Northern Shoveler

Memories of the San Luis Rey Rivermouth
Memories of the San Luis Rey Rivermouth

I love visiting locations where streams and rivers meet the ocean. These places where freshwater and saltwater meet have the potential for life to thrive. Sadly, in San Diego County,…

Memories of Whelan Lake
Memories of Whelan Lake

In 2003, my pursuit of bird photography was budding. I knew Phil Unitt was ramrodding the San Diego County Bird Atlas project, and I wanted to contribute. Phil had a…

Memories of Fort Lowell Park, Tucson
Memories of Fort Lowell Park, Tucson

I’ve enjoyed chasing birds at various venues around Tucson. I have been there many times. One location I visited briefly was Fort Lowell Park. This is a small park with…

Memories of Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve
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
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…

2021-03-08 Anahuac NWR
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…

2021-02-28 Port Aransas Nature Center
2021-02-28 Port Aransas Nature Center

The Port Aransas Nature Center had a popular boardwalk over the freshwater marshes on the property until 2017’s Hurricane Harvey dismantled it beyond use. Not ones to give up easily,…

2021-02-21 First Visit To Santa Ana NWR
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…

2020-12-22 Tuesday At Bosque del Apache
2020-12-22 Tuesday At Bosque del Apache

Before I left Albuquerque for points south, I stacked up several days’ worth of images from my last few photo safaris. Most times, I’d have boondock camped and worked on…

2020-12-05 Bosque and New Mexico Falconry
2020-12-05 Bosque and New Mexico Falconry

My first awareness of the art of falconry came as a young lad in elementary school when I read the Hardy Boys Mystery series and found the story The Hooded…

2020-11-20 Mid-November Gallery Updates
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
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
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…

2019-10-10 Vendel Road, Salton Sea
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…

2019-01-26 Merced National Wildlife Reserve
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…

2013-01-31 Imperial Beach Hot Spots
2013-01-31 Imperial Beach Hot Spots

South of San Diego Bay and north of the Tijuana River and the border with Mexico, lies the town of Imperial Beach. Both the bay and the river valley are…

2014-12-19  Santee Lakes
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…

2014-09-23 At The San Luis Rey River Mouth
2014-09-23 At The San Luis Rey River Mouth

The still and brackish waters at the mouth of the San Luis Rey River in Oceanside California can be attractive to migratory birds passing by on their southbound route from…

2017-09-15 Sacramento Valley Trifecta
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…

2015-05-27 Bitterroot Valley, Days 4 and 5
2015-05-27 Bitterroot Valley, Days 4 and 5

Lee Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge near Stevensville Montana, in the Bitterroot Valley sits along the Bitterroot River about 25 miles from where it empties into the Clark Fork River in…