This morning after breakfast we headed to the Cibola National Forest and Water Canyon. Parking on the side of the road we were surrounded by a variety of woodland species including another of the Dark-Eyed Junco races, this time of the Pink-Sided form.
We also saw a quite a few Acorn Woodpeckers, Red-Naped Sapsuckers, White-Breasted and Red-Breasted Nuthatches and a Townsend Solitaire.
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| Acorn Woodpecker |
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| White-Breasted Nuthatch |
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| Red-Naped Sapsucker |
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| Townsend's Solitair |
We moved further up the canyon and encountered our first Jays of the trip with Steller's and Western Scrub both being seen and also a fine male Williamson's Sapsucker.
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| Western Scrub Jay |
After some lunch at a roadside Subway, we headed to the Elephant Butte Reservoir, near Truth or Consequences. This is the largest reservoir in New Mexico and is good place to see both Clark's and Western Grebes.
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| Elephant Butte Reservoir |
The water level was pretty low and we watched a Coyote stalk a raft of around 2000+ Green-Winged Teal, making repeated vain attempts to creep up on them before giving up and wandering off. From our lofty vantage point we saw at least three other coyotes around the lake.
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| Coyote |
From a distance we saw our first Pelicans, with a group of four American White Pelicans at the far end of the reservoir. We made our way in that direction and parked at a marina from where we could see both Clark's and Western Grebes.
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| Clarks Grebe |
We also had a very obliging Rock Wren here.
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| Rock Wren |
We finished the day here and made our way to our next overnight stop at Truth or Consequences, this town was originally called Hot Springs, but changed its name in the 1950's after the radio show of the same name offered to broadcast live from the first town to change its name.
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