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Borrego Springs, CA

Friday, August 24, 2012

133 visitors and $600 in sales

To my great surprise (Not!), it was raining when I got ready to go to work at the Pea Island VC this morning.  It was a really big gully washer out on the island, and the dip in the road at the entrance to the VC had about 5” of standing water in it.  I was lucky that the rain decided to stop just as I arrived.  Had to wade through a few large puddles and no one showed up for the scheduled morning bird walk.

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That didn’t stop people from visiting during the day.  Mary and Neil, the couple that was to lead the bird walk, stayed at the VC most of the day, and helped folks operate the three scopes in the viewing area as well as identify birds seen for them.  This is the first time I’ve ever had help running the VC, and it sure enhanced the visitor’s experience.  I could concentrate on sales, and answering those three most often asked questions.

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During lulls in the crowd, I even got a chance to enjoy the view out the picture windows.  With all the rain, quite a few puddles formed in the surrounding yard.  A killdeer stopped by to poke around in one of them.

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Birds are opportunists, and this fellow took advantage of the fresh water puddles to take a bath.

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While brown-headed cowbirds aren’t my favorite species, it was fun watching them all get cleaned up.  Most of this small flock was young males.  You can see how some of their plumage is in the process of changing from the drab brown of their birth feathers to the shiny black of the male cowbird.  They’ve got kind of a natural camouflage  appearance going on right now.

There was enough activity and business to make the day move along at a nice pace.  That’s the way I like it.  Days at the Gateway VC tend to drag out since the visitation is a lot less, and there are no picture windows or bird feeders to look out and at during the slow times.

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               Later in the afternoon, we had a different visitor to the bird feeder area.  It was a nutria.

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This large rodent is an introduced species and not native to the United States.  It’s larger than a muskrat, but looks similar, and is found in similar habitat.  It was originally brought to the States from South America and released in the wild because of the quality of its fur for trappers.  This young one always causes excitement when it comes to look for dropped seeds surrounding the feeders.

Tomorrow I’m working the Gateway VC all day.  Don’t imagine that too much in the way of excitement will transpire there.  One can always hope, though.  Who me?

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                                                                                   THE END!!

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy

18 comments:

  1. Great photos as usual, never seen a nutria before.

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  2. Not only have I never seen a nutria before I've never seen an nutria end, either.
    The things I learn from you, Judy! ;c)

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  3. Would you wear a nutria coat? To me, a rodent is a rodent.

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  4. Add me to the group that had no idea a nutria even existed. Always nice when you're busy and the day goes rapidly. Especially for you when you're stuck inside.

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  5. That is one busy day with all those visitors. You must have had something really special to sale to make that much money. Good job!

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  6. Our Hummers are now in "territorial" mode...Two or three zipping around our 2 feeders. I love to watch them fight over the food...Getting fat and preparing to head South in a month..

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  7. Wow that's a lot of visitors and a lot of money in one day. Glad you were busy though. Time goes by faster that way.

    I thought nutria were an "exotic invasive" so to speak and were a real danger to the southeastern wetlands.

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  8. Nutria sounds like something healthful to me!

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  9. I met my first nutia at a work convention in Spokane years ago. They were a nuisance in the city park.

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  10. I like killdeer, except when I'm trying to sleep!

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  11. If you must be inside, then it's good to be busy so that the day doesn't drag on and on.

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  12. We had a very busy day at Aroostook NWR as well... 14 visitors and $22 in sales. I guess it's all in one's perspective, huh? Those are serious scopes!

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  13. I love the folks who volunteer with those big scopes. They are so good at finding and focusing. Great photos of the Nutria.

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  14. Nutria sounds alot better than rat. Looked him up at Wkipedia, wow..do they reproduce..!
    Great pics as usual, my small animals are all a variety of brown 'dots' :)

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  15. Oh I'd forgotten all about Nutria till today's post! Yes, the birds are having a wonderful time. And great shots of them with the water splashing about too! Good on the sales as well girl!

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  16. Thats a great VC plenty to keep people looking around. And giving your more fun too.

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  17. Len talks about the Nutria's down in his home state (Louisiana). I've never seen one. That's nothing! I've never seen a live Armadillo either. Only the ones laying along the roadside.

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  18. Hey - in answer to my question to you on my blog - found out today it is a Sharp-tailed Grouse. Area is abundant with them.

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