Category Archives: SW trip 2017

Service Please!

While the weather in Vermont has been cool and rainy and not conducive to camping, we are becoming impatient with the delays and lack of progress in getting repairs estimated and begun. Pete’s RV in South Burlington has not distinguished themselves so far, setting an inspection date and then waffling for three weeks or so. It is a tough time of year to get work done since there is a lot of dealer prep and prior service commitments after a long winter. But …..

There are two problems. The first is the serious damage to the awning caused by a “dust devil” in New Mexico that I first mentioned here.

The awning remains strapped in place with canoe straps after being manually retracted with the help of three wonderful campsite neighbors – in mid-March.

The good news is that the insurance appraiser looked it over a month ago, sent me a check and someday, we hope to just replace most of the unit. Progressive Insurance has been excellent.

The second incident, completely my fault, occurred in Texas as we went for one last look at the Whooping Cranes – which had departed for parts north. I turned down a narrow road which had a “Men Working” sign at the turn but it wasn’t obvious, until after a quarter mile, that the road was closed off due to paving — and there was no turnaround. Rather than backing all the way to the main road, I tried to turn around on the road, misjudged and got the back wheels down off the pavement. The rig was hung up big time and after call to AAA and a wait, a big tow truck (which luckily happened to be in the general area) showed up.

We were lucky to have a monster tow truck with an experienced driver available.

The driver winched the rig, ever so slowly, getting it turned and out — but we knew there was damage. I could drive it back to the state park and over time to Vermont without the propane or the black water system available.

There’s a leak in the black water tank and other damage that needs to be identified. Come on guys, let’s get with it.

Meanwhile, I’m  birding locally and waiting, and still wondering what possessed me to try that U-turn on a narrow road. My co-pilot Sally’s  intuition said, Don’t do it!”  I wish mine had.

Peeps

While staying at Galveston Beach State Park on the way home, we walked the beach several times seeing hundreds of shorebirds — mostly peeps — but a number of Ruddy Turnstones, Willets, and Laughing Gulls as well.  Here are some of the peeps that I saw one evening.

Sanderlings are fun to watch as they run back and forth with the waves.

Who’s the guy in the mirror?

A banded Piping Plover — did not see the bands until processing the photo.

A Willet and Sanderling for comparison.

These tiny shorebirds, often in big skittish flocks, are a joy to watch, especially when you know that you won’t see them again until this summer in New England.

Heading Home

While in California, I learned that my dead MacBook battery was going to be a $750 repair so I am limping home using just the cord, which is touchy. So blogging is slow since I can’t pull off the bird photos easily. (End of whine.)

I found some loose tubing hanging down and have determined it is a break in the propane vent line which has shut down the system. No big deal at the point and we will fix it at home.

However, we were hit with a “dust devil” while parked in New Mexico with the awning out. It came out of nowhere on a hot sunny afternoon and in seconds, nearly destroyed the awning. Neighbor campers helped Sally and I removed broken supports and manually retract it so that I could tie it up for the journey home. We were too concerned to get a “before” picture but here’s the wonderful trio that worked an hour or more to sort things out.

After stops at [Seminole Canyon SP](https://tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/seminole-canyon) and [Falcon Lake SP](http://tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/falcon), we are settled at [Goose Island State Park](http://tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/goose-island) in Texas, seeing some good birds including some early warblers.

The game plan is to stop in Louisiana next week and start swinging north with an ETA of the 11th or so. Starting to get itchy for the Green Mountain State.

La Jolla Cliffs

We stopped for a brief visit, with many many tourists, in the beach town of La Jolla to look at the Brandt’s Cormorants nesting there. They pack the rocky cliffs oblivious to the folks gawking at them.

Among the other birds we saw were two Heermann’s Gulls.

A number of Harbor Seals entertained the watchers.

About time to turn the van around and move eastward.

Red-Shouldered Hawks

We have been visiting friends in San Diego who live right next to Balboa Park and have parking available — and nice birding from the backyard. One of the favorites is a pair of Red-shouldered Hawks who live nearby and call to one another throughout the day. Here are a few shots I took of these handsome birds.

On The Beach

South Carlsbad State Beach is a wonderful camping site — very popular and almost impossible to get into.

I made reservations months ago for a beachside site. Here is what we see out our windows:

We have watched California Grey Whales migrate north along with pods of porpoises. The birding has been nice (Pacific Loon is a new life bird) as has been the chance to see Robb, Mary, Dane and Maeve down in Del Mar. We’ll be here several days more and then hang out in the Del Mar driveway (hookup, hot shower, great hospitality.)

A Verdin Nest

Recently, I mentioned our new-found interest in nesting birds. Yesterday, we were watching Verdins bounce from limb to limb singing away when I saw one scoot into a cactus and disappear. Another nest?
Here’s the bunch of twigs we saw.

I could see some movement in the bundle of twigs and sure enough, out popped a Verdin.

Sally watched as the Verdin flew off to nearby sage bushes breaking off twigs, and warning me as the bird returned as I kept the camera on the nest.

I can’t brag about the photos but here are a couple of construction in progress.

We watched for ten minutes or so, entranced by the steady work of this little olive-capped bird. Slow birding can bring some lovely experences – it made our day.

Anza-Borrego Birds

Anza-Borrego Desert State Park is the largest state park in California and after lots of recent rain, about to pop with wildflowers. Here are some of the early blooms as photographed by Sally.

The sunrises and sunsets here are spectacular.

As are some of the birds. One of the toughest birds for me to photograph is the Verdin. Not only do they bounce from limb to limb, they often seem to be buried in the brush. Here is one that paused for a moment.

This Western Bluebird gave us some great looks on a walk to the Visitor Center.

Likewise, this Say’s Phoebe posed early one morning.

Perhaps the most common bird here is the White-crowned Sparrow.

We are here for a couple of days more, then off to San Diego for family, friends, and birds.

Nesting Time

One of our favorite birds has become the Phainopepla. We just love how this guy struts his stuff, posing like a male model, feeding like a flycatcher, whistling and calling like a Northern Cardinal.

The other day at Organ Pipe National Monument, I saw a female Phaina fly out of a bush near the trail with her partner nearby. Peering in to where she departed, I spotted this nest.

Waiting quietly with the dog, I watched her watch me and after a bit, ease toward the nest. She settled in and I took a few shots and left her alone, showing her to Sally a little later. We loved the punk hairdo.

As Vermonters, we tend to forget that February is nesting season along the border, but the next day, a similar thing happened. I saw a Cactus Wren emerge from a Cholla Cactus and watched her scout around for grass and twigs. I went over and found a nest, which was under construction.

Retreating, I watched her return with nest lining matter and then pause before her next venture.

Now really interested about nests, we started to find several others. I peeked into one, jumped back with a shout of surprised, and then carefully looked at a nesting Curve-billed Thrasher. Can you see her?

She’s at the bottom of the dark area, her beak is headed toward the ten o’clock position and her red eye is barely visible behind a tiny branch.

Looking for nests is a good way to sharpen our birding skills and observe bird behavior unobtrusively. It is a nice new challenge.

A Desert Walk

Yesterday’s walk started out tough. As I walked up the campground road I heard a Cactus Wren and was surprised to see it right beside me, except it didn’t look like a wren. I watched it sing and feed but it didn’t have a curved beak. It appears that is lost the tip of its beack and just had a stub. It was sad to see but it certainly had a lot of early morning pep.

Penny and I took a trail where she could roam a bit off leash and of course, she didn’t help my birding. I did see this American Kestrel way off.

It was very windy and most birds were resting but the Black-tailed Gnatcatcher was very cooperative.

Less cooperative were the cacti. The Jumping Cholla, the reason I wear jeans on these walks, got Penny several times in the foot. Removing them without getting stuck yourself is a challenge.

We were out for a good three hours and the rain showers and wind finally made us head for the van. This Gila Woodpecker, refusing to let us get close, greeted us at the campground.

We earned an early lunch and nap with desert wind and showers buffetting the rig. Can’t help but wonder how long that wren will hold on. Tal es la naturaleza.