California Crossing: Bombay Beach, CA on the Salton Sea

Day 3

I could hear the crunch of grinding shells with each step of my hiking boots. Muddy colored water lapped the shoreline. Crusty mounds of mud gave the beach a bumpy surface. And, dead fish washed ashore lay with open-eyed stares; their bleached white scales gave them a ghostly appearance.

My excitement about visiting this place quickly faded as I tried to find some reason why anyone would visit this recreational area – Bombay Beach – on California’s Salton Sea. I had no desire to slip off my shoes and test the water. So I tried to find some redeeming qualities for the place.

My conclusion: The uniqueness of the Sea and the habitat for birds had to be the draw. What’s unique? The Salton Sea is the largest inland body of water in California. It covers 360 square miles at an elevation of minus 227 feet below sea level. And the birds were abundant. In an unusual display of uniformity, sea gulls stood in single file on the water’s edge. Pelicans and ducks floated on the undulating water.

Later, I read that the Salton Sea is an important part of the Pacific flyway for migratory birds. So important that it’s called “California’s Crown Jewel of Avian Biodiversity.” Its habitat supports the second highest count of different bird species in the nation. Only the Texas Gulf Coast is higher.

So I was late in coming to realize the Salton Sea’s alluring aspects. As the day progressed and our drive along the Sea continued, I would come to appreciate the wonder of this place.

February 5, 2009

Run - Pause - Run Some More

Ed and I witnessed something marvelous. We’d been cruising in an ATV along the Pacific shoreline when we noticed a flock of small shorebirds ahead. Ed cut the engine so we could observe their behavior.

The entire flock faced the ocean. Each bird balanced on a single tiny leg. They used that leg like a spring to hop about on the damp sand. When a wave rolled toward shore, they turned in a mass retreat using both legs to scramble away from the water. As the wave receded, they made an about-face and scurried back to the damp sand. With keen eyes, they watched the tide repeating their run-pause-run back routine tirelessly. Their display entertained us for awhile before we skirted a wide path beyond their immediate habitat so as not to disturb them. What were these entertaining creatures anyway?

We confirmed by matching our photos to the ones on the Internet that we had seen a flock of the Western Snowy Plover. Since 1993, the species has been on the list of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife. Before coming to Oregon, I had never heard of this little bird that likes beaches and barren ground. Once here, I learned there are great efforts to protect this species. In fact, between March 15 and September 15, it is a grave infraction to enter one area of beach near Florence, Oregon considered to be a breeding ground. I found the full recovery plan on the Internet that outlines how the Snowy Plover population will eventually increase (www.fws.gov/arcata/es/birds/WPS/plover.html ). Surprisingly, if the plan is successful, it will take until 2047 for the Western Snowy Plover to be delisted.

I found that only an estimated 2,100 Western Snowy Plovers can be found on the Oregon Coast. Thinking back to our bird-watching experience, I am thrilled to have been able to get a birds-eye view of these rare little birds.

There's No Sneaking Out Early for the Peabody Ducks

If you have ever tried to leave work early, I hope you fared better than the Peabody ducks. One these famous ducks waddled away from the hotel lobby’s Italian travertine marble fountain. Then, the other four ducks must have thought it was quitting time and started to follow. Their exit came to an abrupt halt. The Duckmaster at The Peabody picked them up one by one with help from a waitress and gently plunked them back in the water.

“That’s what happens when you try to leave work early,” he reprimanded the ducks and drew laughter from the gathering crowd of people in the Grand Lobby.

I checked my Seiko – 4:37 PM, getting close to 5 PM. At the top of the hour, we see the Duck Parade. The mallards would go down several steps from the fountain and follow the red carpet through a crowd of spectators. They’d waddle into the elevator for a ride to their “Duck Palace” on the hotel roof. This occurs every day at 5 PM. The ceremony is reversed daily at 11 AM.

Ed and I had joined the growing crowd of people in the lobby of this downtown Memphis hotel, The Peabody. We arrived at 4 PM when there were still tables available in the lobby surrounding the fountain where the five Peabody Ducks swam in slow circles. Waiting for the hour to pass, Ed read a USA Today and I visited with some ladies in town from Alaska for the Garden Club National Convention. Occasionally, I’d break from the casual conversation to shoot a few photos of the ducks – one male and four females.

We watched the crowd swell to standing room only in the expansive lobby. Even though our table was close to the fountain, our great seats became obstructed with the view of people’s behinds. It occurred to me that we needed to be in the balcony above the scene, not lobby level. We found the stairs and claimed a place at the balcony railing.

At about 4:50 PM, the Duckmaster told the crowd that the tradition of the Peabody Marching Ducks began as a practical joke at a time when live ducks were used as legal hunting decoys. The story goes that in 1933, Peabody General Manager Frank Schutt and his friend Chip Barwick returned empty-handed from a duck hunting trip in Arkansas but full of the effects of Tennessee whiskey. They decided to put their three live duck decoys in the fountain in the hotel’s Grand Lobby. Hotel guests reacted with delight. Eventually, five North American Mallard ducks replaced the original ones. The joke turned into an attraction, one we’d enjoy decades later.

Shortly before 5 PM, the Duckmaster unrolled a red carpet. He invited children to sit along its edges. Adults crowed behind the kids, filled the lobby, and hung over the balcony. The tune of John Philip Sousa’s King Cotton March signaled the Duck Parade to begin. The Peabody Ducks waddled single-file out of the fountain, down red carpeted steps, and along the red carpet, stopping briefly to wiggle their tail feathers and sprinkle the startled kids with water. They entered the elevator for a ride to the roof and retire for the evening. It was truly quitting time.

April 24, 2008

B-I-N-G-O Ed's Ahead in Exotic Bird Bingo

On Tuesday, I finally got around to reading my favorite section of USA Today. Destinations appears in the Friday edition. The waves, sun and beach of High Island, Texas had been my weekend priority, not the newspaper. So imagine my gasp aloud, when I found High Island featured in page 11D in the article “10 great places to experience spring on the wing” – a listing of Audubon Society President John Flicker’s favorite spring bird-watching sites.

According to Flicker, High Island is one of the best places to view the spring migration of millions of birds flying up to the Texas Gulf Coast from Mexico. He also mentioned that the Houston Audubon Society has four sanctuaries on the island. We noticed two as we explored the island over the weekend.

I am not a bird watcher because of a fright involving birds as a child. I keep a respectful distance away from birds. Ed, on the other hand, loves winged creatures. So when he gets excited about seeing a bird, our daughter teases him that he’s on his way to winning a fictitious game of Exotic Bird Bingo.

If Ed truly held a game card, he’d have claimed the prize. Our travels through Texas since January gave us opportunities to see all kinds of birds, more than we could identify without study. We had sat in bird blinds in Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park to watch Green Jays, Olive Sparrows, and Altamira Orioles. Throughout the Park, we watched flocks of noisy Chachalaca feeding. During a bicycle ride in Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge, we enjoyed seeing ducks dive for food and float on the glassy surface of Cattail Lake. On High Island, I counted the number of Pelicans flying overhead. There were as many as 9, 13 and 27 Pelicans flocked together. Some pelicans just rested on poles of what may once have been piers jetting into the Gulf. We recognized Great Egrets in the Island’s wetlands, but there were so many more that Ed or I could not name. If we knew the names of all the birds we’ve seen, Ed would be shouting “BINGO!”