Yesterday at Joshua Tree N.P., I added Ladder-backed Woodpecker to my list 
There were some Quails who looked and sounded a bit different than California Quails, but I never confirmed that they were Gambel's Quails (like I'm pretty sure they were). So that's a "maybe" in my field guide. Same story with Black-throated Sparrows, which I think I saw but never got a good enough look at...
It was also nice seeing more familiar birds like Cactus Wrens, Scrub Jays, and Great Horned Owls (which I never saw, but heard plenty of 
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Sounds like a great day out! If you haven't visited Morongo Valley and the nature reserve there, you've got to do that in the spring. The birds there will knock your socks off. That was one of the first field trips I ever took, and I literally couldn't keep up with the lifers that were perched, flying by, posing on the side of the road, lurking in the palm trees..... Truly a desert oasis and a great place to bird.