San Diego: Sweetwater part 1

Every time I go to San Diego, I look for roadrunners. There's a spot on ebird that had a few sightings which is only a mile or so from Tom's house, so we decided to check it out. It looks like most of the county: scrubby, shrubby, and rocky. In other words, perfect for road runners.

The trailhead, weirdly, is across from a giant strip mall, near an abandoned trestle bridge:

As a bonus, it runs along a creek, so there are willows, sycamores, and much-needed pools of water for desert living creatures. Plus, it's a posted nesting area for the endangered Least Bell's Vireo, though we'd be unlikely to see one in winter.

Aforementioned sycamores. Such a different creature growing in a streambed than on the Berkeley campus...

And their strange seed balls (which you seldom see in city-growing sycamores!)

Well, we didn't see any roadrunners or vireos. A few elusive sparrows and a very shy woodpecker were the main attraction. But, other items of interest included this strange squash which grows all over the creekside:


A surprise cactus:Some poop that might be from a creature that had been eating from the plentiful carob bushes:

A nice sunset: