One of my highlights while visiting Salineno and Falcon Dam/State Park was viewing the Rio Grande River—

This “Welcome to Mexico” sign and seeing Border Patrol vehicles accompanied our birding group experience on February 18.

Brown jays rarely fly out of Mexico – the only place they have been sited has been in Salineno – I was lucky to get this photo of the elusive brown jay.

brown jay

The golden-fronted woodpecker and ladder-backed woodpecker were also good finds.

ladder-backed woodpecker

golden-fronted woodpecker

Happy to have caught this red-winged blackbird in flight. 

Unlike the northern cardinal, the pyrrhuloxia (in the cardinal family) is grayer overall with rosy highlights and a yellow bill.

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February 21 - Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge in Alamo was my second sighting of a kingfisher—the first one I saw was a ringed kingfisher with a red belly; whereas this belted kingfisher has a white belly. Kingfishers are fun to watch because they patiently perch on branches and then plunge-dive headfirst to capture small fish.

Within this flock of northern white-breasted shovelers are white-breasted males.

I stayed on the trail...wouldn't you...?

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