Verdin
Memories of the Anza-Borrego Visitor Center
With more than 600,000 acres, Anza Borrego Desert State Park has many areas worth exploring. But for the sheer convenience of meeting the widest array of species, both plant and…
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 Pinyon Wells – Joshua Tree NP
2016 – Early October Camping I spent the second week of October with the bird and mammal department of the San Diego Natural History Museum in Joshua Tree National Park.…
Memories of Tucson Arizona’s Reid Park
I have visited Tucson Arizona often, and have found it a town with many venues suitable for chasing bird-life. On 2008-11-27, I traveled there for Thanksgiving with family in Tucson.…
Memories of Cottonwood Spring – Joshua Tree NP
Cottonwood Spring is located inside Joshua Tree National Park. Twice, in 2016, I visited there, with the science team from the San Diego Natural History Museum; once at the end…
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…
Memories of Graham County, AZ
I visit Graham County as often as I can to visit long-time friends there. Below are notes from two such visits. 2020-05-22 Ascent To Mount Graham Mount Graham, called Dził…
2023-04-09 Early April On Cottonwood Wash
Saturday, my friend Linda and I drove to visit her good friend Kai, who lives on the Cottonwood Wash south of Pima. I had the pleasure of spending time with…
2023 Continental Expedition Begins
Finally, I’m on the road. I launched at about 3pm last Monday, driving through Ramona and Santa Ysabel, then dropping into the Borrego Valley down Montezuma Pass. It is one…
2022-09-22 Santa Ana NWR
I learned a new word recently: “Documentarian”. The Oxford Dictionary’s first definition is “a photographer specializing in producing a factual record.” I believe it perfectly describes the goals I set…
2021-01-11 Quemado Roadside Birds
Less than two miles south from the small town of Quemado Texas, is a roadside rest stop, or picnic area, as Texas calls them. I found this location while on…
2021-01-06, Winding Up My Stay in Big Bend
It was a week I’ll remember fondly. As I drove out of New Mexico late last December, I had doubts about being able to pull off a stay inside Big…
2021-01-02 Big Bend’s Ross Maxwell Drive
New Year’s Day and Saturday night, I stayed in Terlingua (Texas). I waited there until I could take advantage of my Sunday night reservation for camping in Cottonwood. Saturday morning…
2020-12-27 Sunday Camping in Guadalupe National Park
After spending most of December in New Mexico, I left The Land of Enchantment after a productive Christmas photo session with Scaled Quail at Bitter Lake NWR outside of Roswell.…
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…
2020-11-16 Monday at the Boyce Thompson Arboretum
The morning at the Boyce Thompson Arboretum started off slow. I like to hike to the top of the property where there is a pond called Ayers Lake. On the…
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…
2020-05-28 Cattle Call Brawley
After leaving Arivaca Wednesday morning I drove a rural route through Ajo and Gila Bend to Yuma where I spent the night. Thursday morning after having breakfast I launched the…
2020-03-20 Exploring Laguna Atascosa
After I left Corpus Christi, measures against the COVID-19 outbreak began tightening. Restaurants could only seat a limited number of customers, and grocers were limiting the amount of products like…
2020-03-04 Wednesday At Dripping Springs
My stay in Las Cruces was extended several days because of issues I had to sort out with my RV generator. All is well now as I send this post…
2020-02-23 At The Gilbert Water Ranch
I scouted several of the trails at the Riparian Preserve in Gilbert after I arrived late Saturday afternoon, but I did not carry my camera. The light was fading, and…
2019-10-23 At The Boyce Thompson Arboretum
I let myself get behind in my posting. Since leaving the “BTA” I’ve completed two more photo safaris, but it took me longer than expected to organize the photos and…
Catching Up With Old Friends
I met my friend Linda in 1978 while I was living in Missoula Montana. Without going into too many details, it was one of the most interesting periods in my…
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…
2014-11-30 Poe Road Passerines
My past stops at Poe Road on the southwestern shore of the Salton Sea have yielded worthwhile bird encounters. On this visit at the end of November 2014, I focused…
2014-11-25 Bill Williams NWR
The Bill Williams River flows west out of central Arizona and joins the Colorado River at Lake Havasu near Parker Dam. Planet Ranch Road leaves Highway US-95, south of Bill…
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…
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…
2017-06-17~20 Cottonwood Springs (Part 2)
On my previous post I shared images of the players in the Rat Theater, but I also had some nice avian encounters during this expedition. Mockingbirds, Mourning Doves and House…
2016-11-29 Tuesday At Cottonwood Spring
Some of you may recall I stayed at this location at the end of September with the science team from the San Diego Natural History Museum. It was my first…
2016-10-13 Pinyon Wells Critters
I recently posted about the trip I took last week to Pinyon Wells in Joshua Tree National Park with the Bird and Mammal Department of the San Diego Natural History…
2015-10-22 “Common” Tucson Birds
One positive that came out of having my transportation down was that I could spend quality time with the birds around my cousin’s abode. It’s likely that many locals here…
2015-05-05 Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve
The Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve in Henderson Nevada near Las Vegas Nevada is a converted water treatment facility that now serves as a bird sanctuary. It lies north of Henderson…