Roper Lake


Well, John is working on some research things so it may be a little while before I get him back to the blog. We are going to add an exhaust brake to the truck, so far I think it is the Banks system he is going to go with. We’d like to get it done when we are in the Phoenix area. Pulling this trailer he’d just like to be safer on the mountain passes.
Gamble or California Quail
We are really enjoying Roper Lake. Not many people here but the ones that are here are very friendly. A couple from the Albuquerque and another from Colorado. It looks like there should be more people coming in today as most of the reserve sites have tags on them. We look right out on the lake and the rushes. This park was one of the ones set to close due to budget cuts here in Arizona but the local communities saved it. The cattails have really grown up here and you can’t see as much of the lake as previously but there isn’t money in the budget to control their growth (or so we were told). However, the birds love it.
There are some birds here we hadn’t encountered before, not that they are all that rare, they just don’t populate the area around where we have camped before. The first night the Gamble or California Quail was hanging around our site. The feather on the front of their head is cool. The lake is filled with American Coots. The rushes are filled with a bird it took awhile for us to identify but looks to be the Yellow Headed Blackbird (Judy, maybe you could confirm that for me). There are huge flocks of them hanging out in the cattails and they are very loud. It is hard to get very close for a photo but with the long lens and the cropping tool I finally was able to get a close enough look for identification. There was an owl hooting last night when I went to bed that I think is a Great Horned Owl. Laurie, one of the neighbor told us you can see it in the trees over in the day use area. I’ll have to check that out and see if I can get a photos.
American Coot
We have been relatively lazy lately, which has been nice. We did get the bikes down and rode through the park and today we are going to hike a couple trails. They aren’t very long so it shouldn’t be too stressful. We hope you all enjoy your day.
Yellow Headed Blackbirds?
Happy trails...........

From Day use area. Our Excel is the one on the left.

Comments

  1. Travels with EmmaOctober 29, 2010 at 3:12 PM

    Yep, those are definitley yellow-headed blackbirds! I love watching a covy of Gambel's quails, also. Nice shot of your rig with the mountains in back! :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Lee and LoralieOctober 29, 2010 at 7:32 PM

    Hi John and Janie..
    We also have an Excel (30RSO) with a Ram 3500 Dually. We recently installed an exhaust brake system...the Pac system. Lee really likes it so far.
    thanks for the review on the Carlsbad Campground - we plan on being in the area the first of Dec and will check it out.
    Loralie (www.wearereadytoroll.blogspot.com)

    ReplyDelete
  3. RV Khronicles of KevelynOctober 31, 2010 at 12:57 PM

    I'm so glad my blog about Zion was helpful to you. From what I could find out, Zion seems to be warmer than most of the rest of Utah in the winter because it's elevation is lower. What campground are you staying at in Virgin. We drove through there on our way to Zion and there were some very nice RV parks along the way.

    The pictures I saw of Bryce in winter were beautiful. If there's not too much snow, maybe you can get up there as well. I look forward to hearing about your December adventures in Utah. What a great state!

    ReplyDelete

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