Summer Wildlife Anza Borrego Desert State Park!

When the mercury rises at Anza Borrego State Park in the summertime, the tourists tend to leave, and the wildlife tend to come closer. Check out this Big Horn sheep photo my son-in-law, Sean Malone, took this morning on a hike with his i-phone. The sheep walked right up to him on the trail.
photo
The Borrego Badlands present stunning eroded topography in the summer heat. They stretch on into the horizon and are loaded with fossils from ancient seas.
DSC00866

DSC00861
Red Tail Surveying his realm!
DSC00080

The Salton Sea is one of the world’s largest inland seas. It is also one of the lowest spots on earth at -227 below sea level. This Osprey was checking out the scene.
DSC00842

DSC00843
The sea is referred to as a “crown jewel of avian biodiversity.” 400 bird species are found here, along with 30% of the American population of White Pelicans.
DSC00833
DSC00834
Cheers to you from Borrego, a relatively warm 42C!

72 thoughts on “Summer Wildlife Anza Borrego Desert State Park!

  1. The place is very interesting. I like to see the geology and the animals. I just flew over similar terrain recently and it was such a great sight (no seeing any animals though).

  2. All great catches!
    Love the one with the birds in flight – wings spread open!
    The last one is a cool pic too. Looks like they are ready for a meeting of sorts 🙂

  3. Only 42! I suppose that is cool for the desert! And I see you now have 1000 followers; imagine! we are all out there with you filling up the empty spaces. Hope we don’t scare away the wildlife 🙂

    1. Yes it really is usually hotter at this time of year…..Tends to thin out the crowds of humans! lol! Taking you along with me makes all my trips so much better, and you know the funny thing? This is perfectly true. If you didn’t come I would miss you. I am so grateful we have been blogging friends for a year now! Hugs to you & thank you too~

    1. The heat in the desert canyons of sandstone paints such glorious pictures in the summertime. It is worth bearing the heat, and going off road into the desert to see it! Thank you for appreciating it!

  4. (I think this is a quote from some famous poet…)

    A wonderful bird is the pelican,
    His bill will hold more than his belican,
    He can take in his beak
    Enough food for a week
    BUT I’M DAMNED IF I SEE HOW THE HELICAN!”

    Cheers!

    1. Oh I hadn’t read this for ages and had forgotten it! Dixon Merrit I think!! Hilarious! Thank you for the memory prompt for my severely challenged, increasingly senior, cerebellum!!! LOL!

  5. …but Cuz, the pelicans in the pics are brown!!! Where are the white ones??? Read about the park and the Salton Sea and would love to see them in the future. Obviously, you have no rattlesnake bites. Take care,
    Paul

    1. Obviously these pelicans did not read the stats!! Seriously there is alot of coastline that is completely barren out here. In the area I was in there were hundreds of brown pelicans, egrets, and sand pipers, along with hawks and ospreys. If anyone hiked the entire sea I am sure they would encounter the white pelicans and hundreds of more species. But it is an umpleasant environment. There is the heat and the pollution. The sea is a collection point for agricultural runoff from the southern central valley high in nitrates and chemical pesticides. I don’t know why it doesn’t kill the birds. The beaches are made of the bones of fish, mostly tilapia. The fish live and grow and then die on the beach and their dessicated skeletons must be walked on to get to the shore. My husband refused to go this time! I think the pollutants build up at various times during the year, killing off the oxygen and the fish. The sea is actually more alive with wildlife now than I have ever seen it. I have been going here annually for decades. You can feel Rachel Carson’s tears out here and it should be so beautifully alive~

      1. What an absolute terrible shame – the pollution, I mean. The pics I saw online of the sea and the park were beautiful (of course). I would think that with CA’s awareness of the environment they would do something to correct the problems.

  6. Hi Cindy,
    I just nominated you for 2 blogger awards but lack the necessary computer skills to link that post with your blog. So please view the post and, if you accept, follow the guidelines.
    Thanks.

  7. Liebste Cindy wunderschöne Greifvögel ja nur fliegen ist schöner so was zu beobachten muß einfach unbeschreiblich schön sein einen tollen Mittwoch und ganz liebe Grüße vom Klaus

  8. Wow! Were those photos taken with an i-phone??? Amazing technology. I came across a suggestion for how to capture crisp images wildlife images with telephoto lense (on our old style cameras): have the shutter speed double the lense of the telephoto lens (i.e. SS 200 for 100mm lense, SS 400 for 200mm lens).
    Oscar

  9. Oh Cindy, I love, LOVE your pictures. So clear, so brilliant, so beautiful. Those coyotes though… shudder! I can’t believe I haven’t read your ‘about’ before. Just did. Wow, no cell phones? !

    1. We now have cell phones that work, but most visitors don’t. It comes as a shock when they get lost out here, so we try and warn people. Thank you for your kind words. I am a staunch admirer of you and your blog! Cheers to you~

  10. Pingback: Summertime is the best season of the year – Worldviewer

Leave a Reply