxin from botulinum bacteria working its way up the food chain.  Maggots would feed on the carcasses, concentrating the toxin again, and birds would eat the maggots, and die, continuing a deadly cycle.  Removal of the carcasses became an important step in stopping the die offs.

 American White Pelicans looking happy.

 We only saw one person in the town.  Was everyone else inside or at the Ski Inn Bar?

 Baking fish on a stick.  Maybe this was a local tradition.

Gail loved this structure as a potential dream art studio (with her touches added, of course).

We circled the Salton Sea, and headed home across the desert with visions of shooting stars, owls, and pelicans in our heads. We're looking forward to returning again during the winter for birding and maybe even some kayaking.