Thrasher search, Part 2: Mesquite Bosque at Borrego Springs

Black-throated Sparrow. Borrego Springs, California. March 22, 2015. Greg Gillson.

I had arrived right at dawn at the Waste Treatment Ponds. After an hour I left, without finding any of my target species. [See Part 1] Next stop was the Mesquite Bosque at the end of Yaqui Pass Road. [Site guide to Borrego Springs WTP and Mesquite Bosque]

There were two species I was really hoping to find here: Crissal Thrasher and Lucy's Warbler. I also hoped to possibly find Ladder-backed Woodpecker.

Loggerhead Shrikes.

The mesquite had fresh new yellow-green leaves and were much greener than when I last visited in December. A family of Loggerhead Shrikes flew around making noise, but didn't allow close approach for frame-filling photography.

My directions from the site guide were as follows: "From the end of Yaqui Pass Rd, walk the dirt track "road" that starts west and then immediately turns NE about 1/2 mile to an abandoned cabin. From there follow the dirt road another 1/2 mile East to the densest part of the woodland. Here, somewhere, is an abandoned yellow van that is in the best birding spot."

I actually found the yellow van. It is about 1/10th of a mile East of the cabin. Go north past the cabin, then leave the road and head East.

Cabin in Mesquite Bosque

Guess what? Singing from the top of a mesquite right over the yellow van was a Crissal Thrasher! The light wasn't good right then. Better overcast and 85F than clear and 100F, I guess.

Crissal Thrasher! Mesquite Bosque, Borrego Springs, California. March 22, 2015. Greg Gillson.

I then heard a weak trill that I thought might be Lucy's Warbler. Unfortunately, no. It was the Black-throated Sparrow that introduces this article.

Next, try to find LeConte's Thrasher....