California Thrasher

Memories of Balboa Park

There are many reasons to love Balboa Park. Anyone unfamiliar with the attractions there is truly missing out. The museums alone are worth visiting. There are 18 of them to…

Memories of Scissors Crossing

2013-03-26 Thrasher Hunt County Road S-2, or the Great Southern Overland Stage Route, runs along the desert floor at the foot of the local San Diego mountains. The route is…

Memories of Culp Valley

At 3400 feet in elevation, Culp Valley is up-slope from Borrego Springs 2800 feet below on the valley floor. The habitat here is still desert, but different from the desert…

Memories of Old Mine Road, Ranchita

I will remember 2014 as the year I met Lewis’s Woodpeckers for the first time. My very first encounter was in August while visiting friends at June Lake in the…

2012-08-23 Late Summer On Santa Rosa Mountain

Juvenile Western Bluebirds were fun to watch on this Thursday in late August while I visited Santa Rosa Mountain. I find these birds to be at their most attractive as…

2012-04-04 Memories of Mussey Grade in Ramona

Over the years, I’ve had several friends who’ve lived along Mussey Grade in Ramona. When I was a boy, I can recall fishing trips with my dad to Lake San…

2013-05-08 Lake Hodges Passerines

There are trails around Lake Hodges well suited to hiking and biking. I drove to the community sports park off West Bernardo Drive this Wednesday morning to look for Blue…

2013-03-26 Thrasher Hunt

County Road S-2, or the Great Southern Overland Stage Route, runs along the desert floor at the foot of the local San Diego mountains. The route is one of my…

2014 Mid-October At Old Mine Road In Ranchita

I will remember 2014 as the year I met Lewis’s Woodpeckers for the first time, and while this account is not about that first meeting, this, the second meeting was…

2017-10-27 a Week at Clover Flat

As a part of project to study the inland wetlands of San Diego County, the San Diego Natural History Museum’s science team spent the week at a property in the…

2014 Early April In Tecolote Canyon

I’d been hearing reports of a Swamp Sparrow at Tecolote Canyon for over a week from the local birding hotline. I don’t consider myself a ‘chaser’ like some folks who…