Memories of Tamarisk Grove | shadeTreeImaging

2020-02-21: The Road To Texas Begins

Tricolored Blackbird - Agelaius tricolor — While driving to Tamarisk Grove, I met these blackbirds shifting between fields to forage. While leaving town and heading for Texas, I spotted large flocks of blackbirds. The Tri-Colored Blackbirds caught my attention, but in the flocks were Red-Winged, Brewer’s Blackbirds and European Starlings. Near Warner Springs in eastern San Diego County, California.

I turned left off CA-78 at Santa Ysabel and headed towards Warner Springs. Near the turnoff on the road to San Felipe and Ranchita (S-2), I like to look for Tricolored Blackbirds. Depending on the time of year, this area can provide meetings with these endangered birds. And on this pass through the region, I got lucky.

I left the blackbirds feeling my trip was off to a good start. I continued on the S-2 road and rejoined Highway 78, making a left turn at Scissors Crossing. From here the road wound east through the San Felipe Narrows to the desert floor at Plum Canyon. Seven miles from Scissors Crossing is a county campground called Tamarisk Grove, where Long-Eared Owls sometimes hangout. I needed to stretch my legs anyway, so I took a walk through the camp and found an owl. These birds are very photogenic if they come into the open (even a little). But this bird found a perch deep in the dense cover, so I contented myself with binocular views and didn’t bother fetching my camera.

2023-03-14: And My Continental Expedition Begins

I couldn’t be sure that the weather would hold out, but the storms pounding the coast had not reached the desert here yet. After breakfast at Kendall’s Cafe in Borrego Springs, I drove up to the Anza-Borrego visitor center and continued testing out my new camera equipment on the few birds that I found meandering through the grounds. I then drove over Yaqui Pass to Tamarisk Grove, where things got more interesting birdwise. There have been reports of Long-Eared Owls in the grove, but despite all my efforts, I did not find a single owl.

While the owl shortage was a disappointment, the songbird visits were much more interesting. There, I found no real unusual birds, but the Lesser Goldfinches, Ruby-Crowned Kinglets, Black-Tailed Gnatcatchers, Orange-Crowned Warblers, and Hummingbirds were more than enough to satisfy my need for testing out my new camera.

There were two birds that I found especially pleasing to meet; a Black-Throated Gray Warbler and a Hermit Thrush. I left Tamarisk Grove and drove to the Salton Sea, which is not far from Anza-Borrego, perhaps a half hour’s drive.