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More from Rockhound State Park

Saturday, October 30th, 2010

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.

Posted in cactus wren, Deming, sparrow, spider, State, thrasher, woodpecker | 1 Comment »

Rockhound State Park

Saturday, October 23rd, 2010

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.

Posted in cactus wren, Deming, phoebe, rock wren, shrike, sparrow, State, sunset, thrasher | 1 Comment »

Elephant Butte Lake State Park

Monday, October 18th, 2010

Spent some time at Elephant Butte Lake State Park in their desert campground at the north end of the lake. The weather was great, high 70′s during the day, in the 50′s at night. The nights were beautiful, with so many stars visible.

Not a lot of birds near the campground, but large flocks of white pelicans fished in the lake, along with grebes. The fish were really jumping. The campground was not crowded. Most of the people there had come to fish and had boats.

One night saw a blackhawk type of helicopter circling the mountain in the background. It was eerie because you just saw a faint blue glow in the darkness. Knew it was a helicopter from it’s sound and had seen the blackhawk (type) helicopter earlier in the day. Did see a blinking light when it sped away really fast. The next morning a fighter jet circled the mountain once.

When I went to the post office to pick up my mail, saw the above dog in the driver’s seat with the car motor running. Had to get a picture. You just have to imagine the sound of the motor.

Posted in Airstream, dog, Elephant Butte, State, sunset | Comments Off

Villanueva State Park

Sunday, October 10th, 2010

Stayed at Villanueva  State Park around 40 miles from Las Vegas for a few days. It’s a lovely park in a riparian area along the Pecos River.

Above an adobe shelter at a campsite. A previous camper had left a rock sculpture.

Came upon a coyote fox while on a walk. Wish I had gotten a better picture, but it happened so fast and then it was gone. It did mark the spot where it had been.

A goldfinch. There were lots of birds in the area, but they moved so fast, and the trees gave such good cover, it was hard to get good pictures. Did see another canyon towhee.

A water well in the small village of Villanueva. Water is a valuable commodity in a lot of New Mexico. A wealthy developer wanted to build some expensive homes in Las Vegas but the case was taken to court because there is not enough water in the area to support more homes. There are regulations regarding water use in Las Vegas, including one against washing you car at home.

Below, some juvenile northern flickers raising a fuss.

Posted in fox, goldfinch, northern flicker, State, Villanueva | 1 Comment »

Las Vegas National Wildlife Refuge

Wednesday, October 6th, 2010

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).

Posted in American kestrel, hawk, Las Vegas, meadowlark, National, pelican, sparrow, State, thrasher | No Comments »

Highway 64 through Taos

Thursday, September 30th, 2010

Highway 64 starts a short distance from the El Vado Lake State Park and heads east through Taos to the town of Raton, near the border with Colorado. You go through Carson National Forest, with golden aspen trees this time of year. Then there is a stretch of desert before Taos, where people are building some interesting underground homes with decorative roofs. After Taos, you head back into the Carson National Forest. There follows the town of Eagle Nest, with Eagle Nest Lake State Park at 8,200 feet elevation. Cimarron Canyon is next, with it’s own state park and wildlife management area. You then drive through a dry grassland area to reach Raton.

This is just a beautiful drive. I took it in 2007 and managed to run out of gas in the Carson Forest. The first and only time (so far) I’ve had this happen, although there have been many close calls. In subsequent years, it has been either too early or too late in the year to travel to northern New Mexico by the time I reached the state. This year I may well stay in north-central New Mexico until it gets to cold.

Above, some healthy looking pronghorns near Raton. There were even some on undeveloped land in the city limits.

Cotton from cottonwood trees seen in Taos and Raton.

I stayed in a BLM campground in the Colorado River Gorge next to Taos one night. Saw the bird above, which I believe is a canyon towhee.

Stayed at Sugarite Canyon State Park near Raton for a few days. It is on a site that was a company built coal mining town in the first part of the 20th century. There are two reservoirs there that are popular fishing spots. The forest is made up of cottonwood, oak, and ponderosa pine trees.

Above, a black-capped chickadee. Below, while birdwatching came upon two mule deer. Turned around and let them have the trail.

Below, Carson National Forest at the start of the west end of Highway 64. Cattle graze in the cleared grass area.

Posted in Bureau of Land Management, chickadee, deer, elk, National, Raton, State, Taos, towhee | Comments Off

Bluebirds galore

Saturday, September 25th, 2010

I am in north central New Mexico at El Vado Lake State Park. During the week there were just 4 or 5 fellow campers, but over the weekend more arrived. The park is at 6,900 feet elevation next to a reservoir (“lake”). Have been pleased to have had a good internet connection while here. There are just villages nearby, no large towns, but they did a good job of stringing telephone lines out here.

Above is a yellow-bellied sapsucker. At times there were 3 or 4 of them in this one tree. Often they were checking in previously drilled holes, not drilling new ones. They have a unique song that helped me identify them.

The most abundant bird here, by far, are the bluebirds. They are mainly western bluebirds, but there seem to be some mountain bluebirds as well. Think the bottom picture is a juvenile bluebird.

Above, a flycatcher of some kind.

Below, some Canada geese, and their reflections, fly across the lake.

Posted in Chama, flycatcher, geese, sapsucker, State | Comments Off

Utah Rocks

Sunday, September 19th, 2010

Drove UT 191 through Monument Valley and Blanding, Utah. Monument Valley makes me think of Thelma and Louise. Know John Ford made a lot of western’s here too.

The village of Mexican Hat’s name is based on the rock formation on the left side of the picture. There is a rv park in town with great views and hookups.

Valley of the Gods. There is a dirt road that goes through it. Didn’t drive it this visit.

Gooseneck State Park near Mexican Hat. It is a viewpoint of the formation created by the San Juan River seen above. Morning would have been a better time to get a picture, but late afternoon had to do.

Took the time to visit Natural Bridges National Monument. It’s a beautiful park with a scenic drive that allows you to see it’s three rock bridges. The top picture above is of Sipapu Bridge. The picture below it is of Owachomo Bridge. It looks to be the most fragile one. My eyes showed my age, as it was hard for me to find Owachomo Bridge. Some young European tourists came up and found it right away.

There are trails through the park and a small campground (for small rv’s).

Utah 95, that goes by Natural Bridges National Monument, is a scenic byway. In the center of the top picture you see the where the highway goes through a long rocky ridge. The picture under it is the passage as you go through it on the way to the Monument.

Stayed at a campground in the Manti-LaSal National Forest above the town of Blanding. At 7,100 feet, in a juniper and pinyon pine forest, it was a lot cooler than Monument Valley and Mexican Hat. There were lots of birds too. Below is a scrub jay that just pulled some kind of treat from the pine tree, a pine nut? A large flock of pinyon jays flew through the campground in the late afternoon. They were too fast for me to get a picture.

The bottom picture is of a Clark’s nutcracker.

Posted in Blanding, Clark's nutcracker, jay, Monument Valley, National, State | Comments Off

Utah, Scenic Byway 12

Tuesday, September 7th, 2010

I drove through Idaho quickly because of severe weather warnings, including high winds and freezing temps. Ended up in the Salt Lake City, Utah area on the Friday of the Labor Day Weekend. It was in the high 90′s. Just stayed one night and then headed to the town of Torrey, Utah, near Capitol Reef National Park and the start (or end) of Utah’s Scenic Byway 12.

Picture above, near the town of Torrey.

View of Capitol Reef National Park from Highway 12. The weather started out nice in Torrey, but it quickly turned cloudy a little way down the road.

There are dense stands of aspen trees in the first part of route.

The highway wasn’t bad to drive. Drove in 3rd gear on the steep grades. There was only a short section where the right side of the road is eroding, and the left side is a mountainside, making the highway narrow.

Above, views near Escalante. I stayed one night at the State Park there.

Stopped for two different groups of female wild turkey’s crossing the highway.

Below, one of the rock tunnels near Red Canyon at the end (or start) of Highway 12. Next time I drive the route, want to make at least three stops to explore more, on the first, middle, and end sections.

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Posted in Escalante, National, State, Torrey, turkeys | Comments Off

Lake Walcott State Park

Wednesday, May 19th, 2010

On arriving at Lake Walcott State Park found lots of birds and millions of midges. Took a spot in the sun, away from the lake, where there were not so many midges. The next day it was windy, which seem to blow away most of the bugs.

Above, a Bullock’s oriole (top) and a yellow warbler (bottom). There were lots of warblers.

There were also lots of robins. I saw one robin’s nest with newly hatched chicks inside. Magpies were flying around searching for nests to plunder.

Black-headed grosbeak at a park employee’s bird feeder.

Birds seen but not pictured: swallows and kingbirds enjoying the bugs, cedar waxwings.

On the first day at the park, I braved the midges to walk near the lake which is stocked with fish. Large fish, as shown above, could be seen from the trail. Was amazed that there were so many midges they sounded like a swarm of bees

On leaving Lake Walcott passed by some white pelicans on the Snake River with snow seen on the mountains near Pocatello, Idaho.

Posted in grosbeak, oriole, pelican, robin, Rupert, State, yellow warbler | Comments Off

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