Bighorn sheep
Snow is great but it sure is fantastic to be able to head to the desert to enjoy a break from the cold.
What a magnificent sight to see a bighorn sheep on a rocky ridge!
We chose to hike the 6 mile Eisenhower trail which only has access through the Living Desert. The trail passes through a flat, open sandy area with lots of Creosote bushes and green limbed Palo Verde trees. From there, you enter a rocky desert wash which seasonally fills with water before drying up for the majority of the year.
As you climb to the 1000ft peak, the views become filled with the snow-covered mountains that we temporarily escaped for the day.
There are quite a lot of desert hikes one can take in the winter. A good place to start is by joining hiking groups through the Friends of the Desert Mountains in Palm Desert. While you are at it, you can become a volunteer with the group and participate in a wide variety of activities including citizen science monitoring, trail maintenance, and educational activities. Go to desertmountains.org to learn more. This organization is vital in the preservation of the desert and their efforts support conservation and research in the desert.
Costa's Hummingbird (Calypte costae)
There are a lot of special birds that make the desert their home. One which I admire is this hummingbird. In contrast to the Anna's hummingbird's bright red gorget, Costa's gorget is a brilliant purple when the light hits it. We found one guarding a little patch on the trail.
Verdin (Auriparus flaviceps)
Another favorite resident of mine is this small active yellow-headed bird. It is a little bit smaller than a mountain chickadee. It was busy foraging in creosote bushes early on in the trail.
Say's Phoebe (Sayornis saya)
At the peak of the mountain, we found this phoebe flycatching.
Greater Roadrunner (Geococcyx californianus)
We didn't see this classic desert icon on this hike but I saw one a week or two earlier in the desert so I had to include it! The roadrunner is one of the most famous birds in the country thanks to Wile E Coyote and Looney Tunes. Enjoy!
Click on photos to enlarge.
Photos and content by Robin Roberts.
