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Big Morongo April 4 2017 - 32 Species

 

Cooper’s Hawk – 1

Turkey Vulture – 2

American Kestrel – 1

Great Horned Owl – 3

Mourning Dove

White-winged Dove

Anna’s Hummingbird

Costa’s Hummingbird

Black-chinned Hummingbird

Nuttall’s Woodpecker

Ladder-backed Woodpecker

Vermilion Flycatcher

Cassin’s Kingbird

Black Phoebe

California Scrub-Jay

Oak Titmouse

Verdin

Bewick’s Wren (heard only)

Northern Mockingbird

California Thrasher (heard only)

Western Bluebird

Phainopepla

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Yellow Warbler (heard only)

Common Yellowthroat

Hooded Oriole

White-crowned Sparrow (heard only)

Song Sparrow

California Towhee

House Finch

Lesser Goldfinch

English Sparrow

 

Whitewater Canyon Preserve   April 5, 2017 – 18 species

 

Cooper’s Hawk – 1

Belted Kingfisher – 1

Anna’s Hummingbird

Costa’s Hummingbird -- 1

Nuttall’s Woodpecker – 1

Black Phoebe

White-throated Swift -- 1

Raven

California Thrasher – 1

Western Bluebird

Phainopepla

Bell’s Vireo

Hooded Oriole

Song Sparrow

Spotted Towhee – 1

California Towhee – 1

House Finch

Lesser Goldfinch

 

On the afternoon of April 3, with the temperature in the mid-80s, a few members of our Birdwatchers Club visited the Moorten Botanic Garden in Palm Springs.  Several of the many kinds of cacti were in bloom.  In the evening, we all thoroughly enjoyed dinner at the popular Lulu California Bistro in downtown Palm Springs.

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The mornings of April 4 and 5 provided delightful birdwatching weather at the Big Morongo and Whitewater nature preserves, which are located about a half-hour’s drive north of Palm Springs and are about 2,000 feet higher than Palm Springs.  Temperatures rose from the mid-60s to the mid-70s, with a light breeze and bright sunshine.

On the 4th, we reached Big Morongo Canyon Preserve by about 8 a.m. and were met by a docent who walked with us for a while beneath tall cottonwood trees.  He pointed out a Great Horned Owl nest occupied by two fuzzy juveniles high up in a cottonwood.  Half-hidden in a nearby leafy branch was a parent keeping watch.  Among the morning’s highlights were Western Bluebirds, Hooded Orioles, White-winged Doves, an American Kestrel, a Cooper’s Hawk and several Vermillion Flycatchers -- the red-letter bird of the day.

 

 We then walked the Marsh Trail boardwalk that loops through a riparian area of willows and other dense vegetation.  Several of us also followed the Mesquite Trail through desert habitat where lupines, Indian paintbrush and other wildflowers were in bloom.  We enjoyed our catered picnic lunches at tree-shaded picnic tables, before heading for a docent-led tour of Cabot’s Pueblo Museum.  This unusual, obviously hand-crafted structure in the desert town of Desert Hot Springs was built by Cabot Yerxa as an expression of his love for the desert.  The property is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  That evening, we gathered for dinner at Las Casuelas.

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On the morning of the 5th, shortly after entering the lower part of Whitewater Canyon at about 8 a.m., we paused to admire and photograph vast expanses of the yellow-flowered Brittlebush (a desert perennial shrub of the Sunflower Family) that contrasted with the snowy summit of Mount San Jacinto to the south.  As we followed a number of pathways in the scenically impressive Whitewater Canyon Preserve, we watched and enjoyed the sound of the rushing clear waters of the Whitewater River, heard the buzzy trills of the ubiquitous but elusive little Bell’s Vireos; and watched Hooded Orioles, Phainopeplas, a Cooper’s Hawk, and a Belted Kingfisher.  The morning’s highlight, however, was the sudden appearance of at least nine Desert Bighorn Sheep way above us, as they slowly worked their way along the top of the sheer cliffs – a fitting climax to our three-day birding trip!