I had to travel to El Paso, TX and White Sands, NM for a work trip in late October, 2009. I took a few side trips to birdwatch during our off-time. I went to a couple of parks in the local area as well as the Bosque del Apache NWR a few hours north of Las Cruces, NM.

There are Oryx in and around the White Sands Misile Range (WSMR) reservation. These are large antelope-like animals. We saw this one right outside the WSMR gate on the afternoon of October 18th, 2009:

The night sky was incredible. The Milky Way was very bright, and the Andromeda Galaxy was visible to the naked eye. I took a photo of the night sky at night on my way home one evening. That galaxy is visible here in the top center of the photo.

I took two trips to the nearby Rio Bosque park in El Paso. This park was close enough to visit before starting work. I saw some nice birds there:

One of a group of Western Meadowlarks posed for pictures:

There were several Black Phoebes at the park:

More Black Phoebe photos here.

This Cooper's Hawk posed for pictures:

A Crissal Thrasher posed in a tree:

There was a group of Harris' Hawks flying around the park:

I saw a couple of Loggerhead Shrikes:

I saw the Oregon version of the Dark-eyed Junco:

A Peregrine falcon flew by:

There were many White-crowned Sparrows in the park:

I visited Hueco Tanks State Park on October 24th, 2009:

I saw my first Canyon Towhee there:

A Rock Wren posed on a rock:

This was my first Townsend's Warbler:

I also saw a Western Scrub Jay:

Finally, I went to Bosque del Apache NWR on October 25th, 2009:

A pair of Aplomado Falcons flew around one of their fields:

A group of Neotropic Cormorants rested on a log:

This place is famous for the many Sandhill Cranes that winter there. I saw a few of them:

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