One of my favorite locations

One of my favorite local spots is Little Morongo, or Covington Park in the high desert region near my home in Palm Springs. It is a short drive, but a very different ecological area. Many more and diverse birds than those in my low-desert area.

If you live in the desert, an important consideration is it is also somewhat cooler. It actually gets snow in the winter. This is especially important in the later spring and summer months. It is still warm, but it is always at least ten degrees cooler than Palm Springs, which is around sea level or below. For those uninitiated, Palm Springs and the surrounding Coachella Valley truly does get to one-hundred twenty degrees or higher during the peak of the summer months. We regularly count 100 days of over 100 degrees. So, ten degrees can become important.

Morongo is a favorite of mine for several reasons, one already stated, it is close. It is also inhabited by very nice and knowledgeable people, Dee Zeller and his lovely wife who maintain the park and host regular walks and talks. They live on property most of the year and keep several bird feeders full hosting a variety of hummingbirds, goldfinches, towhees and sparrows up close and personal. They have the feeders hanging on a line, and labeled with a number so they can call out the bird at the specific feeder for easier identification.

Also, every Wednesday, bright and early, there is a group of people who meet and walk the park and keep a running list of the birds seen. Mike Smiley is usually there, and usually sees the most birds, aided by almost superhuman farsight. There have been several times I have marveled at at the clear blue sky, when he called out an eagle or something similar. I put the bino's to my eyes and search thinking "No way." until there they show up, a black dot with wings in my bino's and he saw them with the naked eye.

Margaret usually shows up at these walks wearing her famous hat to keep her safe from the sun, and a couple peanuts in her pocket for the Western Scrub Jay, (Aphelocoma californica). She walks to a certain point in the trail, holds the peanut and one or sometimes two Jays will swoop in and snatch the peanut from her fingers. Many times they are waiting on the fencepost for her to offer the breakfast.

There are several others with varying degrees of expertise in birds, birding, photography, biology, and ecology. There is a lot of sharing of information, many questions from those of us novices who have squeezed out some time to try to learn something new and different. Dee, Mike and Margaret never disappoint, and always feed me with new information every time I sneak up there.

Dee, for example, showed me a good way to tell the difference between the Coopers Hawk (Accipiter cooperii), and the Sharp-Shinned Hawk, (Accipiter striatus). They both are regulars at the park, and have nested there several years. He told me the Coopers will have a slightly more rounded tail than the Sharp-shinned. Now there are other differences, such as the Coopers is bigger, but when you only see one in flight, is it a foot long or closer to a foot and a half? The markings are similar, and when side by side, like they can sometimes be at Morongo, there are differences such as the dark "cap" on the Coopers is farther forward, but again, one at a time and this identification can become difficult. So, the tail being rounded, or in the shape of a "c" helps me to remember Coopers, straight across and that is a Sharpy.

Also, the wildlife draws me to the park. This is a place I take friends and family to show off all the desert has to offer. We tend to drive through various shades of brown flora and earth to get there, so it is quite a surprise to pull into the pathway to be shaded by large cottonwoods and pines. Then we get out and begin looking around and the creatures that start to move around you is exhilarating.

Last year, my son, Austin, brought a friend with him to stay with us. He wanted to take him hiking so we decided on Morongo one day. This turned out to be a very good day, and his friend left knowing without a doubt that I was a bird-nerd.

The friend expected, like many people, that we would strap on our water bottles and walk at a brisk pace for a set of miles, or to a location. There we would see the scenery, congratulate ourselves on a good hike, and return. We would return a little tired, hot and sweaty but content we had our exercise for the day. That is not exactly how my sons and I hike.

We usually have a goal of what we would like to see on our hike, not how far we would like to hike. We may take hours to go a mile and half, or walk all day seeing what is over the next hill. My oldest son, Taylor is fascinated by plants and flowers and their interaction with other living creatures, so we walk for a few feet and he is off the trail smelling some plant, caressing a leaf, or trying to see what kind of flower he has found. A few feet more and I am off looking at something that flitted into a bush, or called from the nearby tree. Then Austin usually finds something unusual, like a bobcat or bighorn sheep. So, our hikes are unpredictable in their duration, physical exertion, and information.

On this particular day, we had a good amount of walking, and some great finds. Little Morongo has a regular visitor called the Vermilion Flycatcher, (Pyrocephalus rubinus). For those that have not seen one, they are spectacular. Again, I live in the desert where the color variations of just about everything is shades of brown. The Vermilion is brilliantly red. Nearly the entire body is bright red. They nest most years at Little Morongo, usually in and around the trees near the tennis courts of Covington Park. If you are like me, you will go in the spring, and look hard until you see one, and then kick yourself because the doggone thing is so bright you wonder how you missed it. It is a beautiful bird and we found one on this day. (I am adding a picture that is a little blurry,
but I think you get the idea of how brilliant this little bird is).

Later, we walk out into a field and see a couple trees that are filled with Turkey Vultures (Cathartes aura) sunning themselves. It was morning so the sun was not at its strongest and they were waiting for the thermals to build sufficiently to support soaring. They sat with their wings outstretched soaking in the sun, and testing the wind. Then one decided to test it and found a thermal and began soaring in circles from the top of the trees up into the sky. Once one took off, the others launched themselves at various times and soon there was ten or twenty circling and rising with the heated air. As we watched, the kettle of vultures created a living diagram of the dimensions and shape of the thermal, by soaring to the edges of the upward flowing air then circling within the updraft. When the updraft wriggled and contorted into a different shape, so did the shape of the group of birds. This was pointed out and predicted by one of the people on the walk and some interesting discussion took place. Shared learning. What a concept.

So, my sons friend was subjected to us oohing and aaahing at some pretty ugly birds as we watched them do their thing. Then we found a Great Horned Owl(Bubo virginianus) on a nest, and that was an adrenaline rush for us. The group was walking and Dee mentioned he had seen a Great Horned spending a lot of time near a certain tree, so the group moved in that direction like a covey of quail, and made gasping noises while each took turns looking through scopes and binoculars at the owl who was scowling down at us.

When we had a lengthy list of birds seen, some photos taken, and plenty of use of a spotting scope or two, we headed back to the Zeller camp. There someone asked if we had seen the nesting Long-Eared Owl (Asio otus). We hadn't so off we went, and sure enough found it too.





So, the last reason I like going to Little Morongo is that after this group walks around and discusses, spots, interacts with birds and other wildlife, they go to breakfast. So, we joined them at a little cafe, and had a nice breakfast and catching up on all sorts of news. I got to introduce my son and his friend, which is always a fun thing to do, as it embarrasses my son immensely.

On that day we "hiked" for several hours, saw lots of cool birds, saw nests, raccoon tracks, had a good breakfast, and bonded. I had a great time. My son's friend said he did too, however, we have not seen him since.

You might be a birdnerd if...you seem like a nutty professor to acquaintances, and you never see them again.

Interesting side note to this story...Austin is in the Peace Corps now, and recently helped to train Jamaicans in the Ecotourism activity of birding. He helped show them what kinds of birds were there in Jamaica, and what tourists would most likely want to see. He has some familiarity in this field and did well. I have little nerds all over the world and couldn't be prouder.