Someplace different: Taos, New Mexico

When you go on vacation after you've retired is it still called vacation?  Inquiring minds want to know. Maybe it should be termed adventures?  For Cindy's birthday we have escaped to Taos for 3-4 days so there may be a few posts from northern New Mexico.  We are roughing it. (NOT!)  Actually we are staying in one of the better hotels in Taos with a balcony that overlooks a treed area with spruce and aspens.  Just off of our balcony (within inches) are several spruces with black-billed magpie nests. The nest are rather large, not as big as a hawk or eagle but still they are good size. Walking around the property I've seen a dozen nests or more, all magpies.  The birds seem to be very smart.  When we checked in, the staff member assisting us described them as "cheeky." In the nests just off our balcony the black-billed magpies enter the nest from the other side of the tree, not visible to us. The birds are busy all day bringing insects and worms among other things to little ones in the nest.  I've been taking lots of photos but still haven't gotten the shot I would like, where you capture the iridescent blues and green on the their feathers, but there is still time. Below is a picture of the nest from the side facing our balcony.







Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Capturing birds in flight, a Cooper's hawk, and the process of working to get a 'tack' sharp photo

Image
  Capturing birds in flight like the Cooper's hawk above has been quite an adventure into photography for me. I'm not sure that the average person knows exactly how hard it is to capture a sharp image, but I can tell you it's more difficult than one would think. Initially starting out just shooting birds that were still, I always had the desire to capture birds in flight, the question is: how do you do it? Capturing flying birds has required me to watch quite a few youtube videos and read from a few birding books that I have, hoping that there would be an answer to this question. Having the right camera with the ability to shoot at unbelievably high shutter speeds is a start. My Sony Alpha 6400 seemingly has no end to how fast it can take pictures. However, shutter speed by itself is not the only factor. Something called the 'exposure triangle' is the key. I won't go too much further into this as it can take hours to explain, but these three components involve 1...
Read more

A Northern Goshawk

Image
Goshawks usually reside in the northern United States. When prey is scarce, though, they may be found well to the south of their normal range. A couple of days ago while walking through the open space, I passed by a tree where some birds were making a huge ruckus. I stopped, turned around, and tried to figure out what was causing the birds to be upset. I didn't see the goshawk right away; it was camouflaged almost perfectly against a thick tree branch. The goshawk didn't move, fly away, or alert me in anyway that it was there, but the birds sure knew. Finally I saw it, an eyas (juvenile hawk), which might explain why it didn't fly away, just not experienced yet. The goshawk was not huge by any standard and had beautiful feathers that it was seemingly shedding. Goshawks hunt their prey by putting on short bursts of amazingly fast flight, twisting among branches and crashing through thickets in the intensity of pursuit. They generally mate for life with females laying 2-4 egg...
Read more

A blue Grosbeak

Image
 I rarely see one of these beautiful birds. They are usually found in fields as was the case with this one. Males are blue with two brown wing bars. A mated pair of Grosbeaks usually raise two broods of nestings per year.They build their nests low in small trees, shrubs and tangles in vines. The oldest grosbeak on record was a male who was at least 7 years and two months old when he was captured and re released during banding operation in Virginia.  
Read more