Salton Sea

Jan 5

The soft pre-dawn light shined through the foggy windows of my Subaru Outback. I opened my eyes to examine the glowing droplets of water, amused by their color until I realized that they were on the inside on my window. Whoops. I opened the rear passenger door and dropped my Chacos onto the cold pavement of the Wal-Mart parking lot, before stepping into the carefully, so I wouldn't get gum or spilled soda on my wool socks. Today's mission: assault the Salton Sea with all available birding resources; my primary objective was to capture photos of a Yellow-footed Gull. The rest of the birds would be a bonus. I went into the day half-informed and full of a can-do attitude. We'll see how long that lasts...

The day flew by (that won't be the last time a bird pun appears in my writing) and in several interesting tern of events (told you...) I managed to make the Salton Sea a memorable trip. I'll save the details of my birding bonanza for the book.  Hopefully some photos from the day will suffice. 

Burrowing Owl perched on an eroded bank on the side of the road.                                

                                                              Canon 5D + 500mm lens

To get this shot, I laid down on the side of the highway to get at eye-level with the bird.  

                                                              Canon 5D + 500mm lens

I found several Yellow-footed gulls, including this adult bird at Obsidian Butte.    

                                                            Canon 5D + 500mm lens