My plans for the day to go thrift shopping with a friend fell through last minute.  So even though it was a cloudy, dreary day, I decided to go for a long hike.  My dog Liela hasn’t been on a walk much lately so she was begging to go out.  Trying to avoid the light rain surrounding the Albuquerque area, I remembered a great easy hike on the west mesa that is part of the Petroglyphs National Monument.

So camera and dog loaded in the Jeep, I headed across town.  I wasn’t sure if I would see many birds as I chose the worst time of day (1:30 pm) to go birding.  But because it was overcast, I guess the bird activity was better than usual at that time.

I heard a lot of Rock Wrens (wrens are my favorite) in the area singing away.  They know spring is edging out winter.  I was lucky to have a curious one get fairly close to me.  Got several great pics.

It was nice to explore the petroglyphs.  I never seem to tire of them.  If you look close, you’ll see some of the hands have 6 fingers.  Interesting…

I also saw a pair of Northern Flickers that must be building a nest among the rocks.  They kept hanging out around this one big boulder way up on the hillside.  I managed to get somewhat close to get a photo.

And there was a Say’s Phoebe hanging out managing to find a few insects for lunch.

Liela was going crazy seeing lots of squirrels and jackrabbits.  She just loves to chase critters! But I wouldn’t let her go and she was not happy about that.  Bunnies got to live another day.  I was happy to get a shot of the jackrabbit.  I usually just see them from behind lol!

All in all, it was nice to get out and get some fresh air and see some sights and birds.  Never a bad day when I’m out in nature!

Rock Wren

Rock Wren

Rock Wren

Northern Flicker

Say’s Phoebe