Birthday Brunch

***Note: By the time this gets posted, Hurricane Newton will have passed right thru La Paz, packing 100+ MPH winds. I am posting this on Monday night, as I do not expect to have power or internet service by this time tomorrow.

Sunday was my birthday. That being said, I slept in, and then took my lovely wife for a ride thru the southern Baja desert, to a beachside resort, Gran Sueno Resort. We were traveling late morning, in hopes of a late breakfast, early lunch, brunch sort of thing. There is no way I am going to travel to a new area, without my camera, even if this is not a “Birding” trip, so to speak. Other than a few road side pictures, the pictures below are from or very near our table in the restaurant.

The resort is struggling, as it is a long ways from nowhere, has limited amenities, and other than a nice restaurant, there is not much to draw you there. But, it does have some birds!

The small infinity pool was a great draw for the thirsty female Hooded Oriole.

The male Hooded Oriole was a bit more stand offish.

There was a juvenile Gray Thrasher in the bushes right nest to the open air dining area.

We don’t see a lot of Common Ravens down here, but this one was perched near the entrance.

It is always a treat to see a Harris Hawk. During the trip, we actually saw several.

This Red-tailed Hawk sat on the ridge above the resort.

As we drove out, there is a small salt water marsh that had this Semi-palmated Sandpiper, and one juvenile ( not shown in picture)

Sitting in blinds, waiting patiently, I rarely get to see the baby California Quail, but this little family group walked right out on the edge of an agricultural area.