Friday, April 12, 2013

Our new site, gems and birds

Yesterday morning we moved up the hill a bit into this nice campsite.  It doesn't have a shelter over the picnic table, but  I think I like that better.  This site feels bigger and more open, and being up the hill, we have a better view.  I think it might be the best of the six dry camping sites.

Our new site.

Some little rocks I picked up for my collection.  You can take up to 15 pounds of Rocks.


This is the sign for the trail we took yesterday.  


The Palms is there in the first row of RVs.  Quite a view!

These are the rocks I picked up along the trail.  I haven't broken them open yet, and I'm not sure how I'm going to do that, but we must have some tools that I can use.  When I have them opened, I'll post the photos, probably the next post.  Honestly, I wasn't sure what I was looking for, so I took a few that looked like "eggs" and the rest were just to increase my odds.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I have at least one good one.


There's a lot of activity around the campsite on these quiet, sunny, breezy days.  I haven't even put out the bird seed yet, and we've still had a squirrel and lots of birds.

Squirrel in our site.

I looked up the following bird, and I think it's a Lesser Goldfinch.  Let me know if I'm wrong.  NOTE: Hazel let me know it's a Hammond's Flycatcher. Thanks, Hazel!

Hammond's Flycatcher

Juvenile White-Crowned Sparrow

Remember when I was at Quartsite the first time and the Mourning Dove kept puffing up it's throat and no one knew why?  I was afraid it was sick or had something caught in it's throat.  I had forgotten all about that until I saw this White-Winged Dove yesterday, just sitting there across the road with his throat puffing, deflating, puffing, deflating, etc.  Well, I'm thinking it must have something to do with the mating season.

This is his normal throat.

Look how puffed up his throat is in this photo.  I wonder if he's courting.

We had a really pretty sunset last night.


Today is a little overcast - I wouldn't mind having some rain.  It would be good for all the desert plants, and maybe bring out some flowers.

From Me and Katie, have a great Friday, everyone!  :)

10 comments:

  1. Well, if I'd know you needed some rain, you could have had some of ours. We've got lots to spare!
    You may have to break down and buy yourself a rock hammer of some sort. Don't forget to wear some protective eye wear. Rock splinters in the eyeballs isn't something I'd recommend.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Flowers sure are hard to come by this year. We were there in December...Very cold and windy at that elevation.

    ReplyDelete
  3. You are right. The doves are courting.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Great site! And a beautiful sunset!

    Have a great week-end!

    Hugs to Katie....

    ReplyDelete
  5. Nice site! You can have some of our rain. We've had significant rain every day this week...and the forecast calls for rain every day all next week too. The rocks are really interesting!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Your rocks are so pretty. Looking forward to seeing what is inside them.

    ReplyDelete
  7. You always seem to find the perfect spots with the perfect surroundings.

    ReplyDelete
  8. what a great spot you found! enjoy the rocks, the birds and the view!!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hi Barbara,
    When I was there last year I didn't know how to find the Thunder Eggs either. So I went to the Visitor Center and saw their displays to see how they looked from the outside. You might swing by there and take a look. I didn't find any big ones, but found some small (golf ball size) that have a similar outer shell. Haven't cracked them open yet. Also, theVis. Ctr. had some polished rocks that you can have (for a donation). Happy rockhounding!
    Hugs to Katie,
    Jeanne

    ReplyDelete
  10. I'm not a rock hound but I like pretty rocks. We were in a store yesterday, where you could buy the rocks instead of looking for them and one of the things they suggested was to wrap a light towel or rag around the rock before you use the hammer and I agree with Bob, be sure and wear protective glasses.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for your comments - we LOVE them!