Baby Owl

The top picture shows the baby owl (owlet) peeking at us.  You can see his eyes at the base of the bare spot on the trunk of the palm tree.  There were actually two owlets in the nest but only one that we could see well.  Mom, the great horned owl, was watching us closely from another tree.  The baby looked like a little fur ball with eyes.  We found another nest of baby owls at another spot in the refuge along the river but they were in a darker spot in a nest so I couldn't get good pictures.  Again mom was in another tree watching over everything. 

We finally have left Needles, Ca and have made it as far as Boulder City, Nv -- by Hoover Dam.  We are going to go through Vegas at about 4 in the morning because it is just crazy here.  The big boxing match is this weekend and the town is filling up with boxing fans.  They are actually warning people to stay away unless they really want to be here for the boxing.   Next stop Ely, Nv.

Wild Desert Tortoises

We went on a little excursion out into the desert here on the California side of the Colorado river.  We followed Turtle Mountain Road -- a road through some public land -- and came upon three different desert tortoises along different parts of the road -- all trying to get across to the other side.  It is rare to see these turtles so it was a real treat to see three.  The one in the top picture was the biggest and the other one was medium size.  The third one we saw was only two or three years old because it was pretty small.   The big one had dirt on his back - probably from what ever whole he dug and lives in.  The one we had at the wildlife refuge was called digger -- for a good reason -- they can really dig and have some good claws just for that purpose. 

You aren't supposed to get to close to them.  If they get scared they will spray their urine and they can't afford to lose that much water.   It looked like a pretty long ways to any water where we saw them although they can get moisture from the food they eat.  They love the pink and yellow flowers of the prickly pear/ beavertail cacti that are blooming everywhere now. 

Desert Surprises

We are in Needles, California for awhile and the desert is in bloom.  We drove from Quartzite up to Prescott to put the boat in storage and the drive was gorgeous with everything blooming.  We got to Needles and the bloom is still going strong.  There are several kinds of cactus in bloom right here at the campground -- mostly prickly pear.    The oleander bushes (full of white blooms) are quite tall here and make nice privacy fences between camp sites. 

We went on a drive alongside the Colorado River on national wildlife refuge property and spotted the rattle snake.  All kinds of people were having fun by or in the river, fishing, boating, getting wet, etc.  There are some pretty big boats on the river and the river is not that wide and parts of it get kind of shallow so they can't run too far.  Most boats were beached and the people were enjoying the beach --- boat gas is expensive so its a way to enjoy the water without spending a fortune.  We saw some fishermen trying to catch a bass or a catfish. 

Its been cooler here than in Yuma but now the temp is starting to creep up into the 90's.  Not sure how long we will last here but it still wants to freeze at night in Montana so we are just hanging out waiting for warmer weather in the far north.