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Dawn At The Sea

by Don DesJardin

The Salton Sea is a shallow, saline, rift lake located directly on the San Andreas Fault, predominantly in Southern California's Imperial Valley. The lake occupies the lowest elevations of the Salton Sink in the Colorado Desert, and its surface is presently at about 226 ft (69 m) below sea level. In the winter months, it becomes home to ten of thousands of waterfowl and hundreds of Sandhill Cranes. Each morning at first light, there is the ever increasing…

4

Carrizo September the Dry Season

by Don DesJardin

Pocketed between the coastal ranges of California’s eastern San Luis Obispo County lies the austere, yet inviting, Carrizo Plain. Known to the Spanish as "Llano Estero," or salt marsh plain, this arid and treeless basin harbors the largest remaining example of habitats that were once abundant in the southern San Joaquin Valley. Most of the surviving habitat is protected within the boundaries of the 180,000 acre Carrizo Plain National Monument where…

4

Indigo Bunting

by Don DesJardin

Scenes of an adult male perched on both wild tobacco and thistle singing.This species is rare on the Pacific Coast, although small numbers show up annually during the spring and fall migrations. May 30, 2011, Ojai, California, USA.

4

Grasshopper Sparrow

by Don DesJardin

Scenes of this somewhat secretive sparrow of the grasslands perched on territory singing. This species has suffered a decline in numbers in areas of North America, especially California, due to the loss of suitable habitat by urban sprawl and agriculture. April 18, 2011, Rancho Sierra Vista, Ventura County, California, USA.