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February 12, 2012
Sonny Bono NWR
On this map, the brown squares indicate the Sonny Bono National Wildlife Refuge. You can see that that there are two chunks on land: the chunk closer to Niland is at the western end of Sinclair Road. There you will find a visitors center, an observation platform and a trail to hike to Rock Hill, one of the four dormant volcanoes that are along the southeastern shore of the Salton Sea.
Further down at the southernmost point of the Salton Sea is another chunk of the wildlife refuge. You can get to that one on Vendel Road (click for Google map).
Wikipedia article about the Sonny Bono NWR.
I've visited the site on Sinclair Road a few times, but had never been to the Vendel Road site until yesterday.
Panorama at the Vendel Road site. I shot this from atop one of the two observation platforms there.
Rock Hill at the Sinclair Road site.
View of a nearby geothermal plant from atop Rock Hill.
One of the observation platforms at the Vendel Road site. The public is permitted to go no closer to the shore line than this platform. Areas near the shoreline were packed solid with white birds - mostly white geese and pelicans.
One of the photo blinds at the Vendel Road site. The tamarisk trees certainly do make it blind. One might be tempted to cut those for a better view toward the sea. This blind has a very low roof. You'll want to bring something to sit on. There is another blind nearby that has a slightly higher roof and is equipped with some benches. The Google satellite view linked above reveals that there is (or was) a third blind that I did not find. Something to look for on my next visit.
My complete set of photos from yesterday's visit is available here.
Filed under California,Photography | permalink | February 12, 2012 at 03:07 PM
