How many birds do you see in this photo?

Water birds along an irrigation canal, Midland Road, Blythe California

When Reggie and I roll into town we pass a number of irrigation canals.

Today I spot several Great Egrets and immediately step on the brakes, parking the Perfect Tow Vehicle in the lane.  I’ve learned that in order to grab bird pics, the brief time and movement it takes to park the PTV on the shoulder often will scatter the birds.

Midland Road is straight for a long distance and I see no vehicles coming in either direction.

I bring my window down and pick up my camera.

This scene is much farther away than the photo suggests.

The 60X zoom on my Panasonic Lumix brings the birds closer.  These pics are blurry but the birds are clear enough to identify and to enjoy.

How many birds do you see in this photo?

Egrets are fun to photograph because they hold a pose!

The bird in the middle is actually two birds!  Look again closely if you saw only three birds.  There are four.

And the photo at the top of this post has five birds in it.

~ ~ ~

Regular readers may be wondering . . .

Where we go for walks

How long are RVSue and Reggie going to stay at this camp? 

Isn’t it high time they got a move on?

Yes, the time to move is drawing near.

Roaming from camp to camp around the warm spots of southern Arizona and southeastern California as I have done in previous years is no longer an option for us.

(Those places expose us to gawkers.  Midland LTVA is the only warm-in-the-winter place I want to camp in where our privacy is not invaded.)

A river of sand

I have to calculate carefully when to leave this warm spot to begin the year’s explorations.

Things to consider . . .

I don’t want to move too soon and drive into unpleasant weather or even a spring snowstorm.

Possible boondocks and inexpensive campgrounds may be too high in elevation for early spring.

Other considerations are road closings for repairs or due to wash-outs. Dirt roads and boondocks during spring can be muddy.

“Oh my, Reggie!  You’re wearing a lily corsage on your back!”

For example, let’s take Mojave National Preserve.

Located northwest of us in the same Mojave Desert in which we are presently camped, some of the roads in the Preserve are closed during certain days in March. (See Alerts at nps.gov. for specifics.)  Also internet signal isn’t reliable throughout the Preserve.

This information tells me one needs to have current information and be extra careful if attempting to boondock in the Preserve in early spring.

I also note that Hole-In-The-Wall Campground in the Preserve is 4,400 feet above sea level while Midland LTVA is 540 feet.

Okay, so what does this all mean?

In short, it means that Reggie and I probably will move sometime in March — cautiously.

I give the example above for those who might wonder why we aren’t out finding fabulous boondocks, roaming all over the place, instead of staying here at Midland LTVA.

Besides, I have to wait for the desert lilies to be in full bloom!

More buds yet to open on the desert lilies!

As excited as I am about another year of travel, it’s hard to leave when the desert around us is bring forth a display of various flowers.

Reggie and I go on flower hunting expeditions in the area beyond the boundary of the LTVA, out where vehicles don’t go.  It’s fun!  Better than an Easter egg hunt!

Reggie hops over a flower

While out walking the other day it struck me that if it weren’t for the long delay waiting for our new refrigerator, we might have missed seeing the desert lilies!

In an upcoming post I’ll show you the other flowers we find.

Tomorrow, March 6th, will be out 80th day at Midland LTVA! 

As I mentioned somewhere previously, I bought a season permit for $180.  That works out to $2.50 a day and growing smaller with every additional day.

There’s nothing I’d rather being doing than walking among the lilies with my precious pal.

rvsue

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