Memories of Blair Valley – Anza-Borrego

2009-04-09, 2009-04-10: Desert Birds

In 2009, I camped for two April nights in Blair Valley. One way to reach this location is to drive east through Julian on CA-78, and follow it down Banner Grade. The scenery there is spectacular. On reaching San Felipe Creek at Scissors Crossing, you would turn south on the S2 road for six miles and look for the dirt track veering off to the left. There, the adventure begins.

I found a place to park my old RV at the rim of Blair Valley near the Butterfield Stage Trail. Hard bedrock and deep ruts laden this section of steep trail. Those hearty travelers in the 1800s must have had to leave the ‘comfort’ of their carriage, and walk up this incline before they could climb back inside the wagon.

My mission for this stay was to meet the local birds. I was especially interested in catching up with Scott’s Orioles. Here, they were easy to find. I also enjoyed the company of Brewer’s Sparrows and some local endemics.

2017-03-09: Rat Theater

In 2017, I was immersed in preparations for publishing the San Diego Mammal Atlas. My friend, mammalogist Scott Tremore felt we needed to sample the species in the desert region in eastern San Diego County, and I brought with us my ‘Rat Theater’. That is what I named the modified glass aquarium I used to capture images of the small rodents the science team would live-trap. In this endeavor, I collected many ‘realistic’ images, unlike those we’d seen elsewhere.

During our visit, we stayed downhill, on the flats below the campsite from my 2009 bird expedition. I gathered images of Cactus Mouse, Grasshopper Mouse, Merriam’s Kangaroo Rat, North American Deer Mouse, and San Diego Pocket Mouse. After more than a decade of research and preparations, we finally published the atlas in December-2017.