Birds of the Bosque

Cindy and I went for a walk in the open space yesterday hoping to see one of the eagles, but they didn't get the email (or tweet). We saw plenty of downy woodpeckers, red-shafted northern flickers (woodpeckers), heron, geese and porcupines. Porcupines are sometimes called "porkies," or "quill pigs." Despite widespread rumors, porcupines cannot throw their quills. They reside in trees and primarily eat bark and fresh buds on the trees. In the wintertime they are rather easy to spot as the trees don't have much (if any) foliage, sort of looking like a well-manicured tumbleweed in a tree. If you don't know what to look for, you will never see them as they are camouflaged very well in the "v" of tree branches where they can wedge themselves to sleep. I've never seen them on the ground, but in the late morning you can usually see them moving about in the trees. Below are several photographs, a few from yesterday, and one from several months ago ...