Walk on the Wild Side

I visited the San Jacinto National Monument Visitor Center and did a short walk along the Randall Henderson Trail. I did not walk the full three miles of the trail but was busy shooting the wonderful wild flowers that were blooming along the trail. I can’t identify all of the flowers but did my best with the books that I have.
Many of the Cacti were blooming. The most prevalent was the Beaver Tail with its wonderful pink flowers. I also found one barrel cactus, some cholla, and ocotillo that were blooming. One purple flower that was very prevalent I was not able to identify. I also saw a lizard and jack rabbit along the way.
It was a warm day and with all the desert flowers blooming I think my allergies are acting up.
More pictures can be seen at my Flickr account.

Salton Sea

Well we are now settled in our Indio home and getting a chance to enjoy some of the reasons we come here. First of course is the weather. It is 60-70 and sunny during the day and only a little wind. We both have been playing tennis and I have been walking most moringins. Marilyn has joined the putter group again this year and enjoys meeting a different group of people from the tennis crowd.
We had our first opportunity to take a trip out of the part last Sunday to the Salton Sea. We just made a short trip to the North Shore area and the State Recreation Area. But did get to see a number of birds and it was good to get out.
Of course the sea gulls were the most abundant but we also say ducks, pelicans, stilts, and my favorite the white-feathered snowy egret. We did not take the time to really get the great photographs of the birds but did enjoy the walk around the shore.
We also took a drive to visit the Dos Palmos Preserve Oasis. We ad never been to a true oasis before and it was interesting. We met one young man leaving the area as we were going in and he said he had seen a cyote but we didn’t see one. It is interesting to see an area that always has water in the middle of the dry desert. The thick growth of palm trees created a dark covered pathway that we walked through the loop trail.
Just the first of many short day trips we hope to take this year to expand our enjoyment of the Coachella Valley.