Natural History Wanderings

Before leaving Anza-Borrego we decided to go by Henderson Valley one last time. The bloom is continuing. There are still large displays of Desert Sunflower, Sand Verbena and Dune Evening Primrose.

Earlier in the day we drove down Di Giorgio Rd. On the pavement north of Henderson Rd. There was one field on the west side of the road that had fairly good flowers. There were a lot of Sand Verbena, Browne-eyed Evening Primrose, Desert Dandelion, Popcorn and Desert Suncups. Also in bloom were Fremont’s Pincushion, and Spanish Needles.

We continued north on Di Giorgio Rd. on the unpaved section for two miles to see the area where the Sphinx moth caterpillars had attacked the wildflowers. Other than a few isolated flowers the only thing that had survived was Creosote. We did see caterpillars, but not in the large swarms that had been reported earlier.

We drove south of town and started on the Western end of Kane Springs Road which is a dirt road that has some rough areas. Part of the area is called Cactus Garden. We found the whole stretch we did very scenic desert. It was primarily Cactus/Ocotillo/Creosote habitat.  We went about 3 miles and than headed north on another dirt road back to highway 78 near Ocotillo Wells. Kane Springs Road was getting rougher and the habitat ahead seemed the same. In bloom were  Barrel Cactus, Cholla, Ocotillo, a little poppy, Chuparsoa, Wild Heliotrope, Fremont’s Pincushion, and Beavertail Cactus. We found Fishhook Cactus in bud and Pencil Cactus but not in flower.

Next we went to Elephant Tree Trail one mile loop. It was very dry and had received less rain than some other areas of the park. It was mostly shrubs such as Creosote and Mesquite with some cactus mixed in. Very few flowers. We did see the one remaining Elephant Tree. Flowers in bloom were Desert Lavender, Ocotillo, Wild Heliotrope and Barrel Cactus. Wildlife seen included Jack Rabbit, 2 Black-throated Sparrows, Anna’s Hummingbird, Rock Wren, and Turkey Vulture.