Chris and I were playing "hooky" on Friday and decided to take a field trip of our own. Since we won't be able to attend the club field trip to Butterbredt Springs, we decided to go on our own. Granted, we were getting a late start, but the drive was going to be worthwhile.

We arrived at Jawbone Canyon at about 2:30 on Friday under beautiful, sunny skies. The desert between hither and thither was a carpet of beautiful yellow. There were a few wildflowers at the ranger station area.

Once we got to the dirt road we were very glad we had our 4WD/high clearance vehicle. The roads haven't been graded in awhile, and it was pretty tough going. We finally arrived at the springs sometime after 3:00. Other than the occasional dirt bike in the distance, we were met by silence. The longer we stood under the trees, the more then birds chose to let themselves be known.

We still didn't see the birds we'd hoped to see, but we did see a few finches and either a ladderback or Downy woodpecker (couldn't get a good enough look -- I did get a picture, so if anyone can ID it from the photo, please let me know). We also heard a northern flicker.

All in all we had a lovely afternoon: even without too many birdies. I'm sure that the morning trek will be more fruitful.
 

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