Yellow-Rumped Warbler
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 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 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 Grand Teton National Park
My first time visiting Jackson, Wyoming was in November 2001. I was participating in the only nature photography seminar I’ve ever been to. It was a week-long event, and I…
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…
Memories of Patagonia
Near the start of my 2023 expedition to Canada, I passed through Patagonia in March and visited the Patton Center for Hummingbirds for my first visit to this well-known birding…
Memories of Lesser Slave Lake
2022-05-30 Late May At Lesser Slave Lake It took two days to drive from Jasper to Slave Lake, a town at the southeastern end of Lesser Slave Lake that I…
Memories of McIntyre Marsh
I first visited McIntyre Marsh in June-2005 during my stop-over in Whitehorse Yukon while traveling to Alaska. It would be seventeen years later that I would return to enjoy the…
2024-04-22 SPI Convention Centre
Near mid-day the sky began a light rain at Sheepshead Bird Sanctuary. So, having already captured so many birds my head was spinning, I collected my gear and headed back…
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…
2023-03-27 Agua Caliente Park – Tucson
Having enjoyed past visits to Agua Caliente Park in northeast Tucson, I was eager to return during my 2023 Expedition. It did not disappoint! For those folks unfamiliar with this…
2023-03-21 in Patagonia
Tuesday I visited the Paton Center for Hummingbirds in Patagonia, a destination I have heard many folks rave about over the years. It was my first visit, but I sure…
2023-03-18 Sweetwater Wetlands-Tucson
I rely on an internet connection while I roam North America in my RV. My most reliable method has been through the use of cell phone service. As I explore…
2022-07-06 Revisiting Lesser Slave Lake
I spent Tuesday night at the Slave Lake Walmart, and I broke my fast at the Sawridge Travel Center, where I have enjoyed dining on my earlier visits. I explored…
2022-06-27 Return To Charlie Lake
Early Monday morning I drove north to Beatton Provincial Park on Charlie Lake from Fort Saint John for what would be my third visit. My first experience there was in…
2022-06-27 Birds in Fort Saint John
Sunday in Fort Saint John, I drove to the local college campus, where there was public parking for a “Community Forest”. Much like Fort Nelson’s Demonstration Forest, this woodland preserve…
2022-06-17 Friday At McIntyre Marsh
Paraphrasing Canada’s own Robbie Robertson, “I pulled into Whitehorse, was feeling ‘bout half-past dead, I just need to find a place, where I can lay my head.” It was a…
2022-06-16 Thursday At Lake Lebarge
Rather than chase the same birds as I did Wednesday, I wanted to try for birds in an area yet unexplored by me. Lake Labarge, the subject of Robert Service’s…
2022-06-15 Whitehorse After A Long Rain
After arriving in Whitehorse last Friday (June-10), I took several days off from the rigors of the road and capturing new images. I used the time to rest, recuperate, and…
2022-06-02 Taylor Landing At Peace River
At Dawson Creek, I stayed the night in the Walmart parking lot. The nights are short at these latitudes, and they do not get very dark. Even at midnight, the…
2022-05-30 Late May At Lesser Slave Lake
I took two days to drive from Jasper to Slave Lake, a town at the southeastern end of Lesser Slave Lake. I camped overnight in Whitecourt along the way. When…
2022-05-21 Saturday in Lewistown Montana
Friday’s foul weather convinced me to find somewhere in Lewistown to settle in for the day. I found a large, unused parking area north of town, between the fairgrounds and…
2022-05-12 Wrapping It Up At Grand Teton
My last two days in Jackson Hole, weren’t very productive for megafauna, so my friend and fellow photographer Joe Ford indulged my propensity for chasing birds. After striking out on…
2022-05-10 Birds and Megafauna In Jackson Hole
I had a great week exploring Grand Teton National Park with my friend Joe Ford. Joe has a special fondness for what I call “megafauna”, and I fell into his…
2022-05-04&05 First Days In Jackson Hole
I drove away from Payette Idaho yesterday late in the morning after tending to the RV’s holding tanks and having breakfast with my good friend, Art. Contrary to my usual…
2022-04-05 Pacific City to South Washington
Monday night I plotted a course north that included breakfast in Pacific City, perhaps the smallest of towns I’ve stopped at on this trip. The cafe, called the Village Coffee…
2022-04-02 Reedsport to Waldport
Friday night, after driving from Reedsport, I parked south of Waldport at a roadside pullout. I visited several places along the way, including the jetties at the Umpqua River Mouth.…
2022-03-29 Tuesday on Cape Arago
I left Bandon Tuesday morning after another breakfast at “The Station” cafe, and headed north towards Charleston and Coos Bay. When I reached the turnoff for Charleston I was met…
2022-03-02 Wednesday At Morro Bay
From the beginning to the end, yesterday went swimmingly. I began my fun by driving from San Luis Obispo on Los Osos Valley Road, a route I’d not traveled before.…
2021-05-04,5,6 SPI: The Big Fallout That Wasn’t
This is a three day post. With my 2021 visit in South Texas drawing to a close, I’ve been pushing my limits to maximize my opportunities to meet migrating birds.…
2021-04-11 SPI: New Actors and Familiar Faces On Stage
I should have learned my lesson by now. This day reminded me when I’m trying to track a subject bouncing through the canopy, the effort is all-consuming. There’s not always…
2021-04-04 Continuing the SPI Saga
The early spring migration season on South Padre Island has been exciting for me. I’m finding one or more new bird species with each visit. The privilege of witnessing so…
2021-04-02 Back to South Padre Island
If you are passionate about birds, I believe there is no better place to hang out than South Padre Island during spring migration. As a kid growing up near the…
2021-03-16 SPI Convention Centre
On this early Tuesday morning, cloudy gray skies greeted me at the South Padre Island Convention Centre (SPICC). I investigated the center’s bayside and its boardwalks, but the birds were…
2021-02-19 Bentsen RGVSP Again
I wanted to wait for my bicycle to finish up in the shop before I attempted more explorations of Bentsen Rio Grande State Park. South Texas has been hard hit…
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…
2021-02-04 Laguna Vista and Laguna Atascosa
My time in Brownsville is winding down, so I wanted to visit a location that I enjoyed very much during my spring visit last year. Laguna Atascosa NWR was one…
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…
2021-01-26 A Day at Palmito Hill
Fog was so thick, at 50 feet things faded from my view, and at 100 feet I could barely make out the shapes ahead of me while I drove. That…
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…
2021-01-15 and 16 At Breeze Lake
Last spring, while on my way through Texas and the COVID-19 pandemic was taking a grip on our nation and the rest of the world, I’d been boondocking in my…
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…
2021-01-02 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…
2020-12-17 Wednesday At The Rio Grande Nature Center
There is a small reserve on the northwestern edge of Albuquerque that I have enjoyed since some of my earliest visits to the region. It is the Rio Grande Nature…
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…
2020-03-13 Three Days At The Triple R
Sadly, shortly after my March-2020 visit to the Triple-R RV Resort, (but before the Covid-19 pandemic) they shutdown operations. I’ve heard no word about any plans to reopen. I personally,…
2020-03-07: Bird Adventures In Big Bend
Prologue The Texas adventure I dreamed about for years began in California, but passed through Arizona and New Mexico before reaching the promised land. Preparations for my journey began in…
Memories of Siskiyou Summit Road
I have family in Central Point Oregon that I like to visit as often as possible. During my stays there, I like to explore the surrounding region. Above the Rogue…
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…
2012-12-27 Margaret Fleming Nature Trail
There is a small corner of Torrey Pines State Park in Del Mar that does not get the attention that the bluffs get. It is understandable though, the bluffs above…
2012-09-12 Santa Rosa Mountain in September
If one reads my blog and scans for “Santa Rosa Mountain”, they might get the idea I love going there … and they’d be right. I’ve been visiting this place…
2012-04 April Stuff In My Poway Yard
I took my camera into my yard several times over the course of the month of April 2012. Spring can bring me some extraordinary birds, though I don’t always have…
2013 March In South San Diego County
In March 2013, I went twice to Lower Otay Lake in search of a Prairie Warbler. As did many of my adventures in South San Diego County, my first trip…
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…
2017-07-15 Tioga Pass And “Common” Birds
June Lake, where I’ve been staying with friends, is a short drive to many great bird locations and abundant first rate scenery. Tioga Pass is the east gate to Yosemite…
2017-07-12 Sonora Pass And Beyond
At 9623 feet, Sonora Pass is the second highest pass over the Sierras. I wanted to explore this area because I was told there was a store along the route…
2017-04-26~28 Mount Lemmon: Sky Island Heaven
Early Wednesday morning I set off to visit Mount Lemmon using instructions for locating birds on the mountain from local birder, Liz Harrison. Her instructions were invaluable and gave me…
2016-08-30&31 Springs at Santa Rosa Mountain
I’ve posted about my favorite place on the planet before: the Springs on Santa Rosa Mountain. This outing was the first time I’ve brought another photographer with me. Jerry and…
The Cienega at Arivaca
2016-03-25 and 26 Friday and Saturday Part of the Buenos Aires NWR, the cienega at Arivaca, has been a favorite birding location of mine for more than a dozen years.…
2015-08-13 Santa Rosa Mountain
I’ve worked as a photographer with the San Diego Natural History Museum (SDNHM) since 2010 on a project called the San Jacinto Resurvey. The goal of this project is to…
2015-06-11 Siskiyou Mountains
My drive through the Siskiyou Mountains followed National Forest Road 20 from the Applegate Valley, past Dutchman’s Peak (with a detour to the lookout station at its peak) and on…
2015-05-08 Bicknell Bottoms
Yesterday’s visit at this place was just not enough to take it all in, so I opted to stay another day. My drive took me nearly completely around the valley,…
2015-02-01 Tijuana River Valley
I decided to head back down to the Tijuana River Valley this “Super-bowl Sunday” to look for rare birds. I sorta struck out on some, but found some semi-rare birds…
2014 Early August With Birds at June Lake
I am fortunate to have generous friends willing to welcome me into their homes as I travel. My friends Carmen and Mark have a house at June Lake California. I…
2014 Early June On Santa Rosa Mountain
I never grow tired of visiting Santa Rosa Mountain, a sky island in southern Riverside County California, a stone’s throw from the border with San Diego County. Part of me…