LTVA Wildlife
Whilst at Imperial Dam, we camped in two different spots. The first was on the mesa, where the sunrises were great (see prior post), and so was the wind. ‘Great’ meaning there was a lot of it, not that it was enjoyable. So when the wind became too annoying, we sought a place that would be more sheltered, and ended up in a place named ‘Kripple Kreek’. Do not be deceived by this name…there was not a drop of water to be found there. There was, however, a lot more wildlife, including Mourning Doves, California Quail, and these teeny, fast-moving birds that I concluded might be some kind of sparrow.
PS -- it took me over an hour, plus dozens of wasted shots, to obtain these few photos. This is why I love digital photography. Also, if you look at the original photos you see no birds at all. They disappear into the background and have to be pried out via cropping.
Here is a Mourning Dove looking for food at our campsite. In case you are wondering, yes, the rocks in the background are bright green. Why someone chose to paint rocks in the desert bright green I cannot tell you.
Here is a quail scratching the ground for seeds (or flecks of green paint?)
This is one of the little birds. Unfortunately, my camera equipment is not good enough to capture him perfectly, and plus, he moves like lightning. As you can see (as opposed to others posted below), he has a black mask and no stripes on his head.
Now this one has only faint stripes. Maybe it is a female? Like humans, the male bird is generally a lot flashier than the female. Show-offs.
This guy (gal?) is almost completely brown...
While this guy has a black stripey head
And THIS guy has a RED stripey head.
All these different-looking birds hang together in a flock, so if one is around, they all are, and when one flies away, so do the rest.
So are all these birds the same kind of bird? Inquiring minds want to know...and yet remain ignorant.