Pajareo sin fronteras

December 21 was my last day in California, and of course my plans for the day revolved around birds. I spent the night in a nondescript neighborhood in the LA suburbs, then started the day early at the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve, one of the best-known birding spots in the Los Angeles area. My biggest target of the day was Rouget's Rail, an uncommon rail found only in a few wetlands in California and Baja California. I'd dipped on it  the previous day  in the Salton Sea, so I was determined to see it this time, before I had to leave the state altogether.  There was lots of bird activity at the entry footbridge when I arrived, including several Surf Scoters, Ruddy Ducks, Greater Scaups, and Red-breasted Mergansers, good additions to my California bird list. There were some Willets and Marbled Godwits foraging in the tidal vegetation, although sadly no Ridgway's Rails joining them. Ruddy Duck Marbled Godwit Willet Surf Scoter My first lifer...

It's safe to say that there are few places in the United States stranger than the Salton Sea- which is impressive considering we're a country that specializes in weirdness in many ways (see: NASCAR, the US Constitution, the entire state of Utah). It lies in the incredibly hot, dry and dusty Imperial Valley, and was just as dry as the rest of the valley until 1905, when some meathead dug an irrigation canal from the Colorado River too deep and created a huge artificial lake. Though the "sea" is progressively shrinking, it's still one of the main centers of winter agriculture in the United States, and its shores are covered in farmland.  The night I spent by the Salton Sea was no less strange than the general area. As it turns out the most affordable place to stay in the area was in Slab City, a former military camp that's been turned into an RV camp and off-the-grid quasi-anarchist commune. My lodging was a tiny barn in the back lot of a compound of makesh...