I recently had to travel to northern New Mexico to a little spot on the road called Sapello (Sap Pee O) New Mexico.  I had to work there for several days but made sure to take some time for birding and exploring the area.  I drove up to a very secluded lake called Morphy Lake. The drive was windy and steep and only one-lane wide but it was well worth the effort.  On the way I saw a lot of old buildings on private land that were probably built by ranchers in the 1800s.  It was great to see so many being maintained by the property owners.

There were a couple dozen turkey that were in the field adjacent to our job site.  They were there every day.  Shy but I was able to get a few photos before they ran for the bushes.  Didn’t see any males unfortunately.

I was excited to see some magpies.  They don’t live as far south as Albuquerque so it’s always a real treat to see them.  Of course, the locals say they are pests as they will eat most anything…dog food, snack food, whatever they can find handy.  They were shy as well so had to really utilize my zoom lens to get a photo.

Magpies

There was a pair of Say’s Phoebes that were hanging around as well as a pair of bluebirds and hairy woodpeckers. On the way home I was thrilled to see a pair of Horned Larks.  Unfortunately the male dove for the scrub but the female posed nicely for me.

Female Horned Lark

Mountain Bluebird

Female Mountain Bluebird

Hairy Woodpecker

Say’s Phoebe

American Robin