Part 2: New Bird, New Magnet, New Mexico

The next morning we took our time leaving the hotel.  With a temperature of 25 degrees there wasn’t any hurry. 

We arrived at the Rio Grande Nature Center State Park when they opened at 8:00 am. 

About one third of the Park grounds are open to the public. The remaining areas provide quieter habitat for wildlife.

The park is in Albuquerque at an elevation of 4,968’.  There is a $3 per car entrance fee. We saw a couple of birds right in the parking lot area. 

Northern Flicker (Red-shafted)

Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored) 

A couple of the constructed ponds have these nice viewing areas.

 

We were able to get great views without disturbing the wildlife.

Much of the pond surface was frozen, which gave the ducks a chance to walk around on the ice. Wood Ducks are considered by many to be the most attractive ducks in North America, and we agree!  The males are really spectacular, and the females are pretty cool in a more subdued way. 

Wood Duck - male

Wood Duck - pair

We saw some other attractive waterfowl as well. 

Ring-necked Duck

Mallard

The visitor center is very nice.  It contains interpretive exhibits about the plants, animals, geology, and hydrology of the Middle Rio Grande Bosque ecosystem.  There is a gift shop run by volunteers but they did not have magnets.

There is an observation room and lots of big windows overlooking the same three-acre pond that we could see from the outside viewing area.  

We walked around for about 3 hours before heading back to Sandia House.

The road up to Sandia Crest is quite curvy. 

We arrived around noon and the roads had been plowed and were in good condition. 

We paid our $3 fee and headed to the feeder. 

Sandia Ridge is to the right of Mark.  This is a beautiful area. 

So, did we finally see a Rosy-Finch?

Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch

Yes. We saw one individual of one of the three species. It was pretty disappointing to come all this way to only see one but we have tomorrow morning for another chance.

We did see a couple of other nice birds at this location. 

Dark-eyed Junco (Gray-headed variety)

Hairy Woodpecker

Mountain Chickadee

Even though it was quite cold the sun was shining and there was no wind today.  We stayed on the mountain for a couple of hours before heading back to town for lunch.

While researching things to do in this area, I came across information about a large rock sculpture of a diamondback rattlesnake.  Mark plugged the coordinates into the GPS and we headed out. 

The head is over 6 feet tall.

The body is 200 feet long 

The body is a hollow cylinder 

covered in beautiful rockwork. 

The “rattles” are large boulders.

We were surprised when we reached the end of the road and a second giant rattlesnake. 

Next time:  Are we successful in seeing more Rosy-Finches?  Stay tuned.