Cattail Cove SP 12/31/2017

I am now at Cattail Cove, an Arizona State Park, on the south end of Lake Havasu. Jim and Jeanette have taken volunteer positions here for the next several months. I am camped near them in the overflow camping area.

This is a nice quiet secluded campground with about 80 sites with water and electric. They are $30 per night. I am in the overflow area as the hookup sites are all taken. Overflow is just $20 per night. Dawn and Rich made reservations so they are in the hookup sites. The campground has a waste water dump with a potable water spigot near by. There is a boat ramp and swimming area. There are also several hiking trails that wind thru the surrounding hills. Some have great views of the lake. The lake itself is very clear, much like many of the Oregon Cascade lakes. All though this area is more arid than most of Oregon it still has great natural beauty. 

Oatman, AZ 12/30/2017

I spent yesterday morning doing the Christmas Bird Count in an area north of Lake Havasu City. I had the pleasure of birding with the top ebirder in this county. Although he identified a majority of the species, I was fortunate enough to spot my first Virginia Rail! A species I have been diligently trying to see for the last several months. Unfortunately, I did not get a pic as it landed and quickly ran into cover!

Today, I went with my friends, Dawn and Rich, to an old gold mining town by the name of Oatman. Wild burros wander the streets blocking traffic and entertaining visitors. The small juveniles were very cute!

We arrived in time to watch a staged shoot-out between bank robbers who shot each other because a bag of gold divided 1 way was better than 3 ways! We stopped and had lunch at Topock66. An old marina turned restaurant on the old Route 66. Good food but a bit crowded s it is a long holiday weekend. I would recommend stopping if you are ever in the area.

Christmas Bird Count at Mineral Wash 12/28/2017

I spent most of the day helping with the Christmas Bird Count at Mineral Wash. I was teamed up with several birders who have more bird identification experience than myself. The first pic is of the drive in and the second is John and Jan heading up a narrow branch of the wash.

We had a great time and identified over 30 species. Two species were Life list birds! This Crissal Thrasher is not a Life bird but still a great find!

Not only did we see a number of birds but also this beautiful Common Buckeye butterfly.

Tomorrow I will be birding north of here and hopefully I will get to add more birds to my Life list.

Craggy Wash 12/25/2017

Left Lake Havasu SP yesterday and am back at Craggy Wash. I am planning on a week here before heading south to the Yuma area. I went south to Cattail Cove SP on Lake Havasu this morning. I met up with Jim and Jeanette and Rich and Dawn. Rich and Dawn were volunteers with me when I was at the Oregon coast. We all attended a Christmas potluck hosted by the volunteers at Cattail Cove. There was a good variety of tasty dishes.

As I was leaving the park, I spotted this awesome creature on the road.

I believe it is an Arizona Blond Tarantula. I placed my wallet by it so you can have an idea of its size. My wallet is 4 x 5 inches. The tarantula, including legs, would cover the wallet. This was my first"in the wild" tarantula! 

Lake Havasu SP 12/22/2017

Repaired my awning and left Davis camp last Wednesday. I am now set up at Lake Havasu State Park near Jim and Jeanette. The lake is right out my dining area window!

It was very windy yesterday and 2 of my solar panels blew over and broke. I think I will still have enough to keep my battery charged with the 2 I have left. John West joined us, the last 2 days, for some fun birding. Saturday, Jim and Jeanette plan to head south. I plan to stay till Sunday then move to Craggy Wash for a bit before heading south to the Yuma area. I am trying to stay away from the colder temps that have been showing up at areas north and east! 

David Camp 12/18/2017

I have enjoyed being able to bird with Jim and Jeanette, my friends from Oregon. We identified 40 species today! To see today's list, click here: Davis Camp ebird list 12/18/2017 When I first set up camp by the river, I noticed some markings on several rock faces over looking the camp. I did not give it much thought but then I noticed this plaque. Turns out they are petroglyphs!

Here are pics of some of the sketches.

Davis Camp 12/15/2017

The wind finally subsided here at Davis camp and I was able to flip my awning back into place. Even though it looked bad, the damage was minimal. It took a bit of muscle but I was able to get it to lock down so I could move camp sites. I am now dry camping down by the river with the Scott's who arrived this morning!

I like this spot better than on top even though there are no hook ups! You are right on the river. While Jim and Jeanette were setting up I spotted a Wood Duck floating down the river with a number of Mallard ducks! 

I already had this species on my Life list but it is another first for Mohave county! My county total is now 112. Jim and I had a great time birding after their arrival. We identified 32 species including Inca Doves which is a rare species for this location! I also received a text from my friends, Rich and Dawn. We met and worked together on the Oregon coast. They were at Craggy Wash where I just left. We will keep in touch and hopefully cross paths as they are heading south next as am I!

Davis Camp 12/14/2017

Very windy here today. So windy that it did a remodel on my awning!

I don't think there is any serious damage but I won't know until the winds die down and I can put it back in the original position. Then a trip to the hardware store for repair material! I may look into replacing it with a roll up canvas awning. Then I will have access to interior at all times. Currently the aluminum awning covers the door when it is down. Despite the wind I had a good bird walk. Not only did I see a number of birds but I also encountered a coyote and this pair of burros!

This is a very nice campground with clean sites and hot showers. There is a bit of highway noise but tolerable.  I will be coming back here in the future! Tomorrow, after the winds mellow out, I will move to the dry camps sites which are right by the river. They are only $17 a night.

Davis Camp 12/13/2017

Davis Camp is a Mohave county park located north of Bullhead City. I will be meeting up with, Jim and Jeanette Scott, my birding friends from Oregon. Tonight I set up in a full hookup site. It will give me a chance to flush out my waste water tanks and fill with fresh water. A full hookup site is $30. Tomorrow I will move to a dry camp site, down by the river,  without any hookups. That will save a few dollars.

After setting up I walked the perimeter of the camp doing a birding walk. I was able to ID 30 species. No new Life list birds but I was able to add 2 more species to my Mohave county count. One humorous moment was a great roadrunner showing his dominance over a man made roadrunner!

To see my Davis Camp ebird list, click here: Davis Camp 12/13/2017 ebird list 

Catfish Paradise 12/13/2017

I left Craggy Wash today to go to Davis Camp. On the way I stopped by Catfish Paradise for a quick bit of birding. I was able to add 1 more species to my Mohave county total. A Wilson's Snipe.

As I was leaving, I saw this coyote sitting by the exit road. It looks like he was patiently waiting for me to leave!

Reflecting on seasonal changes.

Went birding today at several locations. No new Life list birds or even new for Mohave county but still had a good time out in the sunshine! While in Rotary Park, I noticed the foliage was changing to "autumn" colors.

Since it is mid December, I ought to refer to it as "winter" colors! Though not as eye catching as the color change in some states, it is still noticeable. Looking at the leaves caused me to reflect on why, despite all the Christmas decorations and music playing in stores, it doesn't feel like the holiday season. The weather changes around the season the I experienced in Oregon are missing here. It is sunny and in the 70's everyday and the coldest nights so far are in the upper 40's. Feels like an Oregon summer! Maybe that is why I am not feeling as home sick as I expected! Don't get me wrong, I am really enjoying being active outdoors everyday. One of the main reasons for this trip was to avoid the seemingly endless rainy winter days back home and I am accomplishing that!

Havasu Lake 12/10/210

Spent a great morning birding with John West! We took the Lake Havasu ferry over to the California side of the lake. We identified 34 species in including a Neotropic Cormorant. A first for my birding Life list!

To see today's complete bird list, click here: ebird list for 12/10/2017 We had a nice meal in a casino on the California side. I even won a few dollars on the slot machines! 

Craggy Wash 12/9/2017

The wind finally calmed down so I was back out birding this morning. I added 2 more species for this county, Canada Goose and Horned Grebe. Here is a pic of a couple Horned Grebes:

To see the complete list of birds, click here: eBird list for 12/9/2017  There are a couple species that I could not ID so I sent pics off to a friend to see if he can ID them. 

Craggy Wash 12/7/2017

Winds are still blowing pretty hard so not spending much time out birding. I spotted this Rock Wren outside my RV this afternoon. It takes my total species for Mojave county to 103! I am now tied for 78th place.

I have put my time to good use. I replaced all the outside cabinet locks on the RV. Had to after breaking the key off that opened the old locks. I also replaced the fresh water intake connection. It has been leaking for some time. Since the RV is 30 years old, I was not able to find the exact part so with tin snips and a file I was able to remove the pressed on fittings and replace them with a much heavier and better quality brass fitting. The wind is supposed to die down on Saturday so hopefully I will be back out looking for more birds.

Craggy Wash 12/5/2017

Not much going on right now. Yesterday I was to meet up with John West and ride the Lake Havasu ferry over to the California side of the lake to do some birding. Unfortunately, the wind has come up with gust up to 30 mph so we cancelled that idea and had breakfast at iHop! The winds will be constant with gusts up to 50 mph the next few days so I wont be out birding. Hopefully John and I can take the ferry Saturday when the winds are supposed to taper off. Fortunately, Craggy Wash is not getting much wind. I am situated along the north wall of the wash. The wind is coming from the northwest so I am pretty sheltered. Guess I will be reading, watching DVD's and doing a bit of maintenance for a few days.

Craggy Wash 12/3/2107

There was a beautiful moon rise last night with the super moon rising above a rocky point behind my RV. My camera does not come close to capturing the beauty of the night but hopefully this gives you an idea of what I experienced.

Went birding this morning at Castle Rock and Rotary Park on Lake Havasu. After several weeks at the park I finally spotted 6 Inca doves. Below is a pic of one of them.

Another species for my Life list. To see the Rotary Park list click here: Rotary Park ebird list 12/3/2017  To see the Castle Rock ebird list click here: Castle Rock ebird list 12/3/2017 When I got back to my RV, I spotted 3 Black-throated Sparrows. Another Life list bird!

Craggy Wash 12/2/2017

Been having brake issues with truck so dropped it off at Brake Masters in Lake Havasu City then went birding with John West. We went to Lake Havasu State Park. We ID 45 species in about 3 hours. I especially like this pic of an Anna's Hummingbird with its tongue stuck out!

For a complete list of birds we identified, click here: Lake Havasu State Park 12/2/2017  We finished birding and went to Azul Agave for a delicious Mexican meal! By chance, the restaurant was next door to the brake shop. We walked across the parking lot and found my truck was done and they were ringing up my bill! I could feel and hear the improvement on the short drive back to camp. On the dirt/rock road up to my camp site, I met a pickup heading out. Even from several 100 feet away I could see that they were driving on a flat rear tire. They were driving fairly fast for such a rough road and chunks of tire were flying off the vehicle. I attempted to wave them down but they were to busy chatting and drove right by! They disappeared around a corner so I do not know how far they drove before they discovered the problem!