Greetings from San Cristobal, NM. This week, sleepy bighorn sheep rams in the morning sun, birds in the garden, and the Rio Grande Gorge with Ute Mountain.
The Rams were shot on a photo tour at the gorge rim and weren’t inclined to do anything more than fall asleep or chew their cud!
There were eight rams in total, most were uncooperative regarding pictures. Still, I marveled at their primordial-looking selves. Those horns!
This week we’ve had Brown-headed Cowbirds return to the garden, male and female. See below for a full list of other species. And, the hummingbirds are back in numbers since we planted lots of colorful flowers and filled the feeders.
This beautiful House Finch showed up for a singsong yesterday evening.
Today the Merlin Bird App recorded and confirmed a Warbling Vireo on a Taos Ski Valley trail. Unfortunately, there is no picture.
It’s greening up everywhere, and the Rio Grande below appears more grand. The runoff in the mountains is building as temperatures warm up. Some stream crossings I’ve made in the last few weeks are beginning to spill over onto the trails.
Here’s the list of birds this week in the garden and neighborhood.
Brown-headed Cowbird
House Finch
Bullocks Oriole
Pine Siskin
Western Tanager
Violet Green Swallow
American Crow
Common Raven
Black-billed Magpie
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
Black-headed Grosbeak
House Sparrow
Evening Grosbeak
Broad-tailed Hummingbird
Spotted Towhee
Mountain Chickadee
Northern Flicker
House Wren
Berwicks Wren (according to the Merlin App)
Yellow-breasted Chat
Ash-throated Warbler
Canyon Towhee
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Mourning Dove
White-breasted Nuthatch
Song Sparrow.
As always, thank you for looking and all the support, comments, and compliments. Have a great week. G
8 thoughts on “Bighorn, Birds, Ute Mountain, Gorge. 06-05-2024”
Those rams do look a bit sleepy but it could be exhausting hauling around those massive horns all day.
That is an impressive list of birds. We have bluebirds, finches, doves and quail hanging around our house in Des Montes.
Thanks so much, Mary. Those horns keep getting more impressive. You should see the rams on Wheeler Peak. Thanks for the list of bird observations in your neighborhood. G
How fortunate indeed to be able to observe such a long list of birds 🤍
Thanks for sharing
M
It’s nice to live in the country. Still waiting on the return of the Blue Grosbeak. Thanks, Mara. G
Hi Geraint, We really enjoy your emails and the great photos. Your list of birds today is quite impressive.
Thank you so much, Jay. I really appreciate it. I did leave out the Woodhouse’s Scrub Jay. I hope you are well. G
Wow those horns and so many birds have you photos of them all somewhere? Thankyou
Thank you Alison. I love watching the ram lazy day meanderings and their sudden outburst of energy. I have pictures of many of the birds but sometimes I just watch them in the moment. I hope you’re well. G