Salton Sea shoot in Feb 2007

kdog

The purpose of this thread is to discuss and plan a Dgrin shoot-out at the Salton Sea in Feb. Dgrinners Russ and John have been to this place and speak highly of it. Winter seems to be as good a time as any to visit the Salton Sea, and probably the best season to see certain raptors according to the USGS seasonal checklist here: http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/birds/chekbird/r1/salton.htm

John (JohnDC) has put an excellent series of notes into a word document complete with scans of brochures, maps and hotel recommendations.

Link to document here: http://www.jacara.com/photo/SaltonSea.doc

The Salton Sea appears to be 3 hours from Van Nuys, as a frame of reference.

I think the first order of business is to agree on a date.

Update: The date is now Feb 10, unless we get a concensus that another date is preferable.


My thought is to drive out Friday, the 9th, spend the night at the Calipatria Inn in Calipatria, CA (see John's doc), and shoot on Saturday. I would probably return to AZ on Saturday night after shooting, and perhaps a meal with fellow Dgrinners. Folks may want to shoot on Sunday as well. I'm also free any other weekend in Feb, so if somebody can't make the weekend of the 10th, please feel free to suggest another date.

After meeting a few of the LA shooters, and seeing John's excellent photos from the SS, I'm really looking forward to this. :wink

Regards,
-joel

Angelo

I've always wanted to visit Salton Sea and I would love to go but that's a bad weekend; I have a trade show in LA.

It's also Valentine's weekend which may be a conflict for some.

kdog

Hey Angelo, no prob. It would be great to meet you. Please suggest a weekend that works for you. Ball's in your court.

Regards,
-joel

Angelo

I just realized I will probably be in Palm Desert the weekend before (10th-11th) for a family thang and it's close enough to drive. If that works for you and everyone else great, otherwise I'm fairly flexible. (except early March... PMA in Vegas)

riddim_maker

Count me in. I haven't gotten my Feb job schedule worked out yet, but I'm sure I can work around any one of those saturdays, providing no major job comes through for me before it's all final. I'll keep checking this thread to see how things transpire.

kdog

Angelo,

Ok, the date is now tentatively Saturday Feb 10. We'll do this by concensus, so unless two people or more agree on a different date, then the 10th will stick.

Cheers,
-joel

jwear

so far the 10th is good for me -Dallas if you are going to drive out and back lets talk before hand I am looking into what some others have found out there but so far the info from John is toprate

JohnDC

Re: John (JohnDC) has put an excellent series of notes into a word document complete with scans of brochures, maps and hotel recommendations. This document can be had gotten directly from him. Or with his permission, I'll put it on-line and post the link to it here.

Joel --- I will try to make this trip, but I may have to be on business travel then. I won't know for a week, or so. In any case, distribute the Word file anyway you want. Hope it helps. --- John

kdog

Jeff and John, that's great. I hope the date will work for you guys. Keep us apprised.

Here's a link to the John's most-excellent Salton Sea document.

http://www.jacara.com/photo/SaltonSea.doc

-joel

Angelo

Mardi Gras Beer Tasting Extravaganza?????

I am SOOOOOO there!



I'm trying to determine (and still searching) where along the lake, the old, abandoned town(s) are.

Angelo

more...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salton_Sea

http://www.saltonsea.ca.gov/

http://www.easterwood.org/saltonsea/colorthumbs.htm

kdog

Angelo wrote:

Mardi Gras Beer Tasting Extravaganza?????

I am SOOOOOO there!

Hey, nobody ever said shooting birds has to be all work and no play!

Seefutlung

Angelo wrote:

Mardi Gras Beer Tasting Extravaganza?????

I am SOOOOOO there!



I'm trying to determine (and still searching) where along the lake, the old, abandoned town(s) are.

^5 Angelo! (Count me in ... kids notwithstanding).

Gary

Angelo

Seefutlung wrote:

^5 Angelo! (Count me in ... kids notwithstanding).

Gary

wassamatta, the kids don't drink beer?

Angelo

kdog wrote:

Hey, nobody ever said shooting birds has to be all work and no play!

birds? who cares about friggin' birds?

give me dead fish, abandoned motels and rusty trailer homes any day

Seefutlung

Angelo wrote:

wassamatta, the kids don't drink beer?

... not with Dad do my underaged kids drink. They can go drink with their own kind ... like I did.

Gary

JohnDC

Recommendations
I finally got my computer back in operation, so I can contribute again. Beware of the Norton (Symantec) 2007 Anti-virus and Systemworks package. It crashed my computer big time, fatal blue screen and all. In my Google search, plenty of other people have had the same problem. Norton tech support refused to help. It took me a week to fix this.

I'll be traveling out of state on the 10th, so I'm sorry I won't be able to join you all for the Salton Sea shoot, but here are some recommendations based on my limited experience there:

#1. For geese and cranes, and flying flocks of other birds, enter the southernmost part of the National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) going north on Vendel Rd. Go to the end, scouting along the way. There are many cross roads, especially to the east. Criss-cross the area to find the best concentrations of birds. If you have a group, why not go on parallel roads and stay in contact by cellphone or walkie-talkie?

#2. For wading birds, and possibly other birds, go to the NWR headquarters at the west end of Sinclair Rd. When I was there, going north on Garst Rd from Sinclair Rd (near the headquarters) had some nice opportunities for avocets, sand pipers, yellow-headed blackbirds, etc. Ask the rangers for tips on where the birds are. If you can't get to the headquarters during office hours, their phone number is in the Word file ( http://www.jacara.com/photo/SaltonSea.doc ).

#3. If you're interested in burrowing owls, see the copies of posts in the Word file.

Have fun!

kdog

JohnDC wrote:

I'll be traveling out of state on the 10th, so I'm sorry I won't be able to join you all for the Salton Sea shoot

Angelo picked the 10th because the 17 was bad for him, and he'd be in that neighborhood that week. Although, he also said he could be flexible.

Angelo, or anybody else. Any possibility we could switch the date to the 25th so that John can attend? Since Angelo picked first, he has the final say.

Please bear with me. Getting concensus on a date for a group is always tough.

Thanks guys.
-joel

Angelo

oh gosh... don't put this on me

I shouldn't decide this for the group, it should be a consensus decision as you said earlier on.

I'm in the desert anyway on the 10th - 11th but....

let me check further. be back to comment later.

kdog

Thanks, man. Either way is fine. Didn't mean to put you on the spot.

-joel

Angelo

OK, as of now it would seem I can do the 25th, however, since I'm going to be in the area anyway on the 10th, I'm still going to go then just in case something prevents me returning on the 25th.

kdog

Angelo,

That's great. I really appreciate the help in trying to accomodate everybody's schedule. I will keep my fingers crossed that the 25th continues to work for you.

Best regards,
-joel

kdog

New Date Proposal -- Sat Feb 24
Folks,

I make a motion to change the date of the shoot out from Saturday Feb 10 to Saturday, Feb 24 because so far it appears that this seems to work best for everybody's schedule, as far as I know.

Please let me know this works for you.

Thanks!
-joel

JohnDC

February 24th works for me. Thanks for considering the change

Angelo

kdog wrote:

Folks,

I make a motion to change the date of the shoot out from Saturday Feb 10 to Saturday, Feb 24 because so far it appears that this seems to work best for everybody's schedule, as far as I know.

Please let me know this works for you.

Thanks!
-joel

Please decide... the 24th or the 25th? You've changed dates mid-stream (see post #18 & #22)

.

kdog

Angelo wrote:

Please decide... the 24th or the 25th? You've changed dates mid-stream (see post #18)

Sorry, it's SATURDAY Feb 24th. All the dates have been for a Saturday. The 25th was a typo. My bad. :uhoh Let me know if that changes anything for you.

Thanks Angelo,
-joel

erich6

JohnDC wrote:

I finally got my computer back in operation, so I can contribute again. Beware of the Norton (Symantec) 2007 Anti-virus and Systemworks package. It crashed my computer big time, fatal blue screen and all. In my Google search, plenty of other people have had the same problem. Norton tech support refused to help. It took me a week to fix this.

That's why I ended up switching to Windows OneCare.

erich6

Hey guys this sounds like a great idea. I've been meaning to visit the Salton Sea for some time. The 24th sounds like a good date to me. I'll have to coordinate with the family to be sure.

Erich

kdog

Final Date -- Feb 10
Turns out that Feb 25 won't work for me after all, so Feb 10 stands.

I appologize for all the changes. Those that have Feb 10 free and aren't fed up at this point, please join me at the shoot.

My plan is to arrive on Friday night, Feb 9, and stay at the Calipatria Inn, in Calipatria, CA. Rooms are $70.50/night.

I'm thinking we could hit the Sonny Bono Wildlife refuge at dawn which is at the southern end of the lake near Calipatria. There is a short trail mentioned in John's document. After this, I'm thinking we could go north along the east side of the lake and explore. I will most likely head home Saturday evening, possibly after a meal with whoever can make it.

Please respond with whether you're interested in hooking up the morning of the 10th.

Thanks,
-joel

dallas

kdog wrote:

Turns out that Feb 25 won't work for me after all, so Feb 10 stands.

I appologize for all the changes. Those that have Feb 10 free and aren't fed up at this point, please join me at the shoot.

My plan is to arrive on Friday night, Feb 9, and stay at the Calipatria Inn, in Calipatria, CA. Rooms are $70.50/night.

I'm thinking we could hit the Sonny Bono Wildlife refuge at dawn which is at the southern end of the lake near Calipatria. There is a short trail mentioned in John's document. After this, I'm thinking we could go north along the east side of the lake and explore. I will most likely head home Saturday evening, possibly after a meal with whoever can make it.

Please respond with whether you're interested in hooking up the morning of the 10th.

Thanks,
-joel

I plan on being there Joel, and hopefully Russ and Jeff can join us as well as others. I've been out of thouch because I've bought a new computer, and it's a pain to set up. I will watch the thread and change along with any new dates if that becomes necessary.

William (Dallas)

Angelo

As of now I'm planning on arriving some time Friday (the 9th) for some afternoon and sunset shooting, before the collective Saturday shoot.

This will also give me the chance to explore non "birder's" areas around the lake. (I prefer the old abandoned town exploration)

I won't be able to dine with you on Saturday as I'm expected back in Palm Desert for a family function that evening.