Boden Canyon Reserve

Wednesday, Gail and I spent the day hiking and exploring the Boden Canyon Reserve east of Escondido.  The weather was perfect, the hills are turning green, and we didn't see another human the whole time.

The trail, on old truck road, follows the oaks and sycamores about 5 miles up the canyon.

 An American Kestrel holding one leg in the air - possibly a sign of injury.

 Acorn woodpecker.

Anna's Hummingbird.

 We returned to an area of boulders up on a hillside that we had discovered a couple years ago.

 There were numerous morteros indicating that this was once a Kumeyaay village or camp site.  It was fun to be here as there were no footprints, litter, or other signs that people in general know about this spot.  It is well guarded by poison oak, a steep hill, and brush.  Unfortunately, Gail has gotten poison oak rash, the first time since the last time we were here.  I maybe suffering more, however, as earlier in the day, I was unknowingly standing on a red ant nest.  The little bastards crawled up my leg, up my pants, and under my shirt, biting me numerous times as I tried brushing them off in a frenzy.  Now, two days later, I have some very puffy red welts that itch like crazy.

 This is no ordinary scat.  We're quite sure it is from a cougar.

 There is a tin hunters' shack at the end of the reserve that has hundreds of bullet holes through it.

 I don't know why no one wants to use my chap stick!  Back to that scat again, it appears to have coarse, brown, deer hair in it.  Deer are the main prey of cougars.

 Nearby were large cat tracks from a small cougar.  From measurements, they are bigger than the cutoff for bobcat tracks. They were not older than the last rain we had a few days ago.

 The tracks went in both directions.

Gail was following tracks up a little wash and discovered -  a rooster!  It will join our sculpture garden for now, and might someday rule the top of my future chicken coop when we get that 5 acres in the country.