Yes, it’s Tuesday; but I was on a plane and then pretty jet lagged yesterday. Anyway, today’s moth is one from my Salton Sea trip two weekends ago. These moths were common on every built up surface in every campground. Best guess is that this is Perizoma custodiata, Hodges# 7328.
Mecca Beach Campground, Salton Sea, 2009-03-21
I visited Brooklyn this past weekend. Despite jet lag, rain, and wind, I managed to spend a few hours in Prospect Park and picked up 39 species including 15 year birds:
However, I did not find the Red-necked Grebe or the White-winged Crossbills that were reported earlier in the year.
Many-spotted Angle Moth, Hodges #6395, Digrammia irrorata
William R. Mason Regional Park, 2008-03-05
Details and pictures to follow but here’s the day list:
Pseudoschinia elautalis, Hodges#4828
I found this one in the shower at Agua Caliente County Park, which is built at hot springs in the desert. Kudos to John Lee for the ID.
Sunday, 3/1/09, Beth and I had coffee on the patio of our hotel, and then played a little tennis before it got too hot. The hotel grounds were surprisingly birdy with numerous great-tailed grackles and White-winged Doves (a California bird) making quite a racket. I also spotted one Verdin and an American Kestrel. After tennis, we headed out to the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park Visitor’s Center and enjoyed some more Verdins, Costa’s Hummingbirds, and Black-chinned Sparrows in their garden. We also followed the path to the Palm Canyon campground, where we found some quail, likely California. After brunch at a Mexican restaurant, we drove back down the Yaqui Pass Road and stopped at the Tamarisk Grove Campground one more time. This time there were even more moths, as well as a Bewick’s Wren.
We had come up through the mountains on 78 through Julian, but we decided to take a slightly more roundabout route home along the Great Southern Overland Stage Road to see some different scenery, avoid the winding mountain roads, and check out some of the parks along the way. Our first stop was at the Vallecito County Park at 1:00 P.M. By this point it was quite hot, and most birds had retired for the day. Beth stayed in the air conditioned car while I looked for the few birds that were still active in the heat. White-winged Doves were doing their Barn Owl imitations. Costa’s Hummingbirds were buzzing. Common Ravens were croaking. House Finches and Verdins were cheeping. Phainopeplas were everywhere (relatively speaking).
And after walking around the campground for 20 minutes or so, a small gray and black bird buzzed by. I got my binoculars on it, and for sure it was a gnatcatcher. It looked a lot like a California Gnatcatcher, but California Gnatcatchers are coastal birds of the sage scrub. Out here in the desert, it could only be a Black-tailed Gnatcatcher, #464. I followed tit form bush to bush, and got some good looks but was never able to get a photo. Maybe next time.
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