Living Desert Zoo & State Park

November 9, 2013




 I am sharing some critters from the Living Desert Zoo in Carlsbad, New Mexico. The Living Desert Zoo exhibits 40 species of native animals and hundreds of species of native plants. These are critters and plants native to the Chihuahuan Desert. There is 1.3 miles of trail, walk along seeing the wildlife, native plants, flowers and of course seeing the native wild birds.

It was in the Aviary, I saw my first Roadrunner. They are quick movers and kind of funny to watch. I did not count this captured bird as a lifer but later in the trip I started seeing the Roadrunners in the wild. I was really surprised to see a lot of House Sparrows in the Aviary.

I love the cute roadrunner and the  hare riding the armadillo?

 

The Roadrunner in the aviary.

Are these birds are native to New Mexico,  they look like they belong in Costa Rica. They are a cute couple. I do NOT  remember their name, I am guessing the Red-Crowned Parrot.

A display of the pretty native plants.

A Eurasian Collared Dove, not a native but I found it in one of the trees in the zoo.

Besides the zoo critters, I was seeing the wild birds in the zoo like the Yellow-rumped Warbler above.

A cool Mountain Lion seen at the zoo, I did get to see (no photo) a real wild mountain lion at the Bosque Del Apache NWR later in the week.

 

The Black Bear is another native animal seen in New Mexico..

The Great Horned Owl..

A beautiful butterfly on one of the native plants.

 

One of the many Red-Shafted Flickers I saw at the zoo and during the week.

Pretty sure this is another Townsend's Solitaire seen at the zoo.

This was one of the few lizards I saw during the vacation, I was expecting to see more.

The native plants at the zoo attracted many different butterflies and moths. I believe this one is a Sulfur..Clouded Yellow.

Another one of the pretties.  I have to find a website for native butterflies and moths of New Mexico. I hope you enjoyed the walk thru the zoo.

Thanks for stopping by and  I wish everyone a happy weekend.

 To see more beautiful photos and cute critters.

Please visit:  Favorite fotos Thanks to the gracious host Lydia of Where the Wild Things Were

Guadalupe Peak

I am linking up with NF Winged   and  Skywatch Friday 

I am linking up with Lydia of Where the Wild Things Were and the Favorite Fotos linky. Thanks Lydia for hosting the party.

On the 4th day of  our vacation we left Carlsbad, New Mexico, stopping at the Guadalupe Mountains National Park. We went on some short hikes and then headed back onto the road passing some of the pretty Guadalupe Mountain scenery.

My hubby teases me about my luck with weather on our vacations. I have rarely had bad weather or rainy weather during any of our PAST vacations. Seems my luck held true, nothing but blue skies were to be seen during our week away.

Guadalupe Peak and more pretty blue sky. It was weird for me to drive for so many miles and see the same mountain peak from almost as far back as Carlsbad. We did get different views of the peak.

While traveling around New Mexico and Texas, the Townsend's Solitaire was one of the birds popping out to be seen.

We saw lots of Chipping Sparrows, another one of the more common birds we saw all week.

I loved the view looking back at the Guadalupe Peak!

Salt Basin and Linda Lake...a few gulls flying away..the blue water and sky almost meet.

On the edge of Linda Lake, I want to guess and say this is a Least Sandpiper.. I will not mind if someone else disagree's with me.

Another look back at the Guadalupe Mountains from Linda Lake.


 Thanks for visiting my post and  blog and I always appreciate your comments.

  Happy Skywatching everyone!

To see more pretty skies from around the world please visit  Skywatch Friday
and to see more of the winged critters check out NF Winged

Thanks to Sylvia, Yogi  and Sandy for hosting Skywatch Friday! Thanks to Monica the host of NF Winged.   I wish everyone a safe and happy weekend.

Sage Thrasher

I am linking up with Wild Bird Wednesday and Nature Notes

Today's post is featuring the Sage Thrasher.  Even though I shared this thrasher on my post below I wanted to share more information on this bird. We found this Sage Thrasher along the Manzanita trail at the Guadalupe Mtns National Park.

The Sage Thrasher is a medium sized bird similar to the Mockingbird and Catbird. They are grey-brown on the upperparts and white with dark streaks on the underparts. They have a slim straight bill, yellow eyes and a long tail.

They mainly eat insects in the summer and berries, especially berries in the winter.

They breed in western North America from southern Canada to Arizona and New Mexico.

The Sage Thrasher was one of  my vacation lifers. Thanks for visiting and for the nice comments.

Join in and post your birdies and to see more beautiful and wonderful bird photos please visit:
 Stewart's Wild Bird Wednesday and Michelle's  Nature Notes.  Thanks to our host Michelle our host Stewart.  Happy Birding and have a wonderful week!

Guadalupe Mtns National Park

  I am linking up with Mosaic Monday and Our World Tuesday 

 During our New Mexico trip we continued on the National Park highway to the Guadalupe Mountains National Park in Texas.  We visited the Pine Springs Visitor center also stopped at the Frijole Ranch. As we hiked the Manzanita Spring trail of course I just had to look for birds along the way.

Various scenes from the Guadalupe Mountains National Park.

 Above on The Pinery trail exhibits describe the Chihuahuan desert vegetation.

At the Pine Spring visitor center we walked along the trail checking out the vegetation and the views of El Capitan (elev 8749).

The Sage Thrasher was a lifer for me..it was seen along the Manzanita trail near the Frijole Ranch. The trail is located behind the ranch house, the spring is a great desert watering hole for wildlife and a great birding location.

 Above the Red-shafted Flicker, Townsend's Solitaire and a couple of Chipping Sparrows.

The Frijole Ranch was owned by various people since 1876.  It has it's own school house, a springhouse, a cattle ranch, orchard. In 1966 the Hunter family sold the ranch to the National Park Service. Today the ranch museum is on the national register of historic sites.

The Red-shafted Flicker seemed to be a common bird, seen in many places during our trip.

As always, I hope you enjoy my post and thanks for visiting my blog. I always appreciate your comments.

Join in on the fun and for more wonderful photos please visit  Mosaic Monday and more
 from  Our World Tuesday

 Thanks to our host: Mary our host of Mosaic Monday and to the hosting group of Our World Tuesday: Arija, Gattina, Lady Fi, Sylvia, Sandy and Jennifer.  I wish everyone a happy week!

New Mexico Birds

November 2, 2013

Linking up Camera Critters and I'd-Rather-b-birdin  
I hope you are joining in and posting your birds and critters.

Congrats to Misty Dawn on her new baby girl! I wish the family all the best!

I am sharing more birds and critters from New Mexico and our visit to Carlsbad Caverns National Park.

A Carlsbad Caverns National Park lifer.. the Lark Bunting

On the road into the park.. I looked over at a cliff and saw this Big Horn Sheep, Barbary Sheep or Aoudad in a little cave. At first I thought they were Bighorn sheep but the long hair and horns seemed different. I decided to do more research on the net.

Another Carlsbad lifer ...the Canyon Towhee

This is the Rock Wren also seen during our visit to the Carlsbad Caverns.

Barbary Sheep or also known as Aoudad were introduced into Texas and the Guadalupe Mountains.  They are reddish to sandy brown in color. These goats are native to North Africa and are vulnerable due to loss of habitat or hunting. Their habitats are steep rocky mountains, they have been introduced into Texas, New Mexico and California.

As we looked up to the top of the cliff, more  Barbary Sheep walked up to the edge as if to check us out too. On the photo above you can see the shaggy hair at the throat. They graze on grasses, bushes and lichen.

I hope you enjoyed my New Mexico birds and the cool looking sheep.

Thanks for stopping by and  I wish everyone a happy weekend.

 To see more beautiful photos and cute critters

 please visit:  Camera Critters and I'd-Rather-B-Birdin. Thanks to the gracious hosts Misty Dawn of Camera Critters and to Anni of I'd Rather-B-birdin.