For the uninitiated, Joshua Tree National Park is a high desert environment. It has massive piles of sandstone boulders that are impressive enough, but it also has its' namesake Joshua Trees, and vast fields of "Teddy bear" or "Jumping" cholla. It is probably most famous in recent years for rock climbing. There are several schools that will teach those intrepid enough to use ropes and other equipment to make their way up sheer rock faces. There are miles and miles of hiking trails, as well as a lot of open desert to explore as well. It is always amazing the amounts of wildlife one can find while wandering through the washes and rocks of the National Park. At first glance the place looks deserted, (no pun intended), but walking just a little ways out, or over a hill, down into a wash, and suddenly the place is alive with activity.
I met Bill and Herman who were two of five of us who showed up in the near freezing dawn to count birds in the Park. Seth and Jack(?) were the other team, and they went to 49 Palms campground to find and count birds. Bill drove Herman and I through the Indian Cove area to do the same.
The sky was clear and as we watched the sun climb steadily, we drove to a canyon at the extreme end of the campground. We hiked to and up the wash looking for something to fly out and introduce themselves. Bill talked of a Golden Eagle nest found on the canyon wall farther back in the canyon. We scrambled over rocks and up a wash that still had running water, carrying our binoculars and camera and wearing four layers of clothing. It was a glorious 35 degrees and a steady breeze was blowing, finding the inch or so that separated the top of my pants and the bottom of my jacket, giving me a frozen belt. I fixed this later, but for this initial foray it was amazing how efficient that wind was at finding the chink in my armor.
We didn't find anything bird-wise. We did find frozen pools of water, frozen mud, and a few interesting tracks frozen in the icy mud. After some time, we returned to our car with chattering teeth and shivering everything else. My hopes were as low as the temperature, but determined to see it through.
Then we drove through a campground and started seeing birds. A Say's Phoebe (Sayornis saya), was sitting on someone's camp stove on a picnic table. A Black Throated Sparrow, (Amphispiza bilineata), flew past and foraged with it's buddies between two campsites. In amongst the Sparrows was a Black Tailed Gnatcatcher, (Polioptila melanoma), who foraged with them then jumped into the little bushes in his hyperactive way.
(Black Throated Sparrow foraging near a campsite).
(Black Tailed Gnatcatcher)
We were excited to see these little guys and were using our binoculars and concentrating on counting both the number of species and the number of birds we were seeing. At some point we realized a few of the campers were eyeing us with skeptical expressions, and at least one young lady was pausing on her way to the restroom, concerned there were three perverts between her and relief. We tried to assuage their fears by waving and smiling, but I am not sure we were entirely successful. We moved on.
We moved on to what Bill, (a former Ranger at Joshua Tree National Park), called Rattlesnake Canyon. He informed us we were going to hike up the canyon first, then down into the more open desert in our search. I wasn't too concerned about finding the canyon's namesake as it was still hovering near freezing. As we crested the hillside and dropped into the canyon, we saw a small flock of Black Throated Sparrows, and then a larger flock of Gambel's Quail,(Callipepla gambelii). We watch the flock of Quail run up the other side and run in single file up the hillside past the canyon.
(Gambel's Quail running away in single file).
We wandered up the canyon and heard a Ladder-backed Woodpecker,(Picoides scalars). We searched and soon found the Woodpecker sitting on a Yucca stump. I was surprised by this find. This is not the kind of environment I expected to find a woodpecker of any kind, Bill just smiled.
(Herman looking up the canyon, while Bill catches up, I took the high road).
We wandered up and down until Herman, who kept wandering off up hillsides, down into thick brush, the whole time snapping pictures and asking "What's that?", pointed up a little draw. We stopped and scanned the area he was indicating with our binoculars, and found a flock of about 18 Lesser Goldfinches,(Carduelis psaltria), working the hillsides. The flock let us get very close, then actually flew toward us. As we continued on our walk, the flock and another smaller one later on, kept us company as we wandered through the desert.
(House Finch)
(Male Lesser Goldfinch)
It was about here that Bill announced he 'had' a Bighorn Sheep on the ridgeline above us. We looked up and sure enough, there was a big beautiful Bighorn standing and staring directly at us. He was some distance away, but majestic looking. As we watched he worked his way down the rocks toward us. He never got really close, but kept getting closer which was exciting. We didn't have the time to wait for him to come all the way to us, (we had birds to count), so we moved on.
(Bighorn Sheep)
Bill showed us the way as we wandered down the canyon and out into the open desert. Bill told us there was the possibility of finding a LeConte's Thrasher, but we would have to hike to the border of the Park, another three miles or so, and the chances were 50-50 the birds were still there. We decided to make a shorter arc and work our way back to the car. As we walk around a pile of rocks, we see something moving on the sand between bushes. We get closer and sure enough, there is not one but two LeConte's Thrashers,(Toxostoma lecontei)! They not only stayed around for us to verify their identity, but to allow us to take some photographs as well. They seemed to relax as they realized we were only there to watch them, and went about their Thrasher business. These birds are called this because they like to use their beaks and feet to indiscriminately toss debris around under bushes looking for things to eat. One usually hears them before seeing them. I have heard noises in the bushes so loud I swore a cat or raccoon or some other animal was underneath, only to see a Thrasher pop up on a branch. These guys were no different. They were busy scratching and tossing while we froze in the wind and watched. On the way back we saw a Loggerhead Shrike, (Lanius excubitor), on a Yucca, and a Cactus Wren,(Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus), sitting on a Pencil Cholla.
(LeConte's Thrasher)
(Cactus Wren)
After lunch, and finding a Rock Wren,(Salpinctes obsoletus), we drove out of the Park and searched the little community that lived right along the boundary line of the Park. There we found a couple hundred more Gambel's Quail, Starlings, Pigeons and Mourning Doves. We also found Eurasion Collared Doves and more House Finches,(Carpodacus cassinii), and Black Throated Sparrows. Ravens were there as well as in the Park.
We finished the day at the Visitor Center where there is a nice little walk near a man-made pond where an American Kestrel,(Falco sparverius), was sitting on a Palm frond and watching our progress against the chill wind. We found a Phainopepla,(Phainopepla intense), sitting on a Cat's Claw and whistling at us. There was another small flock of Gambel's Quail running through the bush as well. We spent a lot of time near a Palm Tree because there were pellets at the base, as well as white-wash along the tree trunk, indicating this was a roost spot for an owl. As the sun was setting, we knew that at any moment the culprit would step out of the skirt of Palm Tree, stretch and fly into the night. We suspected either a Barn Owl, or Great Horned Owl, but we will not know as the culprit was smarter than we were. He stayed in where it was warmer, while we stood out in the cold looking up the skirts, nearly falling over backwards and breaking our necks.
You might be a birdnerd if...You spend your time looking up skirts for owls.
Happy New Year!!!
(One of two Coyotes we saw on our travels, be seeing you!).
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