Black-Necked Stilt
2020-May at Bitter Lake NWR, New Mexico
After several memorable months in Texas, even enduring the craziness and uncertainty of the earliest days of the pandemic, I began my first Texas Exodus in 2020-May. I was in…
Memories of Bahia Grande – Texas
The road from Brownsville to Port Isabel and South Padre Island (TX-48) crosses a low, flat plane called Bahia Grande. I traveled this road many times during my stay in…
Memories of Imperial County’s Ramer Lake
The heat of summer at Ramer Lake means hundreds upon hundreds of nesting and/or roosting Cattle Egrets, White-Faced Ibis, Double-Crested Cormorants would be present. A few American White Pelicans, numerous…
Memories of Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve
The first time I visited the Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve was on 2015-05-05. I was starting out a long expedition of the western USA states and driving my Suzuki Samurai.…
Memories of Gilbert Water Ranch
Twice, I visited this gem of a bird sanctuary. My first explorations took place on 2020-02-23, as I traveled to Texas on my first birding expedition to the Lone Star…
2022-08-17 Anahuac NWR
I broke camp at High Island early and drove to the nearby Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge to explore. I’d visited the refuge previously in March 2021. I began my tour…
2021-04-08 SPI Birding & Nature Center
I’ve made it no secret. My mission is to experience as much of the vernal migration through South Texas as I can. South Padre Island is the best place I…
2021-03-30 SPI Convention Centre
In the coming weeks, I intend to spend as much of my time on South Padre Island as I can. Spring migrant birds could begin trickling into Texas any time.…
2021-03-16 SPI Convention Centre
On this early Tuesday morning, cloudy gray skies greeted me at the South Padre Island Convention Centre (SPICC). I investigated the center’s bayside and its boardwalks, but the birds were…
2021-02-11 SPI Convention Centre and Bahia Grande
Deciding where to spend my last day in Brownsville wasn’t easy. I plan to stay two more weeks in the Rio Grande Valley, but I want to explore sites further…
2021-02-08 South Padre Island Birding & Nature Center
South Padre Island Birding & Nature Center is part of a network of birding meccas in south Texas, collectively called the “World Birding Center”. It sits next door to the…
2020-11-24 Late November Gallery Updates
Sometime next week I expect to be back on the road in search of new birds to meet. For now, I’m still working on my friend’s home in Thatcher, getting…
2020-11-12 Thursday In Gilbert Arizona
It was a big day for me Thursday in Gilbert. The sun was at its harshest mid-day height when I arrived at the Water Ranch, but I stayed into the…
Memories of Bitter Lake NWR, New Mexico
After four days on the road from Brownsville, I followed the Pecos River upstream from Texas and crossed into New Mexico on Sunday, May 10th of 2020, and found a…
2019-10-10 Vendel Road, Salton Sea
My trip to Arizona finally launched Thursday morning. I used the opportunity to visit some of my favorite bird destinations. My first stop was Poe Road, but I was disappointed…
What’s An Avostilt?
I’ll never forget when in 2003 I first heard the expression “Avostilt”. The San Diego County Bird Atlas needed images of Elegant Terns, and author Phil Unitt introduced me to…
2019-01-26 Merced National Wildlife Reserve
After spending the week with my family in Medford, I drove away on Friday, southbound on I-5. My first stop was in Marysville California to visit a friend I knew…
2012-08-01 Lindo Lake Solitary Strike-Out
I’m always late to chase. I’d heard a Solitary Sandpiper was present at Lindo Lake, and though the reports were merely days old, it was clear to all present the…
2013-07-24 Saltworks & Imperial Beach
Wednesdays are set aside for accepting guests as part of the nesting tern surveys at the Saltworks section of the San Diego Bay NWR. I’ve had to good fortune to…
2013 March In South San Diego County
In March 2013, I went twice to Lower Otay Lake in search of a Prairie Warbler. As did many of my adventures in South San Diego County, my first trip…
2017-09-15 Sacramento Valley Trifecta
Sacramento NWR, Colusa NWR, Gray Lodge Wildlife Area The Sacramento NWR mostly had puddle ducks, with a few Raptors and herons. They have not flooded the fields, yet it looks…
2017-08-16 Bear River
After showing Jerry and me the Promontory Road raptors in the early morning, Joe took us out to the Bear River Migratory Bird Reserve. While I’d visited this area in…
2017-08-13 Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve
This morning I found my way to the Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve. I visited here once before while doing my big inter-mountain trip in the Samurai (the one where I…
2017-08-11 Salton Sea Sunsets
Choosing to add a few more “features” to my RV delayed the launch of my expedition into the inter-mountain West. I might have taken Interstate 15 on my way to…
2015-08-19 Saltworks Shorebirds
By August each year, tern nesting is winding down at the Saltworks, but the Snowy Plovers still have a few chicks, so people in the southeast part of the Saltworks…
2015-08-05 Saltworks
Having spent way too much time of late at the computer rebuilding my website, it was important that I get out to the field. Since Wednesday was a Saltworks day,…
2015-07-08 Saltworks
It’s always a pleasure to hang with the science team when they march through the levees at the Saltworks to survey the terns and skimmers nesting there. I’ve been lucky…
2015-04-28 Salton Sea
My first ‘real’ stop on this outbound leg of this expedition was at the Salton Sea. I made four stops in the general area. Poe Road, Vendel Road, Lack &…