Tuesday, February 2, 2016

Glad We Stayed Put

 

Despite the threat of high winds and rain by mid afternoon, Saturday morning started out calm and clear. In fact it was one of the prettiest mornings we had all week. When we stay at Mittry Lake I enjoy taking an early morning walk about a half mile up the road to the trash. This cute dog greeted me each morning. The owner said this is her chair, and most days she gave me a short bark to say hello. She has a very deep voice!

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I just carried my little pocket camera but wished I had brought the long zoom Panasonic as the birds were out in force. Not a great shot of this kingfisher since I had to do some serious cropping, but we rarely see them. This was actually the third one I saw here this week.

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The calm before the storm.

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We went into Yuma for laundry and a few groceries, and by the time we got back the wind had picked up and the sky was darkened by blowing dust. I didn’t take any more photos during the dust storm, but you can see the haze over the hiils behind Mittry Lake. I think we lucked out compared to some parts of the southwest, as we only got a couple dozen drops of rain and some good wind gusts, but we’ve been in worse.

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Yesterday was sunny and much cooler, but with strong winds not a good day for travel. Today is calm and clear again, and we are definitely moving on to Anza Borrego. See you there!

9 comments:

  1. That's a great shot of the Kingfisher even if cropped! We might just keep this lake in our list for future stops with all those birds hanging out there.

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  2. The wind was terrible here at Jojoba. Stuff was flying all over, and my neighbor's privacy fence bit the dust.

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  3. I think your little camera did a great job with the scenery. I'm not sure my bigger canon does any better. Thankfully we've never been in a dust storm. Of course that's because we can't seem to stay out west long enough to run into one.

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  4. Great birding location. Good idea to stay put during a wind storm. We got 2" of snow from that storm. Enjoy AB.

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  5. Glad you did not have to travel! We lost power for just over 12 hrs and a section of the back fence. The neighbor lost his roof!, but we are all fine and looking forward to some sun. Enjoy Borrego!

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    1. Hi Jeff, had to look you up, and your blog, to find out where you live. We were looking at the forecast for San Diego before the storm thinking we might go there for a few days to weather it, but we're sure glad we didn't!

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  6. Beautiful water pics! Sounds like you were in the right spot for that storm - it was a nasty one. Safe travels.

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  7. Boy, I couldn't believe the change from Sunday to Monday! We were out hiking with 80 degrees and brilliant sunshine on Sunday and then freezing with winter jackets on and gray heavy clouds and strong winds on Monday at 45! Totally crazy! Good you stayed put:) Have a blast in Anza Borrego!

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  8. Loved your morning walk and seeing all the birds. I lived in Yuma for a short while in the 70's though I'm not sure I would recognize much today. I hope to explore the area again one day.

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