Great Egret
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 Dirty Socks Springs
2016-04-20 Wednesday The local birding community is well aware of Dirty Socks Springs. Located at the southern edge of the Owens Lake basin, it used to be a county park…
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…
2024-04-17 South Padre Island
I took a little over 1000 pics on my Wednesday visit. The morning was underwhelming, but It turned out to be a pretty good afternoon. At the Convention Centre, I…
2023-06-25 High Island
It’s been nearly two weeks since I published my last episode about my 2023 North American Expedition. Since then, I have fallen way behind in my story-telling chores. Having crossed…
2022-09-18 SPI Farewell
I ended my visit to South Padre Island on Sunday. I spent the day touring the SPI Birding and Nature Center, and it yielded a few close encounters with the…
2022-09-03 Saturday at the SPIBNC
I spent the day soloing at the SPI Birding and Nature Center (BNC), and had a lovely time with the birds and with the people there with me, enjoying the…
2022-08-21 Sunday Tour of Blackjack Peninsula
After leaving High Island, and exploring Anahuac NWR, I continued south and spent some time at Brazoria NWR and San Bernard NWR. My next targeted destination was the Blackjack Peninsula,…
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…
2022-03-09&10 Into Redwood Country
Since my last entry in this month’s journal, I have had two amazing stops in Point Reyes and in Bodega Bay. As I pen these words, this morning I am…
2021-03-21 Resaca2mi de la Palma
I last visited Resaca de la Palma State Park just before leaving Texas on my first visit in spring of 2020. It was closed during most of my stay because…
2021-03-08 Anahuac NWR
I broke camp at High Island early Monday and set a course for nearby Anahuac National Wildlife Reserve. I planned a quick visit before heading east on my clock-wise journey…
2021-03-06 High Island Rookery
I left Galveston on Thursday (2021-03-04) and crossed the bay by ferry on a 2½ mile passage to the Bolivar Peninsula. Back on Terra Firma, I drove 28 miles to…
2021-02-21 First Visit To Santa Ana NWR
Last spring I came to South Texas for the first time, hoping to visit the many legendary birding venues I’d heard about in the Rio Grande Valley. Unfortunately for me…
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…
2021-02-06 Edinburg Scenic Wetlands
It takes a little over an hour of freeway driving to reach Edinburg (Texas) from my camp in Brownsville. The reserve encompasses 40 acres, but most of the trails available…
2021-02-01 Got To Get Back To South Padre
Visiting South Padre Island has never disappointed me. I began February with a visit to test this trend, and it fulfilled its promise to entertain, though a slow start in…
2021-01-28 Sabal Palms, Ten Days Hence
It was a foggy morning ten days ago when I visited Sabal Palm Sanctuary for the first time. It added an air of mystery to my introduction to this amazing…
2021-01-19 A Day on South Padre Island
A visit to the Lower Rio Grande Valley without spending time on South Padre Island would be silly. Tuesday I paid the island my respects. It came as no surprise…
2020-11-20 Mid-November Gallery Updates
I know I’ve been posting a lot lately about the updates on the bird species galleries I’ve been doing. This updating process is going to take a while. After all,…
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…
2020-11-09 Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve
After driving all day from Ely Nevada, I felt tuckered out. I didn’t want to boondock camp in Las Vegas, so I booked a night at an RV park in…
2020-10-17 First Stop, Dirty Socks Spring
On Saturday morning, I hit the road to Idaho after getting breakfast at my favorite Poway restaurant. I got the oil changed in the RV and the generator, and I…
2020-03-16 Monday Afternoon In Rockport
I drove to the city of Rockport after leaving from my second day at Aransas and prepared for the boat ride I’d signed up for, which launched from nearby Fulton…
2020-03-16 Aransas NWR Day 2
“Wow” hardly seems sufficient to describe my morning! I stayed in Austwell Sunday night, and I was only 12 miles from Aransas NWR, so I could achieve an early launch…
2020-03-15 My First Day At Aransas NWR
As I write this episode, I’ve been so involved taking pictures this past week that I buried myself under a ton of work to prepare them for my stories. I…
Memories of the Link River in Klamath Falls
I’ve traveled extensively through Western USA, yet I don’t feel I’ve “seen it all”. Far from it, I’m certain there are still plenty of surprises waiting for me to ferret…
2019-10-28 Monday Afternoon At Vendel Road
When I woke up this morning near Gila Bend Arizona, I thought my next stop would be at home. But the call of the wild was too strong to ignore.…
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…
2019-01-21 Sacramento and Colusa Refuges
Driving to see my family in Oregon, I took a little timeout to visit the reserves between Williams and Willows California (USA). The long interstate drive wore me down, especially the…
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…
2014-12-19 Santee Lakes
This post wraps up my retelling of stories from 2014. Tales of 2013 remain to be told, and I hope to spin those yarns soon. I know I’ve been pumping…
2014-10-21 Poe Road And The Salton Sea
When I drive to the Salton Sea from my home in San Diego County, I usually make Poe Road my first stop. Not only is it the first access road…
2011-10-13 At The Salton Sea
I’ve had other wonderful visits to this amazing place, but this day ranks as one of the best.
2017-09-16 San Simeon and North
(as far north as I could go) I drove all day Friday. It was the longest day single day of driving for this entire trip (368 miles). I left early…
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…
2017-09-12 Crescent City To Klamath River
I drove south to Crescent City Monday afternoon and scouted the harbor for bird possibilities. The light from the west swayed me from any inclination to take photographs. Tuesday morning…
2017-09-10 Mail Boat Ride (Plus Pistol River)
I parked Saturday night in a space along the main road going south out of Gold Beach. All day I’d been parked along the South Jetty, but it was questionable…
2017-09-07 Central Oregon Coast
A study on “peeping” I awoke at the north end of Coos Bay (North Bend Oregon) to a dense fog, then drove out the Horsfall Beach road. A recommended trail…
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…
2015-06-05 Klamath Falls
I pulled into Klamath Falls Oregon in the late afternoon on June 4th. After securing lodging and a meal I wandered down to Veteran’s Park next to Lake Ewauna and…
2014 Late July At The Salton Sea
Whoever said “you must suffer for your art” must have been thinking about photographing birds at the Salton Sea in mid-summer. Temperatures here often elevate to over 115°F in the…