Afoot or Horseback
by Ed Keenan, author, cowboy poet & birder

  Whether afoot or horseback, by nature cowpokes love the outdoors. They are intimately connected with their environment, from the desert to the mountains. To a man, they have a deep love for the land and its wildlife. Often they can tell you where certain birds are nesting, or where fox and bobcat roam and where deer and elk leave rub marks on the trees. They can tell you where the springs dry up in summer and which ones run all year. Tracks and scat marks are a language that they and the Indians have read for centuries. I’ve known a few cowboys that carried a pair of binoculars and a ‘bird book” in their saddlebag. They even kept a “life list” of the birds they have observed. And, I’ve known others that carried a note pad and pencil and wrote poetry and short stories about their love of seasons and their natural surroundings.
  “Birding” is a track to run on, an opportunity to travel, a time to experience the peace and quiet of the brooks and crannies and the dirt roads and all the inviting walkin’ trails and horse trails. The miles and miles of nature trails and wildlife preserves are a way to experience the indigenous birds and all the other wildlife. Here in the southwest there are numerous, “hotspot”, birding sites. Many are the most beautiful, out-of-the-way retreats in the southwest. They are magnets of both, birds and birders alike—fledglings, immatures’ and adults.
  Every month, this page, “Birdin’ Trails Hither ‘n Yon”, will share an interesting birding location, in the southwest. It will attempt to identify the birds you might expect to see seasonally. (Note Seasonal Codes) The emphasis will be on the “hot spots” and their local specialties, and maybe those less common. Also, every month you will find a thoughtful poem related to the feelings of one who shares a deep love of the great outdoors, whether “afoot or horseback”.  So, “happy trails”—birdin’ trails that is.

Description:

  Due to the year-around oasis of running water in a parched desert land, and the fact that it is on a major migration route, this is a true birding “hot spot.” In the parking entrance are large Fremont Cottonwoods, lush and verdant-green in the spring and a gorgeous citrine-yellow in late fall. A stand of Fan Palms on the south side separates the alluvial field grasses and scrub.
  Most birders come during the cooler months of migration, April-May and September-October, but, for the hardy, there is good birding all year. All of the trails are well marked. Through the major stands of willows, sycamores and poplars, a raised boarded-walk winds over the marsh and running water, accommodating wheelchair-birders and the tired.

Directions:

  Big Morongo Canyon Preserve is in Morongo Valley and lies directly north of Palm Springs. Between Banning and Indio, take I-10 to Highway 62 North, toward Twenty Nine Palms and Joshua Tree National Park, to Morongo Valley— it’s the first plateau. The grade quickly rises to the Mojave Desert and plateaus at 2,600 feet elevation. Passing through the village of Morongo, look for East Street on the right side, just beyond the north end of the business section (Approx. 10.5 Miles). Look for the sign and turn! right about 300 yards to the entrance. Info: (760) 363-7190, www.bigmorongo.org  

Big Morongo Canyon Preserve