That's my home range.
Those are the eastern peaks of the San Bernardinos up above, with Mt. San Bernardino on the left and San Gorgonio on the right. I grew up in the eastern San Bernardino Valley not far from where this picture was taken, in a town called Pleasantville in the blog. It's a greener community than most in SoCal: you can read about the Redlands Conservancy's Land Trust Program here.
See the taller trees on the right, and the low ridge beyond them? I live on the other side of that ridge, in the foothills of the San Bernardinos.
I spend as much time as I can in the mountains at the place I love best: a summer cabin in the San Bernardino National Forest, near Big Bear Lake. This is our fireplace mantel, with some wolf lichen and pine cones from the 1920s:
For more about Big Bear and the San Bernardino National Forest, visit the Big Bear Discovery Center.
Here's a most excellent map that shows where birds and birders are most likely to be found in inland SoCal. This is Tom's Inland Counties Birding Locations Map of popular birding destinations in San Bernardino, Riverside, and Imperial Counties. [The image below is a screen grab — visit the link to view a live version.] Click on the images to make them bigger.
