Black-throated sparrow at Hueco Tanks State Park in El Paso.

Say’s phoebe at Balmorhea State Park.

Saw single pyrrhuloxia at both Hueco Tanks and Balmorhea.

Canyon towhee at the Caverns of Sonora RV Park. Still surprised at all the canyon towhee’s and Say’s phoebe’s I have seen this year.

The rv park has some helmeted guineafowl with a female turkey as their leader. They go wherever the turkey goes. In the bottom picture, the turkey has jumped up onto a fence, and the guineafowl aren’t sure what to do.

Black-throated sparrow. These little guys are so cute.

Cactus wren going into and out of a nest. The nest is supported on three sides by the prickly pear cactus.  There are three cactus wren nests around my site. I read online that they build two nests, one for young ones and one for roosting.

Sage thrasher

Gila Ladder-backed woodpecker (thanks Jonathan)

Some birds seen but not pictured: a pair of orioles, not sure which kind; a pair of pyrruloxia, Gambel’s quail, & sandhill cranes. A flock of sandhill cranes flew overhead one day and the next morning I heard them. There is no body of water nearby, so I was a little worried about them.

Along with lots of birds in the area, there are lots of insects. The tarantula above walked through my campsite one day. Made sure to wear my heavy hiking shoes when sitting outside after that. Sitting next to a retaining wall, your eyes are level with the ground and you see all kinds of insects.

Below, a curved-billed thrasher. The light at sunset is so incredible here.

I first visited Rockhound State Park in 2007, when I first started traveling. At that time, they were having problems with rain water damaging their roads and campsites. They have 4 or 5 full-time residents here that have worked hard building retaining walls around venerable  campsites.  Now it is hard to get a site. The best sites are reservable and the few remaining ones are taken by people that stay a long time.

Curved-bill thrashers

Cactus wren

Black-throated sparrow

A loggerhead shrike. The first one I’ve seen outside of Texas. Deming, New Mexico is, of course, close to Texas and Mexico. The plants around the campground remind me very much of the Big Bend area of Texas.

A Say’s phoebe flying above a bush to catch insects (top).

A Say’s phoebe and a rock wren (bottom)

Rock wren

Sage thrasher

Prickly pear cactus grow all the way to the top of the mountain that the campground is situated against. Only the cactus in the campground, however, still have “pears” on them. Found that some kind of rodent, think a rock squirrel, ate one next to one of my truck tires. There was a scooped out pear next to the tire with red juice sprayed on it.

Visited Las Vegas National Wildlife Refuge in Las Vegas, New Mexico.

Above, two kestrals. The one in the top picture has blood on it’s feet.

Two meadowlarks. Think the second one is a young one.

Sage thrasher

Swainson’s hawk

Below: Saw some white pelicans soaring and gliding at the refuge one day. The next day a very large flock were near my campground at Storrie Lake State Park. Half of them were preening and the other half were in a very large fishing group working their way along the shoreline. Pelicans are not common in this area, so I assume this is a flock migrating south (like me).

Stayed at Bruneau Dunes State Park for a few days.

Part of the C.J. Strike Wildlife Management Area is just a mile down the road from the park. While walking down a path towards the Snake River and duck ponds, I heard a bird I could not identify or see. Finally, I looked above me to see a northern harrier who seemed upset by my presence. It started to dive bomb me. Most of my pictures did not turn out, because it was flying so fast the camera didn’t have time to focus (while I was simultaneously ducking). Luckily I got a few. Harriers often nest on the ground, so I assume it was protecting a nest. I retreated so as not to disturb it any more.

A bird so often heard, but not often seen, a meadowlark.

Below, lark sparrows near the campground.

Headed up the I-5 in Oregon and turned east on I-84 into the Columbia River Gorge. Immediately encountered strong winds that demonstrated the fact that the gorge acts as a tunnel for winds. Planned to stay at a state park near Portland, but that didn’t happen. Ended up at The Deschutes River State Recreation Area that I stayed at before just past The Dalles. Next time, for sure, I’ll stay near Portland and explore the forests and waterfalls in that area.

Above, the John Day Dam as seen from the Washington side of the river and wind turbines on the Washington side. They are going to get all the power they can get.

Part of a Google data center on the Columbia River in The Dalles. There are no signs identifying the complex as Google, but I got the address from searching on Google and a nearby business confirmed it. It is surrounded by a fence and there were several security patrols. The structure on the roof surrounds pipes.

A very large family of Canada geese at the campground. Had to watch where you stepped on the grass because of all the geese.

Lincoln sparrow, above, goldfinch below.

Drove inland 60 miles from Arroyo City to Alamo, before a three-day cold spell hit. I’m staying at the same rv park I stayed at last year, right next to the expressway. It is hard to find a nice and affordable place to stay in this area. I arrived in about 4 layers of  clothes, because a cold wind had been blowing when I hooked up that morning. The clerk at the rv park asked me if I was cold. It was in the 60′s here, with no cold wind, so I was able to remove 3 of the extraneous layers. In Arroyo City there was very poor internet coverage, so I’m thrilled with the great coverage in a regular city like Alamo.

Was pleasantly surprised on visiting Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge to see a number of birds. There were a large variety of birds in a small lake and marsh. I don’t recall seeing such a variety of birds intermingle before. There were white pelicans, roseate spoonbills, black-necked stilts, egrets, both great and snowy, white-faced ibis’, sandpipers and others. Wonder if it was because of the expected cold spell or maybe strong winds near the ocean pushed them inland. One pelican had a green tag with number 398 on it. So far, no luck in finding its’ origin.

Although it had often been cold since I arrived in South Texas, the three-days of hard freezes at night here in Alamo were the first time it has gotten down to freezing. You can see it damaged some tender plants. Workers were busy in a lot of farm fields harvesting crops before the freeze arrived. It appears to back to the 60′s in the day and 40′s at night now. Texas came out better than Florida.

White-faced ibis’

There were a pair of Altamira orioles eating something in the bark of trees…sap?

Green-tailed towhee An olive sparrow

Long-billed thrasher

Below, picture taken on a rainy day, several days after the others.

Top picture: broad-winged hawk

Bottom two pictures: crested caracara (the Mexican eagle).

House (top) and marsh (bottom) wrens. They are elusive, fast moving guys.

Swamp sparrow

Heron’s have to be the curmudgeons of the bird world.

Below, watched a group of white pelicans work their way along a shore, forming a circle to catch fish. They did this over and over, swimming a few feet, then forming the circle. Reminded me of an old dance movie.

Drove from Riverside to Cave Creek Regional Park above Phoenix, Arizona. When I got to Blythe it seemed to early to stop, so I continued on to the campground. It’s a very nice park with lots of birds. The weather was in the 90′s during the day, however, so I just stayed the one night.

Phainopepla

A black-throated sparrow

Blue-gray-gnatcatcher

Cactus wren

From Phoenix I went on to Cottonwood, Arizona and Dead Horse Ranch State Park. Cottonwood is around 10 degrees cooler than Phoenix. The park is very popular and people are coming and going all the time. It is not just a weekend park.

It is just the second time I’ve driven on the I-17 that connects the I-8 and I-40. It has a significant grade, but it’s worth it to get away from the heat of Southern Arizona.

Gambel’s quail

Canyon wren

A brown creeper