Spotted Sandpiper
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 La Jolla
There are two locations in San Diego County that produce in me thoughts of the three generations of Daynes that preceded me. The first is Scripps Ranch and Miramar Lake,…
Memories of Midway Lake – Alaska
07/12/05: Back in Tok, Again Yesterday I wound up back in Tok, thus completing a very large triangular trip through Alaska’s interior. From here I planned to head towards the…
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 Coming In To Alaska (2005)
After finishing my tour of Canada’s Dempster Highway, I settled in Dawson City, Yukon Territory to rest my road-weary bones. I found the road from Dempster Junction to Dawson City…
2024-04-15 South Padre Island
After a brief peek at the bird action at the SPI Convention Centre this morning, I enjoyed breakfast at my new ‘favorite’ cafe (Josephine’s) on South Padre Island this morning.…
2022-09-25 Rollin’ on the River
My friend Luciano told me how much fun it was to explore the Rio Grande aboard our friends Matt and Marianna’s boat. So when I ran into them at the…
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…
2022-08-17 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…
2022-06-03 Charlie Lake, BC
Just north of Saint John BC is Charlie Lake. It is both a body of water and community. I stayed there on my way to Alaska in 2005, and I…
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…
2021-02-08 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…
2021-01-22 A Day at Estero Llano
Friday morning I launched out of my campsite on a mission to explore one of the crown jewels of birding in South Texas; Estero Llano Grande State Park, south of…
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…
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…
Memories of Breeze Lake Texas
My first birding expedition into Texas was in the spring of 2020. After being on the road since February 21st, on Monday, March 23rd, the world-wide panic from the pandemic…
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…
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…
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…
2017-08-13 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…
2017-08-12 Driving Up The Colorado River
I’ll be spending the next few days driving north into the Inter Mountain States. I’ll be meeting with a friend in Salt Lake City to spend a few days hunting…
2017-05-17 Nesting Season At The Saltworks
It’s always a good day when visiting the nesting sites at the Saltworks, especially when it includes spending time with wildlife biologists Brian, Robert, Lea and Kate. On my way…
2017-02-11 The Rocky Islands
This was an exciting day for us. It would be our first contact with terra firma in three days. We’d travelled approximately halfway down the Baja peninsula. Our time on…
2015-06-09 Ken Denman Reserve
One of the most pleasant and personally rewarding episodes for me on this expedition was the stay I had with my nephew and his family in southern Oregon. I hadn’t…
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…
2014 Autumn In La Jolla
My dad and his three older sisters were born in La Jolla during the early 1900s. The village was a humble place in those times. Streets were cobblestone and homes…
Memories of Fairbanks Alaska
On July 1, 2005, after my visit to the Delta Agricultural Project, I decided to make it to Fairbanks this day, so it would call for a bit of a…