Photo Gallery
Photos by Gavin Bieber unless otherwise noted
New Mexico in winter provides a wealth of hugely scenic habitats to explore, including the dry and rocky southern deserts…
…pinyon- and juniper-covered canyons…
…extensive riparian cottonwood forests along the Rio Grande (here with the Sandia Mountains in the background)…
…and native shortgrass prairie…
…dotted with ponds often containing hordes of Sandhill Cranes and Cackling and Canada Geese.
The uplands support many wintering raptors, such as this adult Ferruginous Hawk.
Photo: Dexter Johnston
Undoubtedly one of the highlights of the trip is our visit to Bosque Del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, where we’ll meet up with thousands of Sandhill Cranes…
…and Snow and Ross’s Geese as they wake up on their roosting ponds…
…and then fill the sky en route to the daily feeding areas.
Photo: Kathi McIvor
We may be lucky enough to witness one of the wintering Bald Eagles on a hunting expedition; this eagle has just captured an American Coot.
Photo: Dexter Johnston
We’ll also visit montane slopes clad in mixed conifer forests…
…which are often covered in a fairy-like sheen of ice after winter storms.
The birds are as varied as the habitats, and along the way we may be dazzled by a stunning male Mountain Bluebird…
…charmed by a diminutive Cackling Goose…
Photo: Dexter Johnston
…excited by a fast-moving Sage Thrasher…
…studied by an inquisitive Curve-billed Thrasher…
…stunned by the magnificence of a male Wood Duck…
Photo: Dexter Johnston
…or amused by an excitable Juniper Titmouse.
New Mexico is a great place to study wintering sparrows, such as this adult Gambel’s White-crowned Sparrow…
….or this very attractive Black-throated Sparrow.
Photo: Dexter Johnston
There is also always the possibility of encountering wintering rarities such as this young Harris’s Sparrow…
…or some of the less common montane finches like Pine Grosbeak.
We’ll also encounter several species of mammals. This Coyote probably finds the avian concentrations at Bosque as attractive as we do.