A drying Salton Sea struggles to support life in the Imperial Desert.
All photos and blog by Barbara Swanson.
The Salton Sea region in California’s Imperial County is a truly unique but endangered ecosystem, created by nature and human error over a century ago and slowly being altered by humanity’s thirst for water. It is a very complex area, supporting wildlife, farming, geothermal energy, communities of local residents and water for distant cities. In 2018, voters passed Proposition 68, which earmarked $200 million dollars for rehabilitation of the Salton Sea. Some of the issues to be addressed include dust abatement (many people in the local communities have respiratory diseases such as asthma), wetland habitat restoration and decreasing the water salinity. Already many fish and invertebrates have died as they could not survive as the water levels dropped; this has had rippled down the food chain and so dramatically reduced the number of birds at the Sea including pelicans, cormorants and grebes that the presence of some species has declined to less than 1% of their numbers compared to only ten years ago.
My most recent trip there on February 27, 2020, was to explore and enjoy the tremendous amount of wildlife that calls this area home, especially the birds in the winter time. The Salton Sea is on the Pacific flyway, a route that many migrating birds use in spring or fall. Some birds stop there for a short time to refuel and continue their journey, while others stay to either breed or to spend the winter. Almost the entire Eared Grebe population called it their winter home, but now there is only a tiny fraction of their former numbers here. Other birds live in the area year round along the shoreline, and the area has documented over 400 different bird species.
We started at the Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge ponds on Vendel Road, near the south end of the lake. Small flocks of Sandhill Cranes and Snow Geese fed in the tilled fields along the road. Hundreds of Northern Shovelers and Green-winged Teals floated on the pond, while close to shore there were many hundreds of Dowitchers feeding along the bottom. It was a beautiful morning to be there, with mostly sunny skies, a light breeze and temperature in the 70’s. As this area is around 220 feet below sea level, it can get quite hot in the summertime but is usually pleasant in the winter and early spring as long as it is not windy.
We eventually moved on to the viewing platforms at Unit 1, which is as far as the public is allowed. I could hear the primal sounds of the Sandhill Cranes foraging on a sandbar and watched them for a while. Every so often a small group of them flew off to the south. There were large flocks of various birds, and I needed my spotting scope to count them. Wilson’s Snipes were nearby, but unless they moved it was hard to see them as they blended in so well with the surrounding mud blobs. It paid off for us to stay awhile, as what I had thought to be a dingy Snow Goose laying down suddenly stood up and was a Tundra Swan! A snowy egret foraging near the deck caught a very large crawfish, and it took it about 4 minutes for the egret to remove all the debris clinging to it and figure out how to swallow it whole.
We decided that it was our lunch time as well and drove to the Sonny Bono Visitor Center, which is located on the southeast side of the lake. There is no entrance fee and there are a number of nice picnic tables in the shade, restrooms, and several bird feeders. While we ate we watched the quail and sparrows eat their lunch too. After we finished eating, we quietly sat or stood and photographed the birds and bunnies. A short walk took us to the closest viewing of the resident burrowing owls, who were standing in the entrance of their man-made burrow. We also had the good fortune to be able to talk to a visiting group, including a representative from the governor’s office, that is part of a task force for planning the rehabilitation of the Salton Sea.
Our next stop was to head north, but after only a few miles we made an unplanned stop when we saw a flooded field covered in white birds. I pulled over and we realized the birds were cattle egrets and gulls. We noticed a small farm road that we could drive down to better view the birds, and we spent half an hour watching and listening to all the birds.
We estimated that there were around 10,000 birds; it reminded me of Bosque del Apache except with gulls and egrets, as periodically many of the birds would launch into the air, fly a couple laps around the field, and then land. It was beautiful to see and hear. I had to crawl into the backseat to photograph as I didn’t want to open my car door and disturb them. Most of the birds were Ring-billed Gulls, with hundreds of Cattle Egrets and scattered small groups of White-faced Ibis.
We finally left and drove to the Salton Sea Visitor Center on the northeast side of the Sea, part of the Salton Sea State Recreation Area (this is a fee area). When we arrived it was very overcast and not many birds left in the marina, but we were very fortunate to see the rare female Garganey duck before she flew off a few minutes after we arrived. A very kind out-of-state birder let us view the duck through his scope. We walked along the shore of the Sea, where there were thousands of birds floating in the water. As it was getting dark it was hard to identify all of them, but we saw a diversity of species, including the Eared Grebes who used to winter here in the millions, and many Bonaparte Gulls. We watched the mostly cloudy sunset, then headed back home after a full day of enjoying the Salton Sea.
PHOTO BLOG & SLIDESHOW: FAVORITES OF THE SALTON SEABIRDS
Click on any image or its arrow ⇒ button lower right for enhanced views of the photos. Photos by Barbara Swanson.
Burrowing Owls are one of the iconic Salton Sea bird species and can be found if you drive slowly along some of the roads. We saw this pair at the Sonny Bono Visitor Center, where they live in a constructed burrow. Most Burrowing Owls rely on other animals to dig burrows, so to help the species, burrows made of large tubing have been installed to attract the owls. At first only the owl on the left was visible, but eventually the one on the right peeked out to see what all the camera clicking noises were about.
One of the ponds seen from Unit One on Vendel Road. These ponds can be managed for reduced salinity. Some of the bird species in this photo are northern shovelers, green-winged teals and dowitchers.
This pond was just to the north of the first one on Vendel Road. This photo shows some of the many dowitchers we saw; it was hard to distinguish whether they were Short-billed or Long-billed Dowitchers, as they spent most of the time with their heads in the water, but some of them looked like Long-billed Dowitchers when they flew. These birds probe around in the pond bottom, searching for invertebrates to eat. Long-billed Dowitchers fly to the Arctic to breed while the Short-billed Dowitchers breed in northern Canada.
A small flock of Snow Geese that had been on the pond suddenly took off. Snow Geese are large birds, 2 to 3 feet long, and are hunted around the Salton Sea.
The Salton Sea is one of many locations where snow geese can spend the winter before flying back above the Arctic Circle to breed.
Ross’s Geese are slightly smaller than Snow Geese and can be most easily distinguished by their bill.
Sandhill Cranes at Unit 1: When I walked up the viewing platform, I could hear the very distinctive primal calling of the cranes and could easily see several standing on a distant berm as they are up to four feet tall. However, most were standing in vegetation, making those birds harder to locate. Even after several groups flew off, I could hear more cranes even though I could not see them. They spend the winter here, and breed in the summer throughout most of Canada and parts of the northern United States.
One of the groups of Sandhill Cranes that flew off. When we left the area we saw a flock of cranes feeding in the nearby fields. Some of the fields within the refuge are farmed to feed the birds that winter here.
Another view of Ring-billed Gulls in a flooded field with a geothermal plant in the background.
Our first view of the farmland that hosted so many birds. In this photo, the main species are Ring-billed Gulls and Cattle Egret, but there are also Great Egret and White-faced Ibis.
This photo and the next one represent how three key aspects of the Salton Sea can all co-exist: wildlife, farming and renewable energy production. This large field was partly flooded and had attracted thousands of birds to wade and bathe in it. Every so often a flock of the birds would suddenly take flight. This photo shows mostly Ring-billed Gulls, but there is a flock of Cattle Egret against the mountain. The steam is from a geothermal plant; the local geology results in water heated by the earth to 700 degrees Fahrenheit, and this heat is harnessed to generate electricity 24 hours a day.
The Ring-billed Gulls enjoyed bathing in the shallow water of the flooded field. Ring-billed Gulls are commonly seen inland around fresh water lakes and breed in the northern United States and more southerly Canada. They are omnivorous and are accustomed to humans. Many of these gulls breed very close to where they were born and then winter in the same place every year.
After bathing, some of the Ring-billed Gulls immediately jumped into the air.
The Wilson’s Snipe blends in well with its surroundings. They winter in more southernly states and breed throughout much of Canada and Alaska. I had never seen one before and as we saw about 50 of them I was able to observe them feeding and resting. Their long bill is used to look for invertebrates in the wet soil, and the positioning of their eyes makes it possible for them to see in front, behind and to the sides. Amazingly, these birds can fly up to 60 mph but spend a lot of time stationary on the ground.
Abert’s Towhee’s are mainly found in Arizona, but the Salton Sea is one place in California to easily see them. They blend in well with the soil.
The feeders at the Sonny Bono Visitor Center attract many resident Gambel’s Quail, and if you are quiet and still, you can get fairly close to them. This is one of the males that we saw.
The female Gambel’s Quail were also interested in foraging for seed on the ground.
A rabbit came out to feed with the quail, but was quite shy and would move back into the underbrush.
This Cactus Wren lives near the Salton Sea Visitor Center and was perched by the marina.
This Snowy Egret spent some time hunting around the platform and I noticed that it had caught a crawfish. As the crawfish initially had vegetation around it, the egret spent several minutes removing the debris and was then able to position the crawfish head first to swallow it. Even though it looked like a large meal, the egret continued to hunt for more to eat.
While Mourning Doves are very common throughout most of the United States, they are impressive birds, being able to fly up to 55 mph. Considering how much they are hunted by humans and birds of prey yet are still able to remain numerous (I saw an estimate of 350 million), they must have some amazing survival and reproductive skills.
Sunset at the Salton Sea. There were thousands of birds on the water.
The last colors of sunset at the Salton Sea.
This wonderful blog with its beautiful photos makes me want to return to the Salton Sea. The last time I was here (many decades ago) I don’t believe there were any Fish & Wildlife Service visitor centers. Now, there are at least two.