July 14, 2018 (Alpine) – San Miguel Fire Protection District posted these dramatic images of their firefighters battling to save mobile homes during the West Fire in Alpine on July 6th.
May 20, 2018 (Jamul) – At the San Diego National Wildlife Refuge in Jamul, talented wildlife photographer Debbie Ekhaml has been documenting a nest with four Great Horned Owls fledglings.
“Four is really amazing,” she says, adding that the species normally has two or three offspring at a time.
These large, nocturnal birds are found across our regional and can be identified by the tufts of feathers resembling horns. You may hear their distinctive “Hoo -H-Hoo” call after dark.
April 22, 2018 (Lakeside) – Lakeside Fire Department’s Engine 26-C “Snake Charmers” are at it again, the department tweeted yesterday. Firefighter-paramedic Brian Moore shows off an “angry” gopher snake that he caught in Blossom Valley. #Engine26#GopherSnake#SnakeRemoval
April 13, 2018 (San Diego’s East County) – Greg Dunne, our Bird Talk columnist, sent us this photo of an Osprey nest at Lake Murray.He says he’s taken hundreds of photos of this nest and Ospreys in it over the past ten years.
“It's about 50' up in the air and you pass right under it on the walking path, so you can never see the chicks inside until they are grown,” he adds. “But this last Tuesday I got this little guy.”
April 8, 2018 (Jacumba Hot Springs) -- Paul Cumming sent in this other-worldly looking image of a sunset with saucer-shaped clouds spiraling around the Desert View Tower in the high desert community of Jacumba Hot Springs, California.
March 3, 2018 (Descanso) -- Tina Kloack sent us this adorable photo of her triplets Lucas, Malia and Mathis enjoying their first "snow day" earlier this week in Descanso.
January 31, 2018 (San Diego’s East County) -- Many of us were treated to a special, once in a lifetime event if we were awake and looking towards the western sky during the early morning hours. Did you see it?
January 22, 2018 (Lake Jennings) – I went to Lake Jennings today hoping to see bald eagles recently spotted there. Instead, I found an osprey perched atop a eucalyptus tree. Nearby, a migratory white pelican in the lake was quickly joined by another pelican swooping in for a landing; I later saw several more.
January 7, 2018 (Spring Valley) – San Miguel Fire Department captured this dramatic photo of a firefighter battling a trash truck fire in the 3500 block of Sweetwater Spring Boulevard in Spring Valley on January 3rd.
The truck dumped its load in a parking lot to save the truck from burning.
Photo, left: Sunrise seen from the ancient Kumeyaay observatory on Cowles Mountain. The larger mountain to the left of the sun is Lyons Peak.
December 22, 2017 (Deerhorn Valley) – Deerhorn Valley Antler editor Kim Hamilton sent in these beautiful shots taken by Don Endicott on a winter solstice several years ago. In her email today, she writes: December 21—Today is Winter Solstice. Did you know Deerhorn Valley is the site of ancient Kumeyaay "Solstice Rocks?
October 6, 2017 (El Cajon) -- October’s harvest moon is on display right now in our night sky. The full moon event peaked on October 5th and shows just how bright it can be depending on where it‘s positioned in the sky.
October 3, 2017 (El Cajon) – This beautiful sculpture, with its gracefully flowing curves, sits unassumingly yet boldly in front of the San Diego County courthouse entry area in El Cajon at 250 East Main street.
Created from stainless steel with a highly polished, reflecting surface, one can certainly be mesmerized by looking skyward as it towers 31 feet above the viewer.
July 12, 2017 (San Diego’s East County) -- A drive through East County’s mountain towns on the weekend after July 4th found many communities and businesses still proudly decked out in patriotic red, white and blue.
July 11, 2017 (Flinn Springs) – “I watched this whole fire play out, since we live so close,” Renee Owens wrote in an email to ECM. “It’s not the first fire I have ever witnessed, but this one got so hot and moved so quickly at first it was downright scary. You could hear the trees pop and explode, the fire reached 60 foot flames on some of the steep slopes, and stopped right at the I-8 just a couple hundred feet from a huge propane storage tank. It traveled frighteningly fast at first, but once the air tankers and helicopters showed up - combined with hitting some steep and sparsely vegetated cliff faces - they managed to tamp it down pretty quickly despite the heat and wind. It came within a couple hundred feet of houses near Dunbar lane. Watching it go from enormously hot and fast to under control was seriously impressive, and we owe some major thanks to the pilots on this one.”
As of 10 p.m. tonight, the fire is 10% contained and has burned over 400 acres. All roads have been reopened.
July 11, 2017 (Flinn Springs) — Renee Owens sent in these photos of the #JenningsFire burning between Lakeside and Alpine in San Diego’s East County, including the eerily beautiful images of “fire rainbows” – illusions created by helicopters dropping water on the flames.
July 9, 2017 (Descanso) -- I love a parade! Descanso Days displays pure Americana, from 1920s-era cars to Western banditos on horseback and a firetruck decked out with patriotic bunting, this parade reflects the community's historical heritage and heroes.
Winners named in annual Lake Jennings Spring Photo Contest
Source: Helix Water District
June 16, 2017 (Santee) - Have you ever imagined the beauty of intense light sparkling from a rippled lake surface? Or the majesty of birds in flight, riding a cool breeze just inches above a glass-smooth body of water? Twenty-four photographers captured these images and many more and entered them in Helix Water District’s Lake Jennings Spring Photo Contest.
Photo: El Cajon resident Ace Saunders, and his pit bull, Saturn.
June 11, 2017 (Santee) -- El Cajon resident, Ace Saunders, and his pit bull, Saturn, won best trick contest at Santee's 2nd Annual Fido Fest for performing a variety of commands. The event, held June 10th in Santee, drew an estimated 2,000-- with smallest dog, largest dog, and a cake walk all part of the festivities.
April 25, 2017 (San Diego) -- I've been protesting for over half a century. Never before the March for Science in San Diego Saturday have I seen a demonstration where everyone brought their own homemade signs.
The signs were so original that they did not even have a common slogan. I attended a march of 15,000 individuals.
April 17, 2017 (El Cajon) - Robert Gehr sent in photos of these beautiful blooms, taken at the white gazebo at Judson Park in El Cajon at the corner of North Magnolia Avenue and West Park Avenue. Take time to stop and smell the roses!
March 23, 2017 (Borrego Springs) – Bob Kutscher of Borrego Springs shared these gorgeous flower photos taken during this month’s “super bloom” in the Anza-Borrego Desert.
“A routine of mine this year has been taking afternoon off-road rides and searching out flowers. Needless to say it's been an enjoyable time this year.”
March 4, 2017 (Borrego Springs) – You never know what you’re going to find in the Anza Borrego Desert! Our editor, Miriam Raftery, headed out in search of wildflowers this weekend. It’s still 1-2 weeks too early to see fields of flowers in bloom, but she did get some close-ups of early blossoms, scenic shots and an up-close look at some of the many whimsical sculptures dotting the desert terrain.
February 4, 2017 (Lakeside) – It’s February and love is in the air – including at Lake Jennings, where photographer Scott Barnhill photographed a pair of nesting bald eagles. He also captured dramatic images of other birds of prey in flight, fishing, and hunting, including the osprey catching a fish, shown here. View more photos below, and see this link for a full gallery of images:
January 23, 2017 (Pala) – “I almost hit this boulder coming home last night from work,” says Tracy Lee Nelson, who reported the obstruction on Highway76 on the La Jolla Indian reservation. “I called 911 and Caltrans showed up and said they can’t move it and ordered the dynamite crew.”
December 26, 2016 (Palomar) – Lori Saldaña originally posted these fairy tale-like Christmas morning images on Facebook, with a message reading, “A very Merry Christmas morning to all. Here is my very So Cal Christmas view: snow on the ridge above, trees all around, sun in the valley below. May you enjoy the day with loved ones doing what brings you joy!”
December 24, 2016 (Ocotillo) – Parke Ewing sent this stunning shot, perfectly composed, of a rainbow arcing above wind turbines in the desert at Ocotillo on Christmas Eve after the storm.
Residents have long complained about the turbines marring desert views. So when Ewing posted this image on Facebook, it received some equally creative comments.
December 24, 2016 (Boulevard) – “Check out the three inches or so of snow we woke up to in the Tierra Del Sol area of Boulevard!” writes Donna Tisdale, who sent in these photos taken on Christmas Eve morning.
November 22, 2016 (El Cajon) -- Drum Macomber sent in this photo of Senior Patrol Leader Kyle Jackson and Patrol Leader Alex Horn, Boy Scouts from Troop 362, with the El Cajon Main Street Flag Committee.
"This photo was not staged; it just happened when we decided that we should have the Pledge of Allegiance at the Work Party," Macomber says. "This is a Norman Rockwell Moment if ever."
November 13, 2016 (Lakeside) - Billy Ortiz snapped this stunning shot of tonight’s Super Moon, the closest the moon has been to earth in over six decades, with silhouetted great blue heron on the horizon in Lakeside.
As of 10 p.m. tonight, the fire is 10% contained and has burned over 400 acres. All roads have been reopened. 
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