Traveled out to Big Morongo Canyon Preserve last weekend, mainly out of curiousity after stumbling across their Web site. The possibility of seeing a Golden Eagle was another attraction, not to mention ravens. But the only ravens I saw were hanging out by (and above) the Cabazon factory outlet stores and the Morongo casino off Interstate 10. Ravens are no fools.
Even so, the preserve is a great place to visit, and somehow the weather that day was some of the best, blue-sky, warm sunny California weather anyone could want. Photos to come (wealthy raven lovers are welcome to donate high-end digital equipment to yours truly). Seeing a real, recovering-to-native-flora desert oasis was a terrific change of pace from my usual asphalt jungle. The information kiosk is clever and creative, and they have worked hard to make the flora and fauna of the area readily understandable to the visitor. It’s unusual to learn so much from a self-guided experience. They also have regular, guided bird walks. The most observable bird while we were there was the White-crowned sparrow (I think! we’ll see when the film is developed).
The next day I was in Runyon for some exercise, but the ravens hid and did not reveal themselves until just as I was leaving, offering more proof of their psychic ability to taunt their pursuers. As usual, they were perching above the Wright house.