Julian getaway: turkeys and deer photo collection

It was Marlene's and my 40th wedding anniversary. We only had 3 days. Getting "away" sounded better than going to a place with lots of other people. So instead of an expensive stay on a crowded beach, we rented a little cabin in the woods at Julian.

We arrived Saturday afternoon and stayed until noon on Monday. No other people for nearly 48 hours. Pine trees, turkeys, deer, sunsets, oak trees. Silence. Rest. Away.

Here is a collection of photos from our trip. The first 3 were taken on my camera phone, the remainder with my large lens and camera.

As perhaps you can tell from the photos below, there was no time during the weekend when there weren't deer and turkeys in view. In fact, when I walked around the property I invariably had  several deer following me around, and the turkeys weren't spooked until I was within 30 feet.

Just what we needed!

Joshua Tree National Park

My daughter Leslie came for a visit with her husband Daniel from Portland, Oregon. She expressed a desire to visit Joshua Tree National Park, 2-1/2 hours away to the north, east of Riverside (San Bernardino and Riverside counties). Marlene and I planned a route, and the four of us headed out for a long day road trip--even if temperatures well above 100F degrees were expected.

We entered the Park in the northwest end from the town of Joshua Tree (population 7400). We spent an hour in the Visitor Center in town before continuing on to the West Entrance Station. Entry fee (day or week) is $20. By 9:30 a.m. it was already 95F.

Joshua Trees are the typical plants of the Mojave Desert. They are giant yucca plants and not true trees. In most places the Joshua Trees were spread out enough that photos didn't really do justice to the odd prehistoric-like scenery. It would have been better to have a brief video as we drove past. But the photo below gives an idea of the 20 foot tall trees scattered about and standing above the otherwise knee-high gray scrub with the mountainous backdrop. Like well-spaced giant terracotta soldiers on the battlefield.

Joshua Trees

Soon the landscape turned to boulders weathering out of the ridges.

Quail Springs picnic area

Pencil Cholla

We pulled into a hiking and picnic area called Hidden Valley. We walked about 1/4 of the mile long loop trail.

Hidden Valley

Leslie and Daniel

There were very few birds. In June there would be very few birds anyway, even at dawn. But at mid-day the only birds I saw more than one individual of were Ladder-backed Woodpeckers, Western Scrub-Jays, and Black-throated Sparrows. I saw a Mourning Dove, a Northern Mockingbird, and heard a Rock Wren, but not much else.

Black-throated Sparrow in Mojave Yucca.

Silver Cholla

Foreground plants, left to right: pinyon pine, unidentified yucca, dollarjoint pricklypear.

This area had many interesting boulders. The scenery was constantly changing, but the players remained the same. It was all the same, yet all different--boulders and Joshua trees.

To Marlene, every boulder, no matter size or shape, somehow reminded her of an elephant, which delighted her to no end (she may have gotten too much sun). I refused to see any of her elephants, or anything else other than rocks, well, okay, except for this:

Hidden Valley Campground. "Flattened Bunny Hill" or "Roadkill Rabbit Ridge" (not official names).

After Hidden Valley we visited nearby Barker Dam. Even when full the little pond it created was probably only 6 feet deep. It appeared, though, that it had been dry for many months. The loop trail was exactly 1 mile. The temperature was now about 100F. Leslie, Daniel, and I made the hike. And we found some Indian pictographs. Marlene was smart and read a book in the shade.

Then we drove on and dropped elevation down into the Colorado desert and watched the temperature indicator steadily climb past 112F.

Cholla Garden. Likely Silver Cholla foreground, most are Teddy Bear ("Jumping") Cholla.

We drove back to San Diego County via the Salton Sea. We only spent about 20 minutes on the shore at the Salton Sea State Recreation Area on the north shore of the Sea. At 200 feet below sea level it was 115F.  Then through Borrego Springs for an early dinner. Up and over the mountains where it dropped to a comfortable 65F and a cool evening breeze pushed inland from the coast for the remainder of our trip home to Escondido.

All in all, a very long, hot, but enjoyable last day of the visit for Marlene and I with Leslie and Daniel.

A visit to La Jolla Cove

Some interesting seabirds were being seen from shore at La Jolla Cove recently. I went early one morning to scope out seabirds from the Point La Jolla vantage point. "Scope" is the correct word, because I was looking for more oceanic birds that do not approach too close to shore. A deep little canyon comes in to this natural bay. Migrating seabirds may enter into this little bay before moving out again (see map below). I was especially looking at birds 3/4 of a mile out to more than a mile-and-a-half. It requires high-powered optics and knowledge of identifying seabirds by flight style and shape more than plumage characters.

[By the way, for out-of-towners, La Jolla is pronounced as if it was Spanish: "la Hoy-ya" and not "la Jo-la." What the word means is open to debate, as jolla isn't a Spanish word. Options include the Spanish la joya meaning The Jewel, or possibly a corruption of a Native American word Woholle meaning a Hole in the Wall.]

La Jolla Cove seawatch viewpoint from Point La Jolla at Scripps Park. Looking north across La Jolla Bay.

Point La Jolla and La Jolla Bay satellite view.

I spent an hour-and-a-half at dawn staring through my scope with my left eye. I spotted many birds, including over 100 Black Storm-Petrels and 2 Sooty Shearwaters--birds that are not easily spotted from shore. A couple new birds for the year for me were 2 Wandering Tattlers and a Black Turnstone on the rocky shores, and a Lilac-crowned Parrot screeching in the palm trees above the parking area.

Cormorants were nesting on the cliffs, terns and pelicans were diving into the water for a morning snack of fish for breakfast.

I was inches from 30 or so California Sea Lions resting and fighting on the rocks below me and noted a couple of Bottlenose Dolphins swimming by not too distant. There were also several boats, including small one-man rafts and kayaks out fishing a mile or more from shore. Several swimmers were crossing the bay--more than a mile swim across the bay in rather cold water!

Several walkers and joggers passed by, many stopping to watch the sea lions and snap some up-close photos.

After my eyes tired and I wasn't seeing anything new, I packed up the scope into the car and then followed the walkway taking some photos. I started on the east side at Goldfish Point and walked maybe 1/2 mile west to the Seal Rock. I provide a map, below.

Closer view of La Jolla Cove area

The first challenge to visiting is finding a parking space. If you can't come mid-week, then arrive well before 7:00 am. Or you can drive round and round hoping someone pulls out of a parking space right in front of you. Park along Coast Boulevard. I try to park close to La Jolla Cove at Scripps Park, as that is where I scan the sea from.

Arrive early if you want a parking space.

Starting on the east side of La Jolla Cove and facing east...

La Jolla Cave and Goldfish Point

From the same viewpoint, but now facing west down into La Jolla Cover proper. The palm tree cluster is in Scripps Park and Point La Jolla sticks out into the sea...

La Jolla Cove

At Point La Jolla where I scope out seabirds, now looking north across the mouth of the bay...

California Sea Lions on Point La Jolla

Walking westward along the Coast Walk Trail on the seaward side of Scripps Park...

Scripps Park

Just west of Scripps Park is Rocky Point and a rocky beach as I look north...

Rocky Point

From the same viewpoint looking west toward the Childrens Beach (long since taken over by seals and sea lions)...

View of Childrens Beach and Point Mencinger

I finally reach Seal Rock on the west side of the Childrens Beach and can look south along the shoreline, no longer in La Jolla Bay...

Seal Rock

Harbor Seal on Childrens Pool Observation Walkway

For a previous birding site guide to La Jolla Cove check here.