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Salton Sea Field Trip
January 7, 2023 - January 8, 2023
Meeting Point
We will meet at the huge Arco gas station on 66th Avenue in Mecca just before 1 pm on Saturday. This should give everyone plenty of time to drive down from Ventura County on Saturday morning. Take I-10 east to Route 86 south signposted for Brawley/El Centro; go 12.1 miles on 86S and then turn left on 66th Avenue. You can see the Arco station from the traffic lights at the intersection of Route 86 and 66th Avenue.
Please be ready to depart from the meeting point at 1 pm. We will not be stopping to eat lunch. Make sure that you have plenty of fuel.
Trip leader Peter Robertshaw will be driving his old white Toyota 4Runner – 5HWB615. His cell phone is 909-771-9720.
If you are travelling down to the Salton Sea a day earlier, there is no need to drive all the way back to Mecca to meet the group. Email the trip leader – PeterRobertshaw@verizon.net – and he will suggest an alternative meeting point and time closer to the south end of the Sea.
Make your own hotel reservation in Brawley for Saturday night.
We will drive on one or two unpaved roads, but 4×4 or high clearance vehicles are not needed.
What to Bring
- Your own binoculars, scope (highly recommended if you have one), and camera.
- Warm clothes.
- Plenty of drinking water, snacks, and food for lunch on Sunday. We will not be stopping at any cafés or gas stations, etc. to buy or eat lunch.
Target birds: thousands of Snow and Ross’s Geese, Sandhill Cranes, lots of ducks and waders, rails, raptors, Burrowing Owls, and desert species like Gambel’s Quail, Abert’s Towhee, doves, Gila and Ladder-Backed Woodpeckers, and Vermilion Flycatcher.