Big Morongo Canyon Preserve in Morongo Valley, California consists of 48 square miles of land located in the Little San Bernardino Mountains in a transition zone between the higher Mojave Desert (where the entrance and most of the trails are) and the lower Colorado Desert, which is part of the Sonoran Desert (where the 4.17 mile one-way Canyon Trail emerges). It is high in natural diversity and one of the ten largest cottonwood and willow riparian habitats in California. The Audubon Society has called it one of the most important avian habitat areas in California. It is designated an Important Birding Area and over 247 species of birds have been recorded there, with at least 72 resident breeding species. It is part of the dispersed Sand to Snow National Monument managed by the BLM with assistance from Friends of Morongo Canyon Preserve.
I did not really appreciate Big Morongo until recently. I'd been there several times before this year and never been terribly impressed. But as I've become more of a birder I've realized that I'm seeing the big birds, not the small ones. Learning to see and photograph the small birds is a real art and Big Morongo has an amazing variety of small birds.
Following are some of my photos from Big Morongo:
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| Bewick's wren, nesting in this dead tree. |
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| Wilson's warbler |
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| Lucy's warbler |
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| Costa's hummingbird |
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| Black-chinned hummingbird |
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| Anna's hummingbird |
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| Western tanager |
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| Summer tanager |
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| Vermillion flycatcher |
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| Vermilion flycatcher female |
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| Nuttall's woodpecker - male |
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| Nuttall's woodpecker - female |
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| Black-headed grosbeak |
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| White-winged dove |
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| California thrasher |
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| Hooded oriole |
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| Bullock's oriole |
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| Hose finch |
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| Lesser goldfinch |
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| Oak titmouse |
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| White-crowned sparrow |
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| Ash-throated flycatcher |
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| California scrub-jay |
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| California towhee |
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| Brown-headed cowbird |
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| Cassin's kingbird |
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| Common sideblotched lizard |
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| Western fence lizard |
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| Western whiptail |
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| Red coachwhip |
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| Mule deer |
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| Mule deer |
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| A barn owl nesting inside the dead fronds of a palm tree. |
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| A spotted towhee. |
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| A female rose-breasted grosbeak. |
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| Barn Owl |
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| Northern Flicker |
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| Hermit Thrush |
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| Fox Sparrow |
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| Ruby-Crowned Kinglet |
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| Botta's Pocket Gopher |
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| Cedar waxwing |
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| Western bluebird |
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| White-throated sparrow |
This is an amazing variety of birds (and other animals) for such a small area. It's hard to see small birds, but even harder to photograph them.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a nice day trip place.
ReplyDelete