Rocky Mountain National Park – Day 1

Recently my friend Dia and I took a long weekend to visit Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) near Estes, Colorado. We have talked about going there for about 5 years. Finally our schedules came together and we were able to go. I have long wanted to visit this national park. The photos I’ve seen from there are just stunning. Water everywhere! (Unlike New Mexico LOL!)

It took us about 10 hours to drive there, due to the many stops made at Starbucks 🙂

Kelly and Dia getting their Starbucks fix!

We arrived at the entrance sign to Estes Park late in the day. Of course, we had to take a pic there of us in our matches dresses. 🙂

We made it! Don’t you love our matching dresses!? 🙂

There were several Black-Billed Magpies around and one was happy to pose for me on the sign. I guess they are no longer a nemesis of mine LOL!

Black-Billed Magpie

We knew it was going to be crowded every day there as we were visiting during peak season. So we made plans to go to bed early and get up very early to beat the crowds. It proved to be a great plan as we found when we were leaving the trails that’s when most people were heading out. Doing this allowed us to visit the spectacular park with minimal intrusion of other people. There’s nothing more discouraging to a photographer than to have a beautiful setting for a photo crowded out with masses of tourists.

Dia has been to RMNP a few times in the past. I had never been before. So I followed her lead on what to see first. Her favorite drive is up Old Fall River Road. A one-way dirt road that climbs to the highest point in the park. When I looked at the map, I realized a couple of the waterfalls I wanted to photograph were on this route. Yay!

Our first stop was at the Allivial Fan Falls. This waterfall was created by a major flood due to a failure in a dam upstream.

Alluvial Fan Falls

Heading up Old Fall River Road, we saw so many beautiful sights. Everywhere you looked, it was a Kodak moment. Dia drove my Jeep so I could take photos. She loves driving my Jeep – especially off road. 🙂 At one point, Dia almost ran over a marmot who had no fear of the Jeep. Evidently he’s used to tourists feeding him as they pass.

Kelly and her Jeep (not her husband’s Jeep) 😉

Dia and Scarlett enjoying the drive up Old Fall River Road

Marmot

I especially loved this little waterfall at the beginning of the drive. There was no formal trail, just enough of a path to view the water closer.

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Further up the road we came to Chasm Falls – another waterfall on my “must see” list. What a beautiful waterfall coming through the narrow canyon.

Looking downstream

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Scarlett, Kelly & Dia

Scarlett loves water – so of course we had to let her play a little before hitting the road again.

Scarlett enjoying the falls in her own way 🙂

Soon we were climbing higher and higher. The views expanded. Just glorious!

Gorgeous views from Old Fall River Road.

We eventually rose above the tree line. Beautiful! We came across patches of wildflowers. Everything was so green – way different from New Mexico.

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Just before reaching the RMNP Alpine Visitor Center, we came across more marmot. I liked how this one posed nicely for me.

Marmot

The views at the visitor center overlooking a glacial cirque were truly breathtaking. The grasses were so lush and the snow provided a beautiful contrast to the photos.

Glacial Cirque

There is a hike from the visitor’s center that takes you to a peak. It was tough going considering there was very little oxygen at 12,000 feet above sea level. The views from the top were amazing. I love exploring!

Trail from the visitor’s center.

Breathtaking views!

Dia

Where’s Starbucks???!!!!!

Views of the visitor center from the top of the trail.

Dia, Kelly and Scarlett at the top!

After a brief stop at the Visitor’s Center, we decided to take the drive to Grand Lake. We wound our way back down the other side of the mountain. At the bottom we took a short hike to stretch our legs and enjoy the beautiful weather. I saw several sparrows in this area but only managed to get one pic of a Savannah Sparrow.

Such a lush valley of green

These squirrels found a good home.

Dia happy with her Starbucks! 🙂

This was the only butterfly I saw that day. Terrible photo as I didn’t have my birding lens. I believe this is a Mormon Fritillary

Savannah Sparrow

As we made our way toward Grand Lake we saw a turn off for Lake Irene. What a serene little lake.

Lake Irene

As we left Irene Lake we saw a bunch of folks looking into the dense brush along the road. We figured they’d spotted something good. And indeed they had – a moose! Actually two moose – a mother and calf. They were a ways away and in dense brush, but I managed to get a couple photos. I’d never seen a moose before!

Moose with calf

We also saw some nice bull Elk along the road. One was really enjoying the good life of summer.

Very healthy bull Elk

Enjoying summer

Near Grand Lake I spotted an Osprey nest. It’s always a good day when you see a bird of prey.

Osprey

Grand Lake was very touristy and actually not in RMNP. So we turned around and decided to drive the Ridge Road back to Estes Park. Once again we were in store for more stunning views way above the tree line.

Click, click, click….I took over 5,000 photos on this trip! Yikes!

Expansive views

I love the high alpine meadow flowers – so small and delicate.

Dia and Kelly

At one point we saw a nice herd of elk. They were grazing in the high meadows well above 11,000 feet. They have a very picturesque home.

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Scarlett was enjoying all the sights and smells.

So many smells!!!!

We stopped at one pullout to view a glacier.

Hmmmm…look at my Jeep keys precariously dangling from Dia’s hand….

Glacier at 12,000 feet. I love the blue pool of water in the lower right.

While taking photos, Dia noticed a little brown bird hopping just below us. I quickly got my birding lens and was happy to see it was a Brown-Capped Rosy Finch.

Brown-Capped Rosy Finch

Further down the road we stopped at another pullout. There were lots of folks feeding the birds and squirrels here. I couldn’t resist the opportunity to take close up photos of the rather tame squirrels.

What a cutie!

excuse me…you have something in the corner of your mouth…

But I was thrilled to see a Clark’s Nutcracker here looking for handouts. I’ve only seen this bird once before several years ago in Santa Fe. I’ve heard them a few times since then, but never saw them for a photo. So it was great to see this bird close up!

Clark’s Nutcracker

The views from this location were beautiful. You could see the entire valley below. You can even see the Alluvial Fan Falls area we had visited in the morning.

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It was a full day of fun!!! Off to bed early for another full day of exploring!

These flowers were extremely tiny!

A Weekend in Taos, New Mexico

My friend Dia and I went for a quick trip to Taos, New Mexico, recently. My goal was to photograph several historic churches and see the Taos Pueblo and the graveyard there.

I needed to stop by a job site on the way there, so we decided to make a big circle for our road trip. On the way to Taos we went through Las Vegas, New Mexico. I mentioned to Dia there was a pretty little glacial lake just north of there. One thing I’ve learned about Dia – take her to any kind of water and she’s a happy girl!

We were soon at Morphy Lake. Such a peaceful place. Set at a higher elevation, it was a nice 75 degrees there in hot summer.

Morphy Lake

While walking the shore, I happened to notice a giant tadpole. After further searching, we saw lots of them in different stages of changing into a frog. We even saw some fully formed frogs. I also saw an oddly colored fish.

This frog still has his tadpole tail.

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hmmmmm….not sure what kind of fish this is

Then Dia saw a crawdad. She’s fascinated by these guys! Soon she was trying to catch one. After a couple of attempts, she got one!

Slowly…..slowly…..closer……

Got him!

Success!

Oh dear…. lol!

Soon we were on our way again. We passed through a few small towns and past Sipapu Ski area. We were climbing in elevation the entire drive.

We came upon a pretty stream. Scarlett was wanting to get out for a bit. Knowing how much she loves water, I figured this would be a nice place to stretch our legs. Soon Dia and Scarlett were in the water having a fun time. I swear I was traveling with two kids! 🙂

Dia and Scarlett having fun!

Once in Taos we ate lunch at a local restaurant called the Farmhouse that uses fresh farm grown produce. Sadly the food really wasn’t very good and I can’t recommend a visit there to eat. But the grounds were pretty with a pond, wildflowers and garden spinners.

Pond at the Farmhouse Restaurant

I love garden spinners

Funky Taos art

Dia, Kelly & Scarlett

Then I noticed an old rusted truck out in a field. As you’ve probably figured out by now, I can’t resist photographing old rusty things!!!

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I love all the different layers of paint (and a little bondo)

We also had to pose on this truck LOL! But the metal was hot as fire making it difficult to do much. LOL!

Kelly

Dia

We ate at a local bar that is housed in the oldest building in Taos. We had a great time having a couple of margaritas and playing shuffleboard.

Delicious margaritas and it was happy hour!

Kelly and Dia enjoying drinks on the patio

Dia won both games of shuffleboard

My silly friend!

Finally the sun was setting. Time to get out for some sunset and blue hour photos of the mission at Ranchos de Taos. This mission was built in 1772 and has been wonderfully kept over the years.

We got there just as the sun was setting. It was a gorgeous evening.

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I especially loved this photo I captured.

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Dia wanted me to take a photo of her that made her look like a ghost. After several attempts, I think I got a decent shot. I’m only just learning how to do night photography. I still have lots more to learn but having fun trying!

Ghostly Dia

The next morning we got up early to visit Taos Pueblo. We drove through the northern end of town to get there. And wouldn’t you know it I saw one of my nemesis birds – the Black-Billed Magpie. And I didn’t have my birding lens! Ahhhhh! These birds were everywhere. After several attempts I did manage to get a decent pic with the setup I had on hand.

Black-Billed Magpie

When we got to the pueblo, we found out it was closed due to a funeral. 😦 So I guess I will have to plan another trip there to see the sights on the pueblo.

We stopped for gas and I couldn’t resist taking a photo of this crow in the parking lot.

American Crow

Since our original destination was closed, we headed over to the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge. The morning was very hazy, so the photos really weren’t that good. But we still had a fun time on the bridge and shopping the local artist tables there. We each bought a pretty ring and earrings. 🙂

Rio Grande Gorge

Kelly’s feet – it’s a loooong way down to the river

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Dia and Kelly at the gorge bridge

We even saw big horn sheep down in the gorge.

On the way home we took a different route. We took the “High Road” back home. This road takes you up high in the mountains through the quaint towns of Las Trampas and Truchas. It was too bad the day was so hazy, because the views from this drive are amazing!

There’s a beautiful historical church in Las Trampas built in 1760. It has some interesting details. Plus there was also a House Sparrow pair busily building a nest.

San Jose de Garcia Church

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This angel was carved above the door.

House Sparrow

Further down the road is Truchas. It’s perched high on a mountain with long reaching views. As we were looking for the church there, we came upon a flock of Evening Grosbeak. I still didn’t have my birding lens, so was challenged to get a decent pic. They are such beautiful birds.

Evening Grosbeak

There is a quaint church off a small side road – Our Lady of the Rosary built in 1764.

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Our last stop was at Chimayo. The El Santuario de Chimayo is a National Historic Landmark and is famous for it’s healing holy dirt. It was founded in 1816 and people pilgrimage here from all over to receive blessing and leave mementos of loved ones. It would be easy to spend several hours here exploring and enjoying the peaceful setting.

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I loved the murals in this little side sanctuary

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While Dia and I walked around, we left Scarlett in the Jeep. She was not happy with this decision. LOL!

Scarlett left in the Jeep – poor girl…..

We had a fun filled couple of days and saw lots of sights. But I know I have to plan another trip in the future to see Taos Pueblo.

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Nutria Canyon Hike and the Ice Cave

Recently my friend Dia and I spent a whole day exploring the area around El Morro near Grants, NM. Our main destination was to find Nutria Canyon. I’ve heard very little about this hike and there is minimal information online. But there was this one tantalizing photo online that drew me back again and again during the winter months. I knew I just had to find this place during the summer when my friend could join me. It’s about 3 hours away from where I live, so I didn’t want to venture out on my own.

We started out early with hopes of getting to the canyon by around 9. Sadly there was a lot of road construction that slowed us down. Then, when we were in the general area, we just didn’t know where to go. Luckily I saw this one dirt road that said Nutria Lake. It was 25 miles sooner on the highway than my online directions were saying. Thankfully, just as we turned onto the road a local came driving by. They were very helpful and told us we were definitely in the right place.

Since the lake was just a little side trip off the road, we headed over to see it. It was a pretty place with a few ducks enjoying the water. We got out to enjoy the view and let Scarlett have a bathroom break.

Nutria Lake

Wouldn’t you know it, as soon as Scarlett started doing her “business” a pack of reservation dogs came out of nowhere heading straight for us. Dia and I were calling Scarlett to HURRY! HURRY! get in the car. But she just couldn’t finish her “business” quickly enough. We were panicking by this time. Dia ran to drag Scarlett to the car if need be, and I was opening the doors and grabbing the gun! Thankfully Scarlett hurried up and jumped in the car along with us in the nick of time! Whew! Needless to say, we left the lake and headed to our original destination.

The valley we were driving into was very lush. We saw lots of happy horses and other livestock. And there were prairie dogs EVERYWHERE!!!

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As we neared the trail head, we came upon a marshy area where Nutria Creek spills out of the canyon. Just gorgeous!

Marsh area near the trail head

Dia had just gotten a new tattoo on her entire back. So she wasn’t able to carry a pack. I told her I would carry everything in my pack (I’d do anything to go see this canyon!). So when we arrived at the trail head, she started loading up my pack. Wow! Heavy!

That pack had to weigh 40 pounds!

I told her she had to at least carry the gun. She gladly accepted that task!

Dia packing heat!

The trail headed into the narrowing canyon with lush green trees and bushes. It definitely beckoned us to head inside.

Entrance to trail – so green!

Almost as soon as we started the trail, there was water. Scarlett immediately dove in!

Scarlett in her happy place!

Thankfully enough people have been on this trail that they have constructed makeshift boardwalks out of old pallets and scrap lumber. They were rickety but effective to walk over the mud.

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We started climbing up above the creek and into a lush forest of oaks. There were Yellow Warblers everywhere! I didn’t bring my birding lens, so no bird pics this trip. But so much birdsong in the canopy made me regret my decision to leave that lens at home.

Kelly on the very lush trail.

It was nice and cool in the shade

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We eventually met up with the creek again. Then we turned a corner in the canyon and it opened up to a stunning view. Beautiful steep red canyon walls and gorgeous green foliage. We were getting close to where I saw that tantalizing photo so many months ago.

Dia enjoying the view on this perfect seat.

Then there it was! A picturesque pond in this hidden canyon. Stunning! I was so wishing we had found the trail much sooner. By this time it was noon and not the best conditions for photography. But I did my best to capture some images that did the view justice.

Gorgeous!

I loved the reflections in the pond.

I just had to have a photo of me and Scarlett in this beautiful spot.

My sweet Miss Scarlett

Scarlett and Kelly

The day was warming up quickly. Scarlett was tempted to jump down into that pond. We kept having to tell her no.

It was sooooo tempting to jump in…

Eventually we made it around and down to that pond and she was a happy girl!

Such a peaceful place

Scarlett loved the ponds. Cool and refreshing water to play in.

We hung around here for a while as the trail just became too congested with brush to continue on. I had hoped to explore further but this is just not a well known place. So there isn’t enough foot traffic to keep the trail open.

Untouched beauty

Scarlett kept on eye on me as I navigated the big boulders

Beautiful

Dia and Kelly

Eventually we headed back to the car. We still had quite a bit of daylight left to the day. So we decided to visit the Ice Cave. I had never been, and Dia said it had been a long while since she had been there.

On the way out, we decided to stop at a few of the abandoned homes in the valley. They are interesting to explore. Just a plethora of things to photograph!

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We had lunch at the Ancient Way Cafe. It’s a tiny little place, but the food is good and the desserts were outstanding! They have quite a baker working there.

Our sandwich was shaped just like a Bigfoot footprint!

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!!!!!

The visitor’s center at the ice cave was very interesting. It’s amazing what they found down in that hole. Centuries of history perfectly preserved. I highly recommend you take the time to look around at all the treasures jammed into this small building.

Look at those giant perfectly whole Indian pots!

Fascinating!

The Ice Cave offers two hikes. One up to the Bandera Volcano and one down to the ice cave. We hiked the volcano first since we knew we would cool off at the ice cave. 🙂

It was a short and relatively uninteresting hike.

Bandera Volcano

At the top of the trail, Dia collapsed due to lack of a Starbuck’s for hours. I told her to hang in there. We will get her one soon.

Where’s Starbucks????????? she wailed

The Ice Cave was much more interesting. The trail to the cave takes you through the basalt fields left by the volcano. It makes you wonder how anyone found that ice cave so long ago. It had to have been quite the challenge to navigate through that jagged sharp basalt.

Basalt field

A blooming cactus brought beauty to the stark view.

The area was called The Devil’s Playground by early settlers. It’s easy to see why. While hiking to the cave we came across this unique dead juniper. I took a picture of Dia there being her naughty self. She then took my photo and edited it to fit the area’s nickname. 🙂

Dia being evil…

At the cave you climb down a steep set of stairs.

Kelly and Scarlett ready to descend

Steep stairs

There it is deep below the surface.

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As you descended you could really feel the temperature dropping. It was quite refreshing after a hot climb up the volcano.

I didn’t let Scarlett go all the way to the bottom. You could see what she thought about that…..

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The inside of the cave was beautiful. I tried to capture the colors in the cave by setting my camera to a slow shutter speed. Just beautiful.

The colors in the rock ceiling were so beautiful.

The ice had a green cast to it. It made for a lovely contrast with all the colors in the rock formation.

Too soon we were heading home. On the way out we saw a few Mule Deer. One was more curious than the others and had a beautiful shaggy coat.

Mule Deer

When we got to Grants, Dia had to have her Starbucks. But she almost had a big tantrum when she realized there wasn’t a Starbucks there. It was hilarious!

The drive home was long due to yet more road construction. But the day’s adventures had been fabulous (even with the lack of Starbuck’s at the end). 🙂

65 miles to go until home….

Birding at San Angelo State Park and Bitter Lake Wildlife Refuge

On my way home from Port Aransas, Texas, I took time to bird in San Angelo State Park in San Angelo, Texas, and at Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge at Roswell, New Mexico.

My drive to San Angelo was mostly rainy. So I didn’t have any opportunities to bird that day. I did stop in a little town to get a pic of an old building that looked interesting.

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I arrived in San Angelo with steady rain. When I awoke the next morning, it was pretty foggy. So birding conditions were not good at all. But I still managed to get a quite a few sightings. I didn’t stay long as I wanted to have some time to bird at Bitter Lake.

Bullock’s Oriole

Curve-Billed Thrasher

Bell’s Vireo

Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher

Pyrrhuloxia

Lark Sparrow

Cactus Wren

Black Vultures

Canyon Towhee

Brown-Headed Cowbird

Black-Crested Titmouse

Bobwhite Quail

Golden-Fronted Woodpecker

The best find of the morning was seeing a female Vermillion Flycatcher building her nest. She would get some moss or grass and place it in the nest and then check it for comfort. Then go get another piece to add. I never did see the male.

Vermillion Flycatcher – female

There wasn’t too much activity at Bitter Lake as I arrived there around midday. After driving around for a little while and hiking a couple of short paths, I managed to find a few birds.

Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher

Yellow-Rumped Warbler – Myrtle Variety

Lark Sparrow

Green Heron

Cinnamon Teal

Scaled Quail

The highlight of the day though was seeing a variety of nightjars! These birds are so difficult to find in the wild. But on this visit, they were all perched out in the open and very close to the road. Awesome! I was able to get some good photographs! Even with that advantage, it was still very difficult to identify the birds. I mostly used size as a reference for the Common Poorwill as it is the smallest of the nightjars. The Common Nighthawk flew and sang right after I took the up-close photo which made it easy to identify.

I think you’ll agree these are really cool birds!

Common Poorwill

Lesser Nighthawk

Common Nighthawk

That concludes my 10-day trip to the gulf coast and all the wonderful bird sightings I was able to see during my travels. I got 27 new lifers and my total number of lifer bird sightings is now at 396!!!

Pronghorn Antelope

Wonderful Spring Birding with a New Lifer Sighting

First off, let me just say, I LOVE my new camera! I’m definitely still in the learning phase, but it’s performance is superior to my old setup. It’s a joy to use, and I’m very happy with my images.

Not too long ago, we had a spring storm blow through and it dumped 12 inches of snow at my house. The birds were not very happy about this event, and neither were my plants.

Bleeding Hearts

A Cooper’s Hawk was hanging out at my bird feeder hoping for a meal.

Cooper’s Hawk

The hummingbirds were happy I had feeders out for them.

Broad-Tailed Hummingbird

I think the only one happy with the snow was Scarlett 🙂

My sweet Miss Scarlett

Thankfully the snow melted the very next day, and the temperatures returned to the mid to high 70s right away. I got to go out hiking several times this week. I visited Tingley Beach a couple days after the spring storm. The Rio Grande was raging and flooded most of the bosque trails. But it was worth trudging through it to see some new spring birds.

Ash-Throated Flycatcher

Green Heron

Baby Mallard

Summer Tanager

I have lived in the Albuquerque area for over 20 years. And during that time, I have never visited Sandia Lakes or Shady Lakes (they are next door to each other). So one day I decided to check out the lakes.

Sandia Lakes was very nice. Beautiful lawns and cottonwood trees and three separate lakes.

Sandia Lakes with the Sandia Mountains in the background

The first bird I saw was a Lark Sparrow (first one I’ve seen this year). He was singing way up high in a tree. Then I saw several Canada Geese with their babies.

Canada Geese

While watching the geese, I saw something that looked different. I quickly realized it was a Western Grebe. We don’t see them often in our area, so it was a real treat.

Western Grebe

I saw a pair of Say’s Phoebes busily hunting for bugs. I soon saw why they were so frantic to find bugs. They had three babies squeezed into a tiny nest.

Say’s Phoebes

I saw lots of Black Phoebes as well. They are such beautiful birds

Black Phoebe

While walking around the lake, an Osprey flew overhead. I thought to myself that he might be part of a nesting pair. This was confirmed recently by my friend Joe. I’m definitely going to have to check out their nesting progress.

Osprey

I came across a pair of Black-Capped Chickadees that were acting very agitated. I never did figure out what they were so upset about.

Black-Capped Chickadee

As I was walking through the grass between lakes, I saw a Killdeer doing its “I’m injured, follow me” routine. So I knew there must be a baby nearby. It was acting pretty desperate, so I thought it must be very close.

Killdeer trying to lure me away from its baby

When I looked down, I realized it was only a foot away. I almost stepped on it! Yikes! It never did move. I took a quick pic and then quickly moved away. Soon I heard the baby calling for its parents. It was nice to see them all reunite and be assured all was fine.

baby Killdeer

I then headed over to Shady Lakes. What a beautiful place! It has several ponds all covered in beautiful lily pads and lined with irises. The ponds are stocked with different varieties of fish. But I was there for the birds.

Shady Lakes

As soon as I stepped out of the car, I saw a Black-Crowned Night Heron sitting beautifully on an old log. I then realized there were several of them gathered there. Fabulous! They are used to people so they let me get pretty close.

Black-Crowned Night Heron

I walked around the ponds and admired all the beautiful blooming lilies and irises.

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I noticed a moth feeding among the irises. These moths often get called hummingbirds by people when they don’t look too closely.

White-Lined Sphinx Moth

The turtles were enjoying those big lily pads!

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My last hike was up to the Cienega picnic area. The forest service blocks the road for cars until mid-May. So you have to hike along the road to get to the upper picnic area. My goal was to try and find the Northern Pygmy Owl that has been seen nesting there. Now I have made this hike several times both last spring and this spring with no luck seeing that owl. Well, this time I was successful! This is a lifer bird for me!

He was calling repeatedly on a lower branch in the aspen tree where he’s been seen nesting. All the songbirds in the area were very agitated and were trying to scare him away. It was a wonderful sighting!

For those of you not familiar with this owl. He’s very small, only 6 inches from its head to the end of its tail. So you can see why he’s so difficult to find.

Northern Pygmy Owl

I decided to hike over to Bill Spring since I was in the area. A Hermit Thrush was enjoying a bath. And a baby was in a tree nearby.

Hermit Thrush

A Western Tanager (my first of the year), briefly showed himself deep in the trees near the spring.

Western Tanager

I hadn’t been at the spring long when a Cooper’s Hawk flew in chasing a chickadee. After that, the birds were scarce. So I started hiking back to my car. I saw lots of Black-Headed Grosbeak singing and squabbling in the trees. I’m guessing they were vying for the attention of the females.

Black-Headed Grosbeak

I’m thrilled spring is here. I’m looking forward to getting out again and seeing what other beautiful spring birds have arrived. 🙂

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Birding in Southeastern Arizona – Day 3

Our third day in Southeastern Arizona brought us to Patagonia, AZ. A premier birding spot! I made big plans for some great birding opportunities.

We stayed at a B&B just outside of Patagonia. They had so many birds there. I could easily have spent a whole morning just sitting on the patio. I got a couple new birds there in just the few minutes I spent on the patio. I saw my first Broad-Billed Hummingbird – gorgeous! And I saw a very shy Hooded Oriole.

Broad-Billed Hummingbird

Hooded Oriole

Here’s some of the other birds I saw that morning before we headed to our other destinations.

Say’s Phoebe

Northern Cardinal

Lincoln’s Sparrow

Gila Woodpecker

House Finch

Acorn Woodpecker

Ladder-Backed Woodpecker

We stopped at a local coffee shop before heading out. I just had to snap a quick pic of these beautiful black labs. 🙂

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Our first stop was at the Paton Center for Hummingbirds. This was a former home of birding enthusiasts. Now it is managed by the Tucson Audubon Society. It has been opened to the public and designed for optimal hummingbird viewing. I had hoped to see the Violet-Crowned Hummingbird, but I guess I was a little early in the season for this sighting. I did see lots of Broad-Billed Hummingbirds.

Broad-Billed Hummingbird

There were a few other variety of hummingbirds present as well. However, they were females and I’m terrible at identifying most of the female hummingbird species.

One of my favorite photos I took there was of this Gambel’s Quail.

Gambel’s Quail

While I was photographing birds, Tim spotted this gopher busily cleaning out his den.

Gopher

From there we headed to Patagonia Lake State Park.

Kelly and Tim

We stopped in at the visitor’s center first. Lots of birds on the feeders there!

Northern Cardinal

Chipping Sparrow

House Finch

Red-Winged Blackbirds

Great-Tailed Grackle

Inca Dove

While at the visitor’s center, we heard about a 1-hour boat birding tour. It was only $5! So of course Tim and I signed up! While waiting for the boat, I saw this Broad-Billed Hummingbird collecting tidbits for her nest.

I then followed her and saw where she landed. She found a good hiding spot. I had a lot of difficulty just getting this photo of her.

Broad-Billed Hummingbird

Soon we were on our boat ride. This was Scarlett’s first time on a boat! She wasn’t sure what to think of it, until we let her get right up front where she could see out. Then she loved it!

Lots of great bird sightings from the boat. It was difficult getting sharp photos while moving. But I’m pretty pleased with most of my photos.

Eared Grebe

Double-Crested Cormorant

Black-Crowned Night Heron

Green Heron

Great Egret with Neotropic and Double-Crested Cormorants

Neotropic Cormorant

Pied-Billed Grebe

American Coot – looking warily at Scarlett 🙂

Green-Winged Teal

I was very excited to get a new bird on the boat ride. A Greater Scaup!

Greater Scaup

The bird guides were quite excited to spot a Hooded Merganser female. Evidently they are a rare visitor to the lake.

Hooded Merganser

Coming back to the visitor’s center, I got this nice shot of a foot bridge in front of the marina. I really liked this bridge.

The bird guides told us of a path along the lake that is good for birding. So we quickly headed over there before the day grew too late. As we started the path, an Osprey flew overhead.

Osprey

This was a fabulous path. Birds everywhere! Tim was a great spotter for me. He saw many more birds before me. I told him I was going to take him along more often! Here’s photos of the many birds we saw.

Vermillion Flycatcher

Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher

Yellow Warbler

Black-Throated Gray Warbler

Hermit Thrush

Cinnamon Teal

Yellow-Rumped Warbler

Common Yellowthroat

Tim spotted a Leopard Frog sunning himself in the shallows.

Leopard Frog

We saw lots of butterflies along the trail. Hopefully I named these correctly. Thanks to Joe on my previous post.

American Snout

Sleepy Duskywing

Golden-Headed Scallopwing

Pipevine Swallowtail

Texan Crescent

There was a bird feeder station set up on the trail. The feeders were getting quite a few visitors, including a big squirrel.

Rock Squirrel

Lesser Goldfinch

White-Crowned Sparrow

Just before getting in our car after walking the trail, we saw the Osprey fly over again. This time he had a fish!

Osprey

It was a fabulous birding day! Lots of beautiful birds with a couple of lifers, a day spent at the lake and a wonderful time with my husband and dog. It doesn’t get much better than that!

52-Week Photo Challenge – Week 2 “Winter”

So the challenge for Week 2 is “Winter”. Let’s be honest here…. I hate winter. Ugh! But! The one redeeming thing about winter in New Mexico is overwintering birds!

I spend the entire winter looking for all the visiting waterfowl in the greater Albuquerque area. That’s what gets me through the winter season without getting depressed LOL!

So my photo of the week is of a duck-filled pond in northern New Mexico with the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in the background.

Ohkay Owingeh Tribal Lakes

While visiting these lakes, I was lucky enough to get a lifer bird! A Barrow’s Goldeneye!

Barrow’s Goldeneye – female

For Scarlett winter has a whole different meaning. To her it means fun, fun, fun!!! This picture is of her pulling on the snow shovel as I’m trying to shovel snow off the back patio. She made my task twice as difficult but I couldn’t deny her all that fun.

Miss Scarlett having fun attacking the snow shovel

	1nmbirder on Rocky Mountain National Park…
	kathydoremus on Rocky Mountain National Park…
	1nmbirder on Rocky Mountain National Park…
	kathydoremus on Rocky Mountain National Park…
	1nmbirder on Rocky Mountain National Park…

New Mexico Birder

Birding & Photography in New Mexico & the Southwest

Category Archives: lake

Rocky Mountain National Park – Day 1

A Weekend in Taos, New Mexico

Nutria Canyon Hike and the Ice Cave

Birding at San Angelo State Park and Bitter Lake Wildlife Refuge

Wonderful Spring Birding with a New Lifer Sighting

Birding in Southeastern Arizona – Day 3

52-Week Photo Challenge – Week 2 “Winter”