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This photo collection of nests, chicks
and juvenile birds are some of the
many hopeful signs we have seen in
the wild and sometimes not so wild on
Nature Trips this spring and summer
in California

Thanks to all those generous folks
who took the time to post sightings,
contact us or offer access so we
could capture some of these images

South Western Desert birds are use
to prickly situations and take
advantage of the protection offered
by thorny desert trees and cactus

Above: A Verdin completes it's
thorny twig nest using spider webs
to bind it all together at the end

Cactus Wren's often use Cholla
Cactus (above left) for their
relatively large pouch shaped
nests but a thorny tree will do in
a pinch. This literate bird in
Cactus Pipe Organ N.M. (Az.)
used newspaper as well

A fledged Yellow-rumped Warbler was already present
on an April 15th visit to the Kern River Preserve while
House Wrens' were still busy lining their nest boxes

Favoring similar nesting cavities, Tree
Swallows and Western Bluebirds
often become close neighbors

This young Common Yellowthroat
was closely following it's parents on a
June 9th visit to the Tijuana Slough in
San Diego county

Despite the gloomy, overcast skies
during a late July Nature Trip to
San Diego county one of the
brightest spots for us this year has
been this visit to the Border Fields
beach to see the wonderful Plover
and Tern colonies at this locale

As luck would have it we ran
into a field biologist for the
U.S. Department of Wildlife
who works with endangered
species here and when he
found out our interest
graciously pointed out many
nests and juvenile birds he
has been monitoring.

Above: Our first ever closeup look
at a Least Tern Nest. Needless to
say, we were thrilled:
Our new friend Billy explained:
"Always three eggs, I've never
seen two and never four"

As mentioned, the light wasn't
great, but the scenery was just
amazing! 20 or more species
of shorebirds, at least four
species of Tern, Kites,
Harriers, Cormorants and
Pelicans flying all about us

By far the most Western Snowy
Plover we've ever seen at one
location and considering their
population currently stands at only
2,300, every new fledge we saw
gave us more hope. Thanks again
for all of your efforts Billy and the
staff at Department of Wildlife!