Tuesday 5 August 2008

California birding trip Part 1

In the absence of being able to get out the last few days, I thought I'd share a birding trip that I took with friends a couple of years ago to Southern California. The photos aren't brilliant I'm afraid, I was using a little Nikon Coolpix 4500 point and shoot camera at the time which did pretty well considering....
We flew to LA and then drove down to San Diego, after birding around this area, we visited Anza Borrego Desert and Salton Sea area. The Salton Sea must be one of the weirdest places I've ever been to. Quite alien looking, but fantastic for birds!

Gambel's Quail was one of our target birds to see and this one showed off for us quite well.

One of the most beautiful places we visited was Joshua Tree National Park. The scenery was so different from anything I'd ever encountered before. I wish I'd taken more scenery pictures now.....easy with hindsight I guess.

The last area we stayed in for this first installment was the lovely San Jacinto mountains close to LA.

We stayed in a fantastic cabin in a town called Idyllwild. It was certainly idyllic up there.

This Mountain Chickadee posed long enough for me to get a reasonable photo.

9 comments:

Adrian said...

Hey Wren

Not very good shooting weather here either in the last few days! I think I might share a few Isle of Skye shots. Love the silhouette shot. The Nikon Coolpix seems a long time ago now.

See you soon, Adgi

Jenny said...

Thanks Adgi

Yes, all those places I'd like to revisit with my new DSLR! Look forward to the Ilse of Skye photos.
See you next week now....hopefully!
love
Wren

Eve said...

Oh Jenny great post! That's pretty sad when I haven't even been to California!!! I love that shot of the cactus silhouette too!! Wow! And the new header is terrific!!

Jenny said...

Thanks Eve
That silhouette is probably the nicest shot of the whole trip. Dearly wish I'd had my other camera then.....still, shouldn't complain. It was a fantastic holiday!

Mosura said...

Love the silhouetted Yucca.

America, Britain, Australia.... you must have some life list :-)

Jenny said...

Hi Alan
I've not got around to knowing what my life list is, but I'm way behind some of my friends. Even so, I do feel really lucky to have been able to make the trips I have so far.

Mary said...

Looks like a great place to visit and the pictures look great to me! That header really grabs you! The entire western part of the US is pretty amazing for scenery and nature. I've only been to California once...San Diego...but it was a beautiful place and I would love to go back and explore more.

Jenny said...

Hi Mary.
The deserts were something else! I'd never been to a desert before, so they blew me away with their vastness and stunning scenery. Somewhere I'd love to go next is Arizona......maybe one day.

Anonymous said...

Great scene Jen, The little Nikon did very well. The Sunset is brilliant.