A Birder's Life for Me

On our final day in California, we visited another site I have been interested in going to for many years.  The Hot Creek Geological Site will never be mistaken for Yellowstone but, it does have hot springs bubbling in and around the creek.  

It's interesting in that the water in the stream is cool like any other mountain stream.  But, around the shoreline it is like bathtub water where the shallow water and the riverbed is being warmed by the hot springs below.

The most interesting aspect of this location for me is that this was one of the filming sites for the 1960 John Wayne movie, "North to Alaska."   It was fun to walk around on the ground where this classic film was made.   Today, there is nothing there to indicate this location's film history,  just folks fishing along the shore proving that Hot Creek is one of the premier fly-fishing destinations in the state.

On a final note from the California trip, one of my top target species was the White-headed Woodpecker.  This one flew in for a brief pause before moving on.  Right place at the right time for me, I suppose.

And, there was the "California Suite" of birds including California Quail...

California Gull...

California Scrub-Jay...

California Thrasher...

And, California Towhee.

Perhaps we could add California Sea Lion to the suite.  Just a note for my good buddy Judson, this is not a bird.

We saw a lot of wildlife.  From coyotes to bears to marmots.  And otters.  Lots of sea otters. Here there are at least 8 together in a 'raft' above the kelp beds.