Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Carlsbad Caverns National Park: Rattlesnake Springs

Noelle has had some recent issues with sciatica due to her pregnancy. It can be painful for her to walk at times. We decided to do something that wouldn't require too much walking. With the cool temperatures and overcast skies, we decided to head over to Rattlesnake Springs to see if we could see some birds.

We arrived at around 10 am and quickly saw some interesting birds like summer tanagers and vermillion flycatchers.
Vermillion Flycatcher
The more we looked around the more birds we saw.
Birding Noelle
We made a list of over 20 species. Here is the list:
  • summer tanager
  • northern Cardinal
  • house finch
  • black-chinned hummingbird
  • mockingbird
  • lesser goldfinch
  • yellow-breasted chat
  • indigo bunting
  • mallard
  • chipping sparrow
  • vermillion flycatcher
  • ladder-backed woodpecker
  • painted bunting
  • white-winged dove
  • wild turkey
  • western kingbird
  • barn swallow
  • Lazuli bunting
  • blue grosbeak
  • turkey vulture
  • ash-throated flycatcher?
After walking around on our bird search we had a nice picnic lunch amongst the cottonwood trees.
Picnic Lunch
Besides birds we also saw a turtle in the pond
Noelle at Pond
and some wildflowers.
Prickly Poppy
Desert Prickly Poppy
Coneflower
Mexican hat
It was a great birding day as it was the first time I had seen many of these species including the painted bunting and the vermillion flycatcher. We'll have to head back there again to see what else we can see!      

1 comment:

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