Ann and I decided to take off a couple of days and head to Roswell, New Mexico. We had read about Linda Rockwell’s visit to the Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge and had also read about it. We left early Monday morning and headed northwest. We had about 200 miles to the Texas/New Mexico state line, then about another 100 miles from there to Roswell. We were hoping to see some new wildlife along the way, because although we have lived in Texas for 50 years we had never made it to that area, the western part of the panhandle.
After hitting the state line, we headed west on highway 380. We were somewhat bored with the scenery. A lot of flat farming type of land, and nothing growing taller that six feet, or at least it felt like that anyway. About 45 mile east of Roswell we came upon a dead tree on the right side of the road, and in it was an adult Swainson’s Hawk sitting on a nest with a baby.
From there we continued on west. John English, a friend in Abilene had told me about a highway rest stop a few miles further on. We found it at about 40 miles east of Roswell. He said that it was like an oasis in the desert, and that was about right. There were a lot of birds there, mostly a lot of Western Kingbirds, but there were many others in the brush along a large chain fence. Unfortunately, a maintenance crew was busy working and they had a noisy generator going that was keeping the birds away. We did spot a gorgeous Western Tanager, but it was gone as fast as it arrived and I did not get a chance to get a photograph. John had also told me about a Burrowing Owl that he knew I could find in Clovis, New Mexico. Clovis was about 100 miles to the north. Apparently John didn’t get a chance to see the Burrowing Owls in Roswell that I told you about in my previous post. Sorry, John. On that note, here is an image that I got of two owl chicks that were sitting on one of the prairie dog mounds. I took if from quite a distance, so the quality isn’t real great. You saw my adult images in that previous post
We arrived in Roswell about 1:00PM, forgetting that we would gain an hour, traveling from the CST time zone into the MST zone. So actually, by Roswell’s clock we were there about noon. We didn’t want to try to check in to our room yet, so we investigated the Bottomless Lake State Park nearby. It was hot and dry there, as some of the little lakes there were empty from the drought. However, one large one was pretty neat. It had been improved to provide a large swimming area and visitor center. We didn’t loiter as we were just checking it out for later journeys.
We had reservations at the Enchanted Farm Retreat, a bed & breakfast in Roswell. It was at the edge of town, but felt like it was further away. Very quiet, a large pond surrounded by trees and shrubs contain lots of birds. Blackbirds, doves, robins, swallows, etc. Before I forget, it was Linda Rockwell, again, that recommended this lovely place. There was a large porch attached that ran all around the cottage on three sides. We ended up spending most of our late afternoons and evenings sitting out there watching birds and just relaxing. I might add that the relaxing was accompanied with a little “toddy” and a batch of nachos. 🙂
Susan and Michael Richardson, the people that owned and ran the place are indeed great people. Their service was top-notch. The refrigerator was well stocked with food so we were pretty well fixed up. On Wednesday, Michael did take Ann and I, and another friend of his, Steve Smith, on a little birding tour. I referred to that in my previous post. It was on that little tour that we saw, in addition to those Burrowing Owls, this Swainson’s Hawk.
But of course, I have been getting ahead of myself. Our main objective on the trip was to visit Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge.
We woke early on Tuesday morning, so we could get there early before it started getting too hot. It was only about 7 miles from town and we arrived there a little past 7:30AM. The visitors’ center was closed so we just started taking the driving tour. It is well marked and it is an approximate eight mile drive.
The first part of it was rather void of any avian wildlife to speak of. We saw a distant dead tree with a Great Horned Owl perched in the top of it. That tree was probably the tallest thing in the area. That is not meant as a derogatory remark. It is just the nature of the refuge. It is an area of marshy wetlands, that shelter many types of water birds, etc. However, most of the areas were pretty dry with no water. Upon visiting with the rangers later on, they told that they had drained a lot of the ponds to assist in the making of some satellite imagery. Why that was, they didn’t explain.
We eventually came upon some larger bodies of shallow water, and saw many species of water birds. Here are a few select images of some of them.
A few of the images were shot from a distance away, so the quality is a bit poor in them. The White Ibis, we found out, was an unusual sighting for the area, as was a Least Tern that was seen. So many of the species were so far away, it was only with a scope that we could see them clearly. By the way, click on any of the images to see much larger enlargements.
During the two full days that we spent in the area, we saw a total of 50 different species. Here is a complete list, if you are interested. We didn’t keep a count of each specie, but I will say that there was on one each of the White Ibis and Least Tern.
- Mississippi Kite
- Northern Mockingbird
- Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
- Western Kingbird
- Northern Cardinal
- Common Raven
- Turkey Vulture
- Chihuahuan Raven
- Swainson’s Hawk
- Western Tanager
- House Sparrow
- Greater Roadrunner
- Barn Swallow
- Red-winged Blackbird
- Black-chinned Hummingbird
- Eurasian Collared Dove
- Lesser Nighthawk
- House Finch
- Great Horned Owl
- Mourning Dove
- Lark Sparrow
- Western Meadowlark
- Blue Grosbeak
- Great Blue Heron
- Black-necked Stilt
- Killdeer
- White-faced Ibis
- White Ibis
- Black-crowned Night Heron
- Snowy Egrets
- Least Tern
- Snowy Plover
- American Avocet
- Blue-winged Teal
- Lesser Yellowlegs
- American Robin
- Burrowing Owl
- Purple Martin
- Black Phoebe
- Common Grackle
- White-winged Dove
- Scaled Quail
- American Kestrel
- Great-tailed Grackle
- Cave Swallow
- Bobwhite
- Gadwall
- Ruddy Duck
- Northern Shoveler
- Red-tailed Hawk
Thank you so much for sharing this great adventure and these beautiful shots with us!
Thank you very much for your kind words, and thank you for stopping by, Pierre.
Love this collection Bob. I’d be quite thrilled with the quality of all of those photos! The owl babies are adorable!
Thank you so much, Karen. I appreciate your compliments. I agree about those owl babies. I wish they had been closer.
Fantastic adventure, Bob, and awesome photos to prove it!
Many thanks, Donna, I appreciate it and you. 🙂
I love reading about your adventures Bob, sounds like you guys had a great time! Great shots as always and that is a heck of a list!
Thanks, David. As I told David (the Mogg), I enjoy writing them, too. 🙂
Great write-up Bob. Always like reading your adventure tales.
Thanks, Dave. I enjoy writing them as well. Happy 4th! Oops, maybe you don’t celebrate the 4th in Canada. I had never thought about that. 🙂
Nominated you for the Sunshine Award! Go here http://adriansphotoblog.wordpress.com/2012/07/02/nominated-sunshine-award/ for more info.
Thanks, Adrian. I appreciate the award. However, I don’t have the time to fulfil all the requirements. Perhaps at a later time. 🙂
I understand.
What a great variety of birds..love the barn owls. We do get the American Avocet in on our lakes here. I painted some a few years back and they are very interesting bird. All the photos were amazing..glad your trip was fun..we are leaving now to go out the woods for fire wood..its that time of year for us to stock pile 4 cords..have a great day..
Thanks, for your great comment. It’s hard to start thinking about firewood when the temps here are around 100. But you have to do what you have to do. 🙂
Great pics, Bob!
Thanks, Karen.
Great collection of photos from your trip Bob. That meadowlark has to be one of the best photos I have ever seen of one. Lovely shot.
Thank you very much, Northern. I certainly appreciate your comment and compliment. 🙂
Really enjoyed your account of your trip and your photos Bob. You got a nice variety of birds and it sounds like you had a great time. Glad to hear you’re still enjoying your toddys. I’m having one right now. Toast!
I’ll drink to that. Thanks, Ron. 🙂
A wonderful mixture of birds and a great story to go with them Bob. Your post and Linda’s posts on Bitter Lake make me want to go there… soon!
We’ll all meet you and Ron there. Thanks, Mia. 🙂
It sounds a little like many of my trips, the generator at the rest stop and the some of the ponds drained in the refuge. You got some great photos and it sounds like you had a good time though, and that’s what matters.
Oh, heck, we had a fantastic time. Saw lots of birds and got some decent photos. 🙂
Hi Bob. I’m happy that you enjoyed your trip to Roswell and to Bitter Lake. I went all the way through school in Roswell with Steve Smith. His parents and my parents were good friends, and we lived only a couple of blocks from each other. The Enchanted Farm Retreat is a lovely place to stay. You’ll have to go back in winter to see the Sandhill Cranes and Snow Geese.
Really enjoyed your photos of the area. 🙂
Thanks for the comment, Linda. Steve Smith is a great guy. We have been invited to go back for a birding event the third week of April. You probably know what it is all about, and we are marking it on our calendar.
Great work and research! Very cool stuff
Thanks, Joe, I appreciate your comment.
Hi Bob, enjoyed reading your blog and seeing the variety of birds today.That is a long list.We are having a triathalon next week in the city and the duck and geese population at the local pond where they are holding the swimming has dropped significantly I wonder how they move them along.
Thank you, Jane. I appreciate your great comment. 🙂
You are amazing and these photographs are so inspiring. We have a variety of Ibis in our paddocks but I’m not sure what kind. I will try to take a photo and send to you for identification! There are hundreds at the moment all around the whole district.
Thank you so much, for the great comment and compliment. I really appreciate it, Julia.
I haven’t been keeping up with commenting on your blog lately, but I do love it and your wonderful sense of humour, Bob! I think your blog was the first I ever subscribed to and it was such an eye-opener in terms of birds and blogging!
You had a good trip I see. Love the burrowing owls . Great photos. My Kids liked seeing the barn swallow – they have stuffed ones. Collectors of sorts.
Thanks, Martina. It was a fun trip. I’m glad the Kids like the swallow.
Nice pictures, seem like you had a great time! 🙂
Thanks, H.J.
When I was young, say 40 years ago, we would see roadrunners in that area. They’d race our car, running along the side of the road. They are probably endangered now….
I don’t know if they are endangered but there doesn’t seem to be as many as there used to be. Thanks for the comment, kdkh.