On our way out this morning to fill our fresh water tank and dump our other tanks, we came upon some pronghorns along the Empire Ranch Road.  Usually, they are much further away in the grassland making a photograph impossible.  Jim stopped the truck so I could scramble out for a quick shot.  They were not as skittish as usual and I was able to get some shots.  I still had to crop the photo significantly but happy to have finally captured them on “film.”

I’ve made a few new friends here on the ranch.  The birds that frequent Cottonwood Pond have become very familiar with me.  The Western Kingbird is ever present – perching on Mesquite branches surrounding the pond and occasionally on the shrubby vegetation along the shore.  I love watching them take off and hover in the air – catching insects, I presume – and then, returning to perch.

I’ve been trying to learn more bird songs and calls as well as identifying my feathered friends by their markings.  I feel challenged but it’s so rewarding!  I have a mobile app supported by the National Audubon Society that I use as a reference and it has been very helpful in conjunction with a Southwestern guide book.  The mobile app has bird calls and songs that I can listen to while in the field.  So much fun!

The National Audubon Society has a nice, short list of key attributes to pay attention to when trying to identify an unfamiliar bird. (And, many are unfamiliar to me unless it’s the obvious Robin, Bluebird, Cardinal, etc!!  You get the point!)

The Cornell Lab also has a short guide on how to start building your skills as a birder.  They list 4 key areas to focus on for visual identification with links from each to a detailed discussion of the skill.  They also offer online courses.

Some other birds I commonly see at the Cottonwood Pond include:  Red-winged Blackbirds, Wilson’s Warbler, Vermillion Flycatcher, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Western Meadowlark, Chipping Sparrow, Great Egret, Phainopepla, and Red-tailed Hawks.  Of course, ravens are also abundant.

Our evening walk to the Cottonwood Pond was very fruitful.  As I spend more time at the pond, I’ve become more attuned to the feathered friend population.  Our main objective this evening was to catch a glimpse of the red-tailed hawks that are nesting in the tall Cottonwood tree across from the pond.  We did not see any activity there tonight so we turned our attention to the pond.

I’ve been seeing flashes of yellow dashing and darting among the mesquite trees for days but the bird has not settled down long enough for me to get a closer look.  Tonight, I was rewarded!  I believe this is a Wilson’s Warbler – correct me if I’m wrong my birder friends!  He kept moving around in this mesquite and I had to try and get a shot through the dense branches.  So surprised this turned out as good as it did!

The egret I photographed a couple of weeks ago and, have not seen since, made a return visit tonight!  I managed to see him well before we reached the pond so I was able to sneak up on him and prevent spooking him.  Later in the evening when we returned to our campsite, we saw him fly overhead in the directions of the Empire Mountains.  I wonder where he was going?

We also watched the antics of a flock of female red-winged blackbirds.  (Again, I’m pretty sure I’ve identified them correctly)  They were perching in the mesquite along the pond and dropping down to the water to clean themselves and drink – then, returning to the trees to preen and dry.  They were very entertaining!!