A lesser goldfinch does the splits while feeding on sunflower seeds. Lesser goldfinches occur from the intermountain west in the U.S. to northern South America. This individual is is part of the green-backed race, found mainly in the species' western range. Toward the eastern and southern parts of their geographic range lesser goldfinches have black backs.
Tags: lesser goldfinch Spinus psaltria Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge New Mexico
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A male phainopepla spreads its wings to help maintain its balance on a terminal cottonwood branch.
Phainopeplas belong to the mostly tropical/ sub-tropical family of silky flycatchers (Ptilogonatidae), and are the only species of that group to make it into the U.S. Their closest relatives are the waxwings. Despite the common name for their family, phainopeplas mostly eat fruit, and in particular mistletoe berries, and are a common dispersal mechanism for the plant parasite.
Phainopeplas can mimic the calls of other birds, including red-tailed hawks and northern flickers, which they use as distress calls, potentially to confuse predators.
Tags: Phainopepla Phainopepla nitens Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge New Mexico
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A look back on a backpack trip from last summer (2024) to the Missouri Lakes Basin in the Saguache Range, Colorado. Early morning sun hits the slopes of Savage Peak (13,134', 4003 m) above the relatively still waters of one of the Missouri Lakes. Clouds associated with the summer monsoon are already starting to build over the peaks.
Of particular note is the rock glacier on the left side. Rock glaciers are rock covered bodies of ice, or in some cases a combination of rock and ice mixed throughout. Like ice glaciers they move downhill, though their fronts may melt back faster than the uphill portion can replace the portion lost to melting. You can see the steep, unstable front of the rock glacier with the darker, brown colored debris, as well as several lobes near the front and on the right side. This rock glacier was likely part of the Little Ice Age that occurred between 1300 and 1850 CE.
Tags: Savage Peak Missouri Lakes Basin Saguache Range Colorado southern Rocky Mountains rock glacier alpine lake
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A northern pintail drake greets the rising sun with a series of wing flaps, warming up the flight muscles and drying off the primary feathers.
The number of northern pintails waxes and wanes annually at Bosque del Apache- this winter there were more than the previous year (personal observation). However like many avian species pintail numbers have declined precipitously in the past, with an estimated 75% decline in the global population since 1966.
Tags: Northern Pintail Anas acuta Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge New Mexico
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A rare visitor to New Mexico (third record ever) this American golden plover brought multiple birders to Bosque del Apache to get a view.
The species breeds in the Arctic, displaying striking plumage of black, white, and gold. American golden plovers overwinter in south central South America, with their duller plumage as seen here. The adults leave their nesting grounds when their young are only a few months old. The juveniles follow the adults south a month or more later, somehow knowing where they need to go.
Last of my shorebirds away from the sea shore series.
Tags: American golden plover Pluvialis dominica Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge New Mexico
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