We are already on day four of my New Mexico adventure I went on this past July. I have not gotten to Philmont Scout Ranch yet to go hiking and am still at the retreat house in Albuquerque. So far I have seen 9 new bird putting my life list at 322. Now lets see what July 22nd had in store for me.
The birds were out and about and I quickly spotted a Ladder-backed Woodpecker (life bird 323, 10th of the trip) on a distant tree. The picture is terrible but does confirm the identification.
A Virginia's Warbler (life bird 324, 11th of the trip) was also nearby but didn't cooperate. Being in a new place like New Mexico is nice not only because you find new birds, it is that you are continually surrounded by birds you usually don't see back at home, like Say's Phoebes (first picture). While at the retreat house I was constantly seeing Lesser Goldfinches which were life birds just days before. I got a poor picture of one in the harsh sunlight of midday. The pictures I took starting yesterday were taken by my small Canon camera that
is not quite as nice as my other camera.We went to numerous sessions during the day but I did manage to see a flock of White-winged Doves (life bird 325, 12th of the trip) fly by while I was walking from one building to another. Later in the afternoon we had free time. I saw an Ash-throated Flycatcher (life bird 326, 13th of the trip) flycatching in the same tree that the woodpecker was in the morning.
A lizard was out running in the retreat house yard. Does anyone know what it is?
In tomorrow's post I am going to be at Philmont Scout Ranch for the first time and see lots of hummingbirds!
After the rest stop I saw my first Greater Roadrunner (life bird 319, 6th of the trip) sitting on a hillside south of Las Vegas, NM. Not long after we passed Santa Fe we made it into the city of Albuquerque. This was a foreign place to me. It was very "desertish" there and most of the houses were adobe style, nether of these things apply to where I live. We made it to a retreat house and were dropped off. Here we met with 60 other boys from across the country. We were all going on a "religious retreat" before we headed off to hike in the mountains. All of the boys were boy scouts and were chosen by their area "representatives" to go on this trip. The religious theme was carried throughout the trip. The retreat house had a great view of the Rio Grande River and of Sandia Crest, a mountainous area east of town.
The room I stayed in on the second and highest floor had a great view of the area shown in the picture above. Just down the hall from my room is a sun porch which gives you an unobstructed view of the city. I got my picture taken there in the evening.
There was a small yard there that had plenty of things to see including some roadrunners (first picture in post), Black-chinned Hummingbirds (life bird 320, 7th of the trip) Bushtits (life bird 321, 8th of the trip, pictured). A Rufous Hummingbird (life bird 322, 9th of the trip) buzzed by the retreat house.
Later that night my two friends and I were split up and put into different groups. There were seven groups overall. Mine had 10 boy scouts, a priest, and a seminarian. My group had people from California (2 people/one LA, one San Diego), Louisiana, New Jersey, Texas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, and Missouri. The priest (was in the Navy) was from Long Island, NY and the seminarian was from California (originally from Phoenix). My nickname came pretty quickly-it was no surprise that it was Birdman. Birds weren't the only things there to see, I also saw a Desert Cottontail (new for me) and some kind of beetle.
The snags (above) were in many spots along the river and they took a lot out of you (both physically and mentally) when you tried to navigate around them. In some spots you couldn't find a safe way to navigate around them meaning you would have to take the canoe out of the water and walk it along a sandbar to a place in the river without any. 
The most interesting thing I saw there was a Northern River Otter which was floating in the river below me when I was on top of a small cliff. I had never seen one before and was very excited to see this very neat animal. Eastern Chipmunks were fairly common there and we even got to see a Woodchuck. When the sun went down we even heard a Northern Raccoon. The owls there were also of note, with Barred and Great Horned being very numerous. They called starting just before sunset and on through the night.
The paddle on the second day was fairly easy especially compared to the day before making it a very enjoyable time. The river was also wider and deeper making it easier to navigate than the skinnier and shallower upper portions. The trip came to an end and we were glad we went and ended up having a great weekend The river is a place of beauty and wilderness not far from civilization that is well worth exploring. Wildlife abounded there and was found at every bend making for a truly awesome trip.
Day 1's post can be found at 
After Denver we made it to Colorado Springs where we had lunch. We were able to see Pikes Peak (below) from there and I was able to look for a few birds, but couldn't find many since we were right off the interstate at a restaurant. Black-billed Magpies and Common Ravens were numerous there but the harsh afternoon sunlight was not good for picture taking.
We finally made a stop at a place called Royal Gorge (below) in Canon City. The gorge is 1,000+ ft deep. Since we were only going to be there for about a half hour we just looked at what we could see from outside the gates because it was $24.00 per person to get in. 
A flyover Lesser Goldfinch there was life bird 315 for me and the second one of the trip. Cholla Cactus were fairly numerous and in bloom there. The second picture down is of a Rock Squirrel which seemed more fond of the trees than of the rocks. I had never seen one of those before (that goes for the cactus as well).
After that it was off to Raton, NM for the night. New Mexico was a new state for me.
Today's post was still kind of boring and I got no bird pictures. Tomorrow's post will be better, I promise (there will even be some bird photos). One last photo before I finish this post-I saw and photographed a rainbow from the interstate in Southern Colorado after an afternoon monsoon. Tomorrow it's off to Albuquerque (and more birds)!
A tiny tree frog was sitting on a dogwood leaf when I was there. Does anybody know what species it is? 
As I was headed out of Owego, I found and photographed a female Blue Grosbeak.
At one wetland I found this Painted Turtle laying on the side of the road. 
Ten Great Egrets as well as 6 Great Blue Herons were at that wetland as well. Despite a lot of searching I could not find a Snowy Egret, a bird I have been wanting to find this year. A Great Horned Owl flew from a rather treeless area along the road onto a pole out in the middle of the place in broad daylight. I got a picture of him as he sat there watching me.
The view of the wetland I just mentioned was very nice from atop a dike which had a road on it. This road overlooks the marsh and makes it easier to view the birds there. At a drier part of the wetland a field was covered in goldenrod and Big Bluestem grass which made for a nice picture. The Loess Hills are in the background.
The first real marsh bird that I saw outside of some Wood Ducks was a Sora that was right near a small pond. I saw it fly and then quickly run back into the weeds on the other side. I sneaked up on a small group of Blue-winged Teal and managed to get a photo of them before they flew. Besides a blade of grass in the way, the picture turned out nice.
After that I managed to sneak up on a Great Egret which let me get fairly close before it flew off.
The real surprise of the trip was a flock of four ibis (most likely white-faced) that flew over! I am glad that I was able to get a photo. I really liked the lighting and how they are all silhouetted in flight in the photo. I wonder if there is a Glossy in there....
