Ross's Geese at Bosque del Apache

I finally made it through all the pictures from New Mexico last weekend and most of them are on my flickr page (here or link below).

Abert's Squirrel, Tres Pistolas

They weren’t all birds. We encountered this fascinating Abert’s Squirrel. Check out those ears!

Townsend's Solitaire

The last day I got lucky with this Townsend’s Solitaire sitting up. I didn’t notice the altitude on the trip until I became very aware that I was holding my breath whenever I took pictures, to steady the lens. I think I probably do this at sea level too, but not gasping for breath!

Black Rosy-Finch

A main focus of our trip was two visits to Sandia Peak, where all three subspecies of Rosy-Finches occur in the winter. Our incredible guide, Raymond Van Buskirk, has been banding these birds for seven years, to study the effects of climate change on the species.

Black Rosy-Finch

Here he’s showing off the beautiful color of a bird’s wing feathers.

Brown-Capped Rosy-Finch

There were several Brown Rosy-Finches too, but we only caught a glimpse of a Gray-Capped Rosy-Finch, the third subspecies… thus, no picture this time.

I can never really say goodbye to New Mexico. I’ll be back.