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Borrego Springs, CA

Saturday, October 25, 2014

Settling in at Imperial

It’s taken me several days to get all set up on my site at Imperial.  Temps in the triple digits since my arrival have limited my outside work to early morning.  There’s really no need to rush, so I’m taking my time.  I’m learning where things are located, and some do’s and don’ts.  For example, no one drinks the water that comes out of the water hook up.  There’s a reverse osmosis machine in the volunteer building where drinking water can be obtained.  I’ve got a two gallon jug with a spigot from my days at Anahuac, so that’s not a problem.  My only complaint about that is that it’s a small unit, so I can’t even fill up two gallons at a time.

There are two washers and dryers in the building, so I’ve done several loads of laundry.  Fellow volunteer Jay, helped me wash the car.  It was a mess after that three miles of dusty bumpy entrance road drive.  There’s a power wash station down in the maintenance area.  I’ve also located the dumpster and the recycle bins.  Remembering that tooth jarring drive, I also discovered it broke one of my drawer latches, so that will have to be replaced before I leave. 

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Having spent an inordinate amount of time inside the rig because of the high temps the last few days hasn’t meant I haven’t seen anything interesting.  As I sit at my booth table while on the computer, I have quite the view out the big window by it  Yesterday I watched this red-tailed hawk steal a catch from a smaller hawk.  The pics aren’t very good, but it was quite dramatic as the red-tail made the other hawk drop its prey, and then stole it and flew off with it.

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The ground around here is like cement, so yesterday I had the brilliant idea to strap one of my bird feeder poles to the electrical post with zip ties.  I went inside to juice up the hummingbird feeder, and believe it or not, I had a hummer zoom in within 30 seconds!

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By this morning, I had three hummers visiting.  I’ve identified them as Anna’s hummingbirds.  Having spent almost all of my years in the east, I’m on a real learning curve to figure out the birds of the west.  I’m looking forward to the challenge.

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Tonight, I even found this female phainopepla nearby as I sat outside with Emma.  I’ll be keeping myself busy trying to get much better pictures of my new avian friends.

Tomorrow the plan is to head into Yuma for the opening day of the Yuma Farmers Market.  It’s located in the Yuma Quartermaster Depot State Park.  I’ve never been there before.  Some history and fresh vegies are on the horizon. 

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                                                                                THE END!

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy

26 comments:

  1. Looking forward to your eagle eye naming our western birds. I'm never quite sure what l am seeing...if only they would only stay still for a proper I'D. :)

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  2. I have noticed more hummingbird activity than I have seen anywhere in many years, and thinking about buying a 2nd feeder. I love those little guys. I have never been able to identify western birds except the most noticeable and common, i.e., Steller's Jays.

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  3. We always gets lots of hummers in our park in Apache Junction. Love those birds and at least I know what they are.

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  4. Will a trip to the farmers market require a drive on the bumpy road? Probably won't be so bad in a car as it was in the RV.

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  5. how absolutely lovely. . .once the temps cool down a bit, I do believe you are going to love this experience. . .

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  6. I knew your stay in the desert wold be educational -Phainopepla- common where I grew up and I never even noticed it. I will be on the lookout from now on.

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  7. We have lots of Anna's hummers at our house. I know you'll have fun with the birds in that part of the country ... once it cools down (oh, please, let it be soon!).

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  8. I'm very fond of the "birds of prey"...they amaze me in their tenacity to catch their meals...I'm not fond of those Vultures who seem to follow us wherever we walk, just waiting for one of us old geezers to drop! How fun to find new birds, flowers and fauna...one of the reasons I love to travel!!

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  9. Just think, you can make toast by leaving your bread outside. ;c) Hopefully, the temps will chill a bit by the time you have to go to work. Just want to see your bread toasted and not you!

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  10. If you like Farmers Markets be sure to mark 20 December 2014 on your calendar for the Somerton Tamale Festival. If you are going to spend time in the Yuma area you need to become acquainted with tamales. Green Corn are number one on my list but I found some Vegetable ones in Silver City, NM that were very good.

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  11. I learned ti invest in gallon jugs of plain, cheap, white vinegar. Descale your shower head, use in the rinse cycle of your laundry, use with a paste of salt to scour the white gunk off of your shower glass (or a paste of baking soda and peroxide, also cheap and less smelly) and an all-around great way to keep the scale out of your commode and deodorize the black tank all at the same time!! I don't use any sort of tank additive except Dawn & white vinegar ... better for the environment, and NO smell ... really. The produce in Yuma is wonderful ... best broccoli I have ever eaten!

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    1. Let me try again. I can not be pointing out misused words if my comment is a garbled mess.

      I too use vinegar as a toilet cleanser and never add anything other than that to the black tank. Tried a number of things and vinegar is the best.

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  13. Where did you get your hummingbird feeder? We had one last year but it leaked all the time.

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  14. Great shot of the hummingbird ... I haven't even attempted to try and photograph the ones that come to our hibiscus hedge.

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  15. Looks like you have landed in another bird heaven:)

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  16. Glad you are all settled in. A great idea for the hummingbird feeder. Hope the road out to the farmer's market doesn't jar something loose in the car. Triple digits in late October, I still cannot get over it.

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  17. I am homesick for Yuma already! Just can't wait till February! There really is a lot to see and do around Yuma which surprised me. I always thought of it as hot and dusty and brown, but that was not the case.
    Don't forget your date shake!

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  18. It doesn't seem to be cooling off this year! We're in central Texas and it's still warm. You're lucky to have hummers!! They are so much fun to watch.
    Hope it cools off for you soon!

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  19. The birds know a good spot when they see one!

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  20. It is cool here..37 this morning. High of about 59 for today:)
    Good to see some birds found you! Hope it cools off soon:)

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  21. Triple digit temps. I'm with you, I'd be moving real slow. Great hummingbird shots as usual.

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  22. Wow. This is so different than MN! So much to see that's different! I can't wait to see more!

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  23. Love the photos. It will be fun experiencing a new place.

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  24. New birds in a new area. Now that sounds like fun and reminds me of our first visit to Arizona when my son moved there...;)

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