Cibola NWR

 I am now at Oxbow Campground near Cibola NWR. Yesterday I went to the NWR with the plan of walking the Cornfield Nature Trail but it is closed! It is about a mile long loop thru cottonwoods that passes by a viewing deck overlooking a small pond usually filled with water fowl. I was disappointed but I drove the Goose Loop Auto Tour and still saw plenty of birds. There were 100's of Snow Geese, Canada Geese and Sandhill Cranes like the one below.

Today I headed over to the nearby Cibola Valley Nature Conservation Area. It is about 1 square mile of trees with several roads that cross thru. A great place to bird watch. I saw lots of different woodpeckers. This picture shows a Northern Flicker with a Gila Woodpecker just above it.

There were also Ladder-backed Woodpeckers

and Red-naped Sapsuckers.

One of my favorites shots is of a light western juvenile Red-tailed Hawk in flight.

It was an awesome morning. I will be going back there again in a couple days. Tomorrow I will go see if the Cornfield loop is open. There was no one a the NWR headquarters to ask about it and no one has submitted an ebird list for that location for 2 weeks. Hopefully it will reopen so I can walk it.