More Rockhound, NM birds - it's nesting season!

These are birds I've photographed before, but I can't resist posting the new pictures from our stay here at Rockhound State Park.

First, the Scaled Quail - aren't they beautiful?

And here's the White-winged Dove again - they are so regal:

Even their eyelids are blue:

I think the little guy below is a Chipping Sparrow.  I've only gotten one photo of this bird:

And here's a male House Finch.  I see them everywhere I go, winter and summer, north and south, Arizona and New Mexico.  They must be very adaptable to lots of weather and terrains.  He's on the roof of the shade structure right over a nest that's on the inside corner.  Lots of birds pick this corner to land, then lean over to check out the nest.  Some will go into it, but I don't think there are any eggs yet, so I don't know who has actually claimed the nest real estate for this season. 

Next is another Cactus Wren - they seem to be the birds that go into the nest most often.

And right after the photo above, the Cactus Wren fluttered down and hung upside down for a second, then moved into the nest.

Here's a photo of the Gambel's Quail in our site.  It's fun having two different types of Quail in one campsite.  They act the same and scurry around the same, but they sure look different.  I was here about a week before the quail started coming around.  Gambel's Quail have the most amazing feathers - the colors and the way they are arranged are just amazing.  Both types have very elegant top feathers.

I think this little guy is a Black-throated Sparrow:

Here's a White-crowned Sparrow - he spent quite a bit of time with these little yellow flowers, eating a lot of them:

And finally, these photos are House Sparrows - there a lots of them here:

I always try to get photos of birds at all angles, especially new birds, including closeups of their beaks and eyes, since they are such good identifiers.  

There is another nest in the opposite corner of the shade structure roof, and it's getting quite a bit of action today.  Soon there will be eggs in both nests, I'm sure, and little families getting started.  I love being in New Mexico this time of year - all these southern State Parks have such wonderful bird activity to enjoy.

Those are all the bird photos I have - so far - who knows, maybe I'll find another new bird to check off in my Field Guide as I visit the various State Parks.

A big WELCOME to our latest Follower, Nancy Kissack!  Nancy recently retired and purchased an RV and is going to travel around the country with her two dogs - Cooper, a poodle, and Jessie, a Jack Russell - and a BIRD!  Jonathan is a Parrot; that's going to be fun.  I met a couple who had a parrot and they kept his cage outside during the good weather, and he had lots of company. Everyone who walked by stopped by to talk to him.  Nancy, I've been going back reading your past posts, and I'm really enjoying them.  She is expecting a package in the mail today - a new camera - I can't wait to see the photos she takes with it.  Visit Nancy's blog Kissack Adventures.  Thanks for coming along with me and Katie - Welcome Aboard, Nancy!  :)

From me and Katie, have a great Friday, everyone!!!

PS - Kennedy had her Launch Party for her new jewelry business last night.  I WISH I could have been there, I know Kennedy was so excited!  Hopefully Trish will get some good photos and I'll post them.  I sent her an e-mail order to be included with the sales Kennedy has at the party - if any of you are thinking of ordering a locket, chain or charms, please visit their Origami Owl website or e-mail Kennedy and Trish at touchedbycharms@aol.com.  If your order is included with the others from the party, your shipping will be less.    Below is one of the new charms - a hand-painted enamel vintage trailer.  I love it!  :)

Here's my NEW bird sighting, maybe two

I saw this bird in a leafless tree while Katie and I were walking.  I was sure this was a Northern Cardinal - I've never seen one before, and I snapped and snapped his photo until he flew away.  As I was putting the photos into this post, I did a second search through my field guides, and - well - I guess I've still never seen a straight-on Cardinal.  I was so sure, but now I believe this bird is a Pyrrhuloxia Cardinalis sinuatus.  I think this is a male because the guide says the female has a buff belly, and this guy has red on his stomach. 

Later I noticed one out the kitchen window and have seen some around the campsite.  I don't know why I didn't see any Cardinals when I was here last year, but it's sure fun to spot and photograph a NEW bird.

The photos taken in the sunshine turned out pretty well, but some of them were taken in the shade, and I tried to manipulate the colors to bring out the details.  They aren't that great, but I still like them, so here they all are:

So, birders out there, am I right in my identification?  Pyrrhuloxia?  A type of Cardinal? They look pretty similar except for their beaks.   And is he a male?  He's still a new bird for me.

Next is another set of photos of another new bird.  I just found them in my guide, and they are Lark Buntings.  If I'm right, the black and white bird is an adult breeding male, and the multicolored bird is a female.   They are all over the place here, and fly in flocks low over the cactus. A bunch will land on a cactus and then all fly away at once.  In the mornings I see large flocks of 40 or 50 birds almost looking like they are swarming across the landscape. 

They all look different, but I'm thinking they are molting or changing their look due to being in their breeding season?  Are these all the same bird?  Lark Bunting?  They all flock together like they are the same kind of bird.

And look who else we found, he was snacking on the greens:

It's been really windy here, on and off during the day and night.  The best part of the day is right before dusk.  By that time the temps are warm and the wind is gone so that's when Katie and I take our longest walk of the day.  We've had some beautiful sunsets.  He's the sunset from Saturday with the sun trying to shine through the clouds of dust and sand:

This morning we woke to a gorgeous morning, no wind and lots of birds in our site. 

Next time I'm going to post more birds. I guess it's that season.  There are so many different kinds of birds here, they've been keeping me pretty busy.  Yesterday I saw a large squirrel in the site, too, but I didn't have my camera handy. 

I hope some of you will leave me comments of confirmation on my IDs of these birds.  Or if I'm wrong, hopefully you can tell me the correct names.

From me and Katie, have a great Thursday, everyone!  :)

Rockhound State Park, New Mexico

After leaving Hot Springs on Sunday, we stopped 30 miles down the road toward Yuma - at Pilot Knob.  I've heard a lot about this LTVA, some good, some bad, and I wanted to check it out for myself.  It was sandy, large, and quiet, and there was lots of room to park away from other RVers.  There were many low bushes, but nothing tall to hang hummingbird feeders in.  Beautiful mountains nearby as you can see in the photo below.  I liked it.  There aren't really any campsite areas that I could see, but it worked for me - just drive until you're level and stop.  Put out a couple of chairs and you're "home."

Sunset at Pilot Knob our second night.

Katie and I left Pilot Knob on Tuesday morning on our way to New Mexico.  We stopped in Yuma to do some shopping at Wal-Mart.  Another stop was made at PetSmart to get some food for Katie and have her nails clipped.  Then on to Sam's Club.  I was not a member and wanted to check it out.  I belong to Costco, but I don't see many Costco stores when I'm on the road.  There are many more Sam's Clubs.  I decided to join Sam's and did a little shopping there and filled up the gas tank, too.

Then we took off toward New Mexico, and made it as far as Gila Bend, where I pulled over at a Love's gas station and parked in an end spot next to all the truckers.  I was too tired to drive further after walking around all the stores for hours.  Wednesday we hit the road again and drove for five hours, I think.  We passed the Continental Divide - I always like that, for some reason.

We finally arrived at Rockhound State Park in the afternoon.  I thought it was 3:30, but it was actually 4:30.  (All those time changes.)

There are only six dry camping sites, and just two were taken, so I had a good choice.  I decided on Site #4, which I haven't camped in before.

There was a BIG AWFUL THING that almost happened on Friday.  Super scary!  We had been here a couple of days and I wanted to get a different view and maybe get a little closer to level, so I moved The Palms.  I slowly turned The Palms and kept getting out and checking the corner of the shade structure that you can see in the photo.  I wanted to be parallel with that side, but didn't want to hit that corner.  As I was slowly driving forward I heard a scraping noise and got out and looked - the corner of the structure was right on the side of The Palms.

WOW!  That would have been really bad if I hadn't been driving really slow and immediately stopped at the sound.  I got back in and drove slowly backwards, got out and checked for holes in the side of The Palms.  Nope, only a slight colored line from the paint on the shade structure.  Needless to say, I moved out a bit and decided I'd better be happy with the current view.  Whew, that was a close one.  Can you imagine if I had punctured the side of the motor home?  I would not have been a happy camper.  Even thought I have duct tape I could have used to cover the hole - Beverly Hillbillies, anyone?  LOL

Anyway, when we arrived on Wednesday I pulled in, opened the door and was immediately bombarded with the sound of birds singing and the sight of birds everywhere.  Sitting on the cactus, flying alone and in flocks, scratching in the dirt - it was so welcoming.  I had forgotten about the birds here.  Here are some of them - this bird is a Cactus Wren - they sing a lot and are very photogenic!


The bird below landed on the side mirror and startled Katie, who was sitting up front in her car seat.  She didn't bark, but got very alert and watched the bird until it few away.  We've had a few land on the hood of the truck and come up around the windshield wipers and hang out.  They also land on the roof and sit on our antenna.

We also have Curved-bill thrashers:

and White-winged Doves with their "small black dash under their cheeks... bright red eyes and vivid blue eye rings," from my field guide. I don't remember noticing the blue eye-ring on these guys last year, isn't he beautiful?

And here's our beautiful sunset our first night here at Rockhound State Park:

It's always such a satisfying end to the day when we have a nice sunset. And guess what?  I saw another "first" bird - I'll post his photos next time.  I was pretty excited - and he's beautiful!

From me and Katie, have a great Monday, everybody!  :)