Dawns bloggy blog: Still here~Calico Basin

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Still here~Calico Basin

Jeff and I have been enjoying our stay in Las Vegas..

Luckily, our friends own an amazing property in Calico Basin, away from the craziness of the city.

I wake up in the morning and find Rock Wrens warming in the sun.

Gambel’s Quail visit the yard several times a day..

Four nights ago at 3am I opened my window and propped my pillow on the sill and looked for shooting stars..I saw 68 that night…

A record for me..

The views here are awesome..

The Red rock glows when the sun hits it.

I can walk out the door and down the street to say hello to the neighbors horses..

Just a few minutes walk is

Red Spring

Three springs with permanent water emerge from the base of the red and white sandstone cliffs: Red Spring, Calico Spring, and Ash Spring. Water also emerges from several seeps in the area, and water runs in washes to the north and south of the springs area during winter. The springs support trees, thickets, and an open meadow. Compared to the surrounding desert, Calico Basin is sheltered and moist, and it is easy to understand why Native Americans, birds, and wildlife spend time here.

White Crowned sparrows and other birds hang out near the spring..

Mockingbird

The area is fenced and has a boardwalk to protect the meadow

from people and wild burros..

Red Spring flows from a shallow tunnel in the rocks on the far side of the boardwalk, and several other seeps in the area support large velvet ash trees, thickets of shrub live oak and honey mesquite, plus a meadow of saltgrass and sedges. It also supports a diverse collection of wildlife including birds, reptiles, amphibians, mammals, and invertebrates. All of this is surrounded by Mojave desert scrub vegetation, including creosote bush, white bursage, Mojave yucca, and joshua trees.