Your Bio

Hello, Welcome to my site. I am a professional archaeologist, 58 years old, married to my wonderful wife Pam, have one daughter, Melina, with two wonderful grand kids Sophie and Sammy. Interests include birding, hiking, travel, and back country exploring. Pam and I live in Encinitas, California.

The photo to the left is of Pam and I in Canyonlands National Park around Easter 2000. A famous Native American pictograph called the "All American Man" is located a small alcove behind us. We had started the weekend in shorts and tank tops and woke up the one morning to six inches of snow.

This site was started on November 14, 2006.
Updated: Feb 6, 2007

Featured Galleries

Koffa Mts - Thanksgiving 2006 : Thanksgiving weekend at Yaqui Tanks in the Kofa Mountains of western Arizona with George and Tina Woods, Jerry Schaefer and Bubba, and Pam and I. A tradition that we have been doing for many years. Yaqui Tanks is on the east side of the Kofas. It took us almost three hours over rough dirt roads from I-10 (Exit 45) to reach the tanks this year. Normally it takes around two hours. The Kofas had considerable rain during the summer making the roads tough going. 4WD, high clearance only. We tried going south around the southern end of the mountains via Engesser Pass on the way out. That took almost four hours of 4WD, but was a bit easier going. I would still go in from the north. (Routes 71, 14, 36, 47). As a result of the summer rains, vegetation was thick and green, particularly in the washes. The weather for the weekend was in the 70's during the day and warm at night. No Big Horns were seen, a first for us in the numerous trips we have done to the Kofas. Apparently there is some disease killing off the sheep. Bird life was the usual wintering and residential birds including Black-throated and White-crowned sparrows, Phainopepla, Red-tailed hawk, Gambel's quail, and others. Small numbers of butterflies inclucing Desert Metalmark, Orange Sulfurs, Cabbage whites, and others.

Koffa Mts - Thanksgiving 2006

Thanksgiving weekend at Yaqui Tanks in the Kofa Mountains of western A ...

Updated: Nov 30, 2006 5:22am PST

Ross' Gull - Salton Sea Nov 18, 2006 : Adult Ross's Gull found by Guy McCaskie at Red Hill Marina, Salton Sea, on Friday, November 17, 2006 around 3 pm. These photos are from the morning of November 18. 1st record for California. From McCaskie's report on Calbirds: At about 3:00 PM today I drove up to the area of the boat launching site at Red Hill and was amazed to see an adult Ross's Gull in the shallow water immediately to the north of the boat launch channel. The gull then flew to the shore and proceeded to catch flies on the wet mud. I made a couple of calls to alert local birders and awaited their arrival. The Ross's Gull remained within 100 feet of the spot where first seen, actively catching flies on the wet mud. Bob Miller and Kenneth Z. Kurland both arrived before dark, and photographs were obtained. Terry Hunefeld arrived after dark, but was able to see the bird with the aid of my headlights. The gull appeared healthy and in fine basic plumage - no worn feathers, and having a pink wash on the under-parts.

Ross' Gull - Salton Sea Nov 18, 2006

Adult Ross's Gull found by Guy McCaskie at Red Hill Marina, Salton Sea ...

Updated: Nov 18, 2006 12:42pm PST

Rock Sandpiper : An adult Rock Sandpiper found the day before Thanksgiving at Marina del Rey jetty. The last Rock Sandpiper found in LA County was 40 years ago. Rock Sand Pipers are an arctic bird breeding in Siberia and northern Alaska and wintering along the southern Alaska, BC, Washington, Oregon, and northern California coasts. Rock sandpipers use to be more regular in Los Angeles County in the 1960s. There is one record of a bird wintering for five years at Playa del Rey. No records for San Diego County. These photos are from December 3, 2006.

Rock Sandpiper

An adult Rock Sandpiper found the day before Thanksgiving at Marina de ...

Updated: Dec 03, 2006 7:24am PST

Gutemala 2006 : Christmas 2006. What was supposed to be a simple ten day vacation to Guatemala with George and Tina Woods turned into a nightmare when Drew had a major heart attack on the side of a volcano three days into the trip. He then spent an additional 10 days in 6 different hospitals before getting back to the US. Unfortunately, we ended up not seeing (and photographing) much of the country.

Gutemala 2006

Christmas 2006. What was supposed to be a simple ten day vacation to G ...

Updated: Feb 08, 2007 2:43pm PST

Gallery Categories

Family

4 galleries with 31 photos

Updated: Nov 14, 2006 5:49am PST

Places

4 galleries with 112 photos

Updated: Nov 17, 2006 8:00am PST

Flora

2 galleries with 20 photos

Updated: Nov 23, 2006 6:26am PST

Archaeology

1 gallery with 11 photos

Updated: Nov 14, 2006 12:06pm PST

Birds

3 galleries with 40 photos

Updated: Nov 18, 2006 12:42pm PST

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