I had never encountered so many dragonflies, both in sheer numbers and incredible variety. Birders speak of “hotspots”—places where birds tend to congregate. Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge, just outside of Roswell in southeastern New Mexico, is clearly a dragonfly hotspot.
Category: Vertebrates
August Quiz: Answer
To refresh your memory, here is the photo from August’s Bird Quiz. It was taken in Colorado during the month of October. Don’t read any further if you want one last chance to identify this bird. 
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August’s Bird Quiz
Can you identify this bird? The photo was taken in Colorado during the month of October. The answer will appear next week.
Birding Together
This past weekend, I discovered the joy of birding all over again. It all started with an email I received as Answerer-of-Emails for our Audubon chapter. It seemed that a group of retired missionaries was holding a reunion at a local conference center, and some of them wanted to go birding. Could we offer any advice?
I looked at the dates, then checked my calendar. Nothing vital was scheduled for that morning. So I wrote back and explained that sure, we could offer advice, but perhaps they would rather have a few local birders on hand to lead the trip?
Great Blog, Bug Eric!
Do you like arthropods? Do butterflies cheer you? Are dragonflies delightful? Do you want to know what that cool, metallic-bronze colored beetle is? Perhaps some pest is munching on your marigolds, and you want to learn more about it. Or, maybe spiders send you screaming. (I totally understand!) Would you enjoy reading an entertaining, scientific, yet easy to understand blog about all these topics—and more?
I’d like to introduce you to Eric Eaton, perhaps better known as Bug Eric.
Eric is the author of the Kenn Kaufmann Field Guide to Insects of North America, so you can tell he knows what he’s talking about. He’s an engaging writer. I love reading his posts. And happily for me, he and his wife, Heidi (who is also a fount of bug-related information), live here in town, so I get to directly benefit from his expertise (and patience with non-entomologists). You may remember that Eric and Heidi led June’s “Bugwatching” field trip that I enjoyed so much.
Carlsbad: Beyond the Cave
Rattlesnake Springs is an oasis in the middle of the desert. Located 27 miles south of Carlsbad, New Mexico, it’s owned by the Nature Conservancy. You can take in the entire place in one glance—a small pond surrounded by mowed grasses and some weeds. Further back some small trees and thick brush take advantage of the water. (There’s also a caretaker’s private residence, and some off-limits desert.)
Situated as it is at the juncture of the Sonoran and Chihuahuan deserts, the species list for spring migration is awe-inspiring. Unfortunately, we were there well past that season. Well, you go when you can.
July Quiz: Answer
To refresh your memory, here is the photo from July’s Bird Quiz. It was taken in Colorado during the month of May. Don’t read any further if you want one last chance to identify these birds.
July’s Bird Quiz
Can you identify these birds? The photo was taken in Colorado during the month of May. The answer will appear next week.
To See a Cave Swallow
When you want to see a Cave Swallow, the logical thing to do is head for a cave. Since I wanted to see a Cave Swallow very much, we decided to visit the granddaddy of all caves, Carlsbad Caverns National Park. At this time of year there are supposed to be lots of Cave Swallows nesting just inside the cave entrance. Besides, I’d visited there as a child, but Pete had never been.
National Wildlife (and people) Refuges
A few years back I wrote an article about the Duck Stamp, formerly known as the Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp. (I like “duck stamp” a lot better!) Hunters need to buy the stamp to hunt ducks, and the money goes to purchase and maintain ducky sorts of habitats, with lots of water, good cover, and nice slimy plants to munch. You may know these places as National Wildlife Refuges (NWRs).
