New Mexico

So after a whirlwind trip through Oklahoma we pushed on westward through the top hat of Texas. We didn't stop much so I can't really add any birds but the drive was pretty cool. Historic route 66 was a magnet for us and we stopped a lot along the way. The best stop was at the Cadillacs in the dirt. These things have to have more paint on them than the New York subway walls in Brooklyn. The caddies were pretty neat to see, but some of the more memorable things at that location were the herd of cattle just hanging out a few feet from the cars. They seemed to watch the people walking across the field to the cars with curiosity, or maybe they just like the smell of spray paint. Everyone ( except me) had a can or five to paint their mark on the cars. The disgusting part is that every one of those people pretty much just chucks those cans and lids and bags out into the field. Some of them think it's funny to spray paint piles of cow crap too. It's was all kind of gross to me. Although I will say that fluorescent green and pink cow piles are easier to see than the natural variety which are like land mines in the field. We watched the pilgrimage of litterbugs for a while before I decided I had seen enough and we continued our west bound haul into New Mexico.
We stopped for the night outside of Albuquerque and got up early the next morning. We drove a short way back to the east and up to the top of Sandia Crest to the Sandia Crest House at over 10000 feet above sea level. A single tray feeder at the top of the world was empty when we
arrived. I was disappointed because I was hoping to see some life birds at this feeder. After
checking out the gift shop and buying a t shirt and some post cards I walked back over to the
windows. The wind outside was blasting out of the west and it was pretty cold. I saw some
movement in the trees and watched two gorgeous Stellars Jays come in and inspect the empty
feeder. A second later a small brownish bird appeared in the tree above the feeder. A single
brown capped rosy finch. One of my hoped for target birds. As I fumbled to get my camera out
of my pocket the bird dropped put of sight. Shit!
Not a minute later a flock of over 150 birds seemed to drop from the sky. They fluttered on the gusting wind and balanced on heavily swaying branches 12 feet in front of me. All three
rosy finches were in the flock. They landed on the deck and in trees all around the empty
feeder. I decided to try going outside to avoid the window glass for some pictures. Every bird
took to flight as I went outside but immediately returned and landed in a huge line on the
railing and in the trees below. After a few seconds I think they realized I didn't have the
food for them and took off again. I waited a little while longer and then decided to move on.
It was an amazing time up there and I hope to get back there sometime to spend more time.

On the way back down the mountain we found mountain chickadees and juncos galore. Robins were everywhere and a single Townsends Solitaire flitted from tree to to tree top. It was a great stop.