7 replies to this topic

[ginspin16]

so i went back to salton sea yesterday to find those wood storks. i went all the way to what looked like the end of macdonald road, no storks. so i said ok maybe i have to go farther. there was somewhat of a dirt road past the sign that said *road ends* and there were ponds all around so at last i saw a bunch of white things far off, and it was the storks.

it was already 95 degrees at 10am so i didn't want to walk any farther than i had to, so i drove till the road faded away into a big flat area that i thought was hard dirt.

but it wasn't hard, it was all mushy underneath and my car got stuck. so i left the car and went to get my stork pictures. i was so happy! then back to the car. i thought i would be able to work the car out of the mud and i put some wood that i found under the tires, but after a while i could see it was hopeless and it was too hot to keep trying so i called AAA. when AAA finally got there he left his truck on the road and walked the rest of the way to tell me he couldn't bring his truck in there.

so he called another tow company for me that he said could get me out, but i had to pay for it, grrrr...and when that guy finally came and he was pulling me out backwards and i was in the car steering. and i happened to look in my side mirror and i saw these pink things. so i turned around and behind me at the edge of the salton sea was the flamingos! i had been sitting in the car for about 2 hours and i totally missed them. i could have been taking pictures while i was waiting, stupid me...

so i told the tow guy, sorry but i have to go get these flamingo pictures cause i am definitely not coming back to this section again! and he was really cool and when we left he had me follow him and he pulled over several times to show me stuff. he pointed out roads that were good and ones that were sometimes bad, and he showed me where red hill marina was which i hadn't been able to find before. he wasn't into birds but he seemed to be fond of the area.

and so by the time i got back home, it was time for work and i had to work a late night shift with no nap. all cause of the storks. but it was worth it!

[aglaaluk]

Great shots. I hope you got out ok

[Seattle]

You get an A for effort! Not to mention that the shots were great. Glad that you got out okay.

[guy_incognito]

Glad you got to see the Storks! Great story. Yeah, that dirt is tricky. Luckily I only walked over what I thought was dry dirt which ended up being muck. It is deceptive, it was the dirt that was lighter in color that actually ended up being muddy, while the darker stuff was the firm dry stuff.

You got some great shots there. Both times I've seen those Flamingos they were way off.

[Liam]

That's a story you'll remember! I'm glad I drive a truck.

So what is the provenance of these Flamingos? They are Greater Flamingos, yes?

[ginspin16]

i believe they are lesser flamingos cause their bills are mostly black. guy incognito posted before somewhere that they are escapees and not countable. but it was still exciting to see them!

[creeker]

gin, trade that sedan in for a 4wd truck!

[TheGodComplex]

Wow, you definitely are more passionate about birding than I am. I probably would've turned right around at the road end and gave up on that trip. :/

Also, it is good you didn't get have a truck. If you did, you probably wouldn't have gotten stuck, and then you probably wouldn't have seen the flamingos!