Daybreak at María la Gorda (Photos by Narca) We set out for María la Gorda at the extreme western tip of Cuba. It’s an all-day drive, and our unflinching NMOS leader Dave Krueper (sustained by the whole gang) is not going to leave any Cattle … Continue readingCuba’s Far West
Recently Alan and I joined friends from New Mexico Ornithological Society for a humanitarian trip to Cuba. Our project was––of course!––a bird survey, done under the auspices of Caribbean Conservation Trust. Back in 2004 we made a similar trip with Western Field Ornithologists, and the … Continue readingHavana! Havana!
Years ago in the village of Alamos in Sonora, Mexico, Alan, Beth Russell and I stumbled across this Buff-collared Nightjar. (Maybe stumbled across isn’t quite right––we were out on that chilly night specifically to look for one!) The bird was nestled under a street lamp … Continue readingBuff-collared Nightjar / Field Sketching Workshop
Some places call us repeatedly to return. For most of my family Lake City, Colorado, is such a place, starting with our grandparents in the late 1940s. The ghost town of Carson, with timberline just above (Photos by Narca) Not too far from Lake City are … Continue readingCarson Ghost Town
This morning a small Western Diamondback rattlesnake meandered into the yard. We knew a snake was nearby from the turmoil among the thrashers, cardinals, and Black-throated Sparrows. Nothing else stimulates such a flashing of wings and intense glaring. A family of four Curve-billed Thrashers––both adults … Continue readingSchool for Thrashers
The fires raging in Colorado are reminding many of us of similar recent events on our home turf, and we feel great empathy for the current trauma there. Colorado was my home for many years during childhood, college years and young adulthood, and the scent … Continue readingGreat Sand Dunes National Park
Wow––6 trogons in South Fork this morning! My first glimpse was of a plump bird, breast on, perched on a creek boulder. That breast showed a big white crescent, framed above and below by dark, and my first thought was, surely not a Ring Ouzel! … Continue readingFledgling Trogons!
Gila Monster in Portal (Photos by Narca) Gila Monsters have been uncommonly common this season! This is the fourth for me: two in Guadalupe Canyon, and two here, close to Portal. Quite a treat!
…in South Fork! Elegant Trogon male (Photos by Narca) For one, you may glimpse an Elegant Trogon descending to the creek bottom for a drink. This male was hover-sipping from a rill of water spilling between boulders, just as he would hover before a tree … Continue readingAahh, the Benefits of Exercising…
Rick and Vicki Beno graciously invited the Portal-Rodeo community to their home to observe today’s transit of Venus, with the aid of Rick’s very fine telescopes. It was truly a marvel to see the phenomenon so well. From our perspective on Earth, Venus was transiting … Continue readingThe Transit of Venus