BIRDING 101, THE LIFE & TIMES OF A BIRDER.
Day 140 – Another beautiful, clear night – the sky full of stars. This place could grow on you. 6:30 a.m., sunny, 38 degrees. The girls were quite the group of rambunctious kitties, running from one end of the RV to the other, and dragging along the toys that Ron, Sophie, & Maple gave them. Wee Haw!
We made an extra batch of coffee & headed out earlier than usual. Supposed to be warmer today, so we wanted to get a hike in AND do the wildlife drive during the morning rather than as the sun sets. We did the Auto Tour again at Cibola National Wildlife Refuge (it’s SO convenient to be camping just a few miles from the entrance to the Refuge), and it did not disappoint. Sometimes we get a fleeting glance at a particular bird, and then it becomes almost an obsession to get a good picture of it. (Like being in Africa and putting on your safari gear and going out into the wild to see the endangered forty-pronged rhinoceros in action, LOL. We know how for some people, this sounds totally ridiculous.) Anyway, there are a couple of birds we’ve been “stalking” and we were successful today.
The Sandhill Cranes: yes, we’ve gotten numerous great pictures. But they are known for the mating dance where they jump up and down and show off their physiques to attract a mate. (Who hasn’t done that? LOL.) Today’s pictures were the best. And still, the search goes on – we are heading for Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in New Mexico where the cranes are known to continue “the dance”.
The Ruby-Crowned Kinglet: we ran into a man near Lodi, CA who said you rarely have the opportunity to see the red spot on top of its head, let alone get a picture of it. Since then, we MUST get a really good shot of the red spot on the head of this bird, which Rob only captured previously fleetingly, LOL.
The Vermilion Flycatcher: the man-in-the-wheelchair said “he’d photographed the beautiful red-orange Vermilion Flycatchers on the Auto Tour”. The man-from-montana said “there were Vermilion Flycatchers up the wazoo at the Island Unit drive”. (We did not see any, let alone a wazoo.) Then that evening, one appeared miraculously at our campsite & instilled the primitive urge to see more, because we hadn’t brought the camera with us (duh) and it was too dark to get a good shot.
The Burrowing Owl: throughout the Auto Tour, and on some of the roads where automobiles are not permitted, piles of rocks are by the side of the road. Within these rocks, pipes have been laid where the Burrowing Owl will go to live & nest. (In the wild, prairie dogs dig holes and the owls go there, but because of the influx of people & farmland, new “provisions” have been made to accommodate the shy & illusive Burrowing Owl.) Every time we’ve driven through the Refuge we stop and stare at the pipe, rocks, and the perches which have been planted beside the alfalfa and corn fields. We’ve seen NOTHING.
See below for the results of this Auto Tour drive this morning. Both Rob & I feel good about finally knocking a few desired birds off our list!
Click any picture below to see a slideshow.
After completing this morning’s Auto Tour, we drove to the Corn Field Nature Trail, took the hike through the cottonwood trees to the Observation Platform over the Lake, and hiked back along the loop back to the car.
Click any picture below to see a slideshow.
We were hungry for breakfast and it was warming up, so we drove back to the RV and had a large batch of pancakes. What a great Sunday! Later I napped while Rob tried to upload his pictures – lousy connection today, but Gracie was ever-so helpful. Then we headed outside to the chairs overlooking the River. We love it here. But we have decided on a destination after studying information on other wildlife refuges in AZ. Tomorrow we leave for Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in NM. A more in-depth trip through Arizona will be planned for the future. We need to make some progress towards Missouri & Kentucky to see relatives and can’t spend all our time here.
We stayed out until after dark, the campers lit their fires, all was well. The high today was 72 degrees at least; it was supposed to be 80 degrees and it did feel warmer than 72. Definitely warmer tonight – in the 50’s. End of Week 20, Trip #3.
These photos are amazingly beautiful!!
Thanks Gail!
Great shots of the kestrel and cranes!