During the week of April 9 this year, my wife and I joined her aunt and husband on a backcountry trip to Joshua Tree National Park in the Southern California desert. Joshua Tree is indeed a very special place and home to many species of plants and wildlife found nowhere else. Couple that with the solitude and stark beauty of the landscape and you have a perfect place to retreat for peace of mind.
During the days we were there, the Joshua trees were in bloom and many interesting birds were out and about. Considering we didn’t see another soul after we left our car until we returned days later, it felt like mother nature was giving us a private show.
Our plan was to set up camp in a place called Juniper Flats, not surprisingly, a flat area of scrub junipers and Joshua trees. These clumps of vegetation create little islands of habitat for dozens of creatures across the otherwise inhospitable landscape.
With the Joshua trees in full bloom, we were graced throughout our trip by presence of Scott’s Orioles (Icterus parisorum) who were taking full advantage of the blooms. Amid the stark landscape, their beautiful song and beautiful coloration left a striking impression.
One wary visitor to our camp was the Pinyon Jay (Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus). These not so little guys were always flitting too and fro among the junipers going about their springly business keeping an eye on us all the while. They let me get reasonably close and I was able to digiscope this photo through my 7×20 compact binoculars.
During one of our near sunset excursions, we crested a ridge to see a decent sized bird that kept flitting away as we got anywhere near. He finally lighted on some branches but the angle and deepening twilight made it very difficult to make him out. Our best guess is that he must have been a Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos) whose range, size and general coloration seem to match.
During that same hike, we discovered what might have grabbed his attention, a Yucca in full bloom.
During our stay, particularly in the late afternoons and early evenings, we often saw birds of prey soaring about and occasionally diving on their prey. While we weren’t able to grab any photos, the most frequent one we saw was probably the Red-tail Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis).
Our most ambitious hike was a day long excursion along the Stubbe Springs trail up to a dramatic overlook of Fern Canyon which drops 2000 feet to the Coachella Valley. Near the springs we were treated to many bird sightings though they were too elusive to photograph or identify. This trail runs through a designated day-use only area because of the sensitive eco system and the dearth of human presence keeps most wildlife suitably skittish.
Along the way though, we were treated to several explosions of the desert in bloom.
For our long labors, we were richly rewarded. After we lunched at the overlook, we were approached by a magnificent Desert Bighorn Sheep. We were initally afraid he might simply turn and run when he caught sight of us, but instead he sought the high ground and proceeded to give us a spectacular show– all at less than 100 yards away! I’m amazed these digiscoped shots came out as well as they did considering how hard it was to keep my hands from shaking with the excitement.
Just when we thought that the desert gods had given us as much of a show as they possibly could, we were treated to a rare hail storm on the hike out. In a matter of minutes, the warm spring desert was transformed into a winter wonderland as the hail piled up on the ground. Considering that Joshua Tree only receives about 0.10 inches of precipitation for the entire month of April, this was indeed a spectacular occurence.
A wonderful way to conclude a glorious trip!
