A rare traveler in full regalia! Alamosa NWR is overwhelmingly dominated by Red-winged and Yellow-headed Blackbirds this time of year, which makes this Bobolink sighting so special.He’s probably just passing through — a lone male moving north, taking a quick break.

Wednesday's sunrise bathed fresh snow on peaks to the west in pink. And finally the sun brought out all of the visitors and residents at Monte Vista. There were a lot of yellow-headed blackbirds. Remember young campers at the hotel and 6 inches of snow at the sand dunes.

The female house finches became the stars of the show when I wanted to make a representative showing of birds in flight for Thursday's page. I used 9 photos from throughout the day, starting with the Northern flicker, We'd always remember how destructive he was to our roofs.

On Tuesday between 6 and 7 am, all three species of cottontails had visited, robins, grackles, blue jays, towhees, and a first, the juvenile towhee. Having 3,800 photos worked out OK. On Thursday I didn't wait long enough for the copy, so the pc deleted all of Wednesday's photos.

Alamosa NWR had just been flooded under an early May water release, likely permitted on the 1st. Reeds and grasses were still dormant and brown, and it was quiet. We loved the little frog sounds and calls of blackbirds. The sky was as clear as the rulings that filled the wetlands.

The tyrannosaurus raccoon returned the next night with that thing on his back, and we finally added the skunk to our visitor list. The squirrel was often seen sitting in the food dish, and the bunny started to do it too. I thought he picked up a new trick and was really enjoying it.

The raccoon finally discovered we hid bird seed under the bowl. The robins, grackles and blue jays were among the fairly-regulars. The red-winged blackbird had come before, but repeated visits throughout the day were a new thing. And I always loved watching the bunny chases.

The squirrel got up on the lunch table and peed in the guacamole dish, and I never forgot it. He's beautiful but he's always the spoiled brat that gets away with things. He's often a bully. I was thrilled when I got to watch the buildup and afterwards when he got to the 'find out' stage.

On the trip home, I wanted to try a time lapse setting on my "dash-mounted trail camera." I set it for every 15 seconds, and took 2,222 photos over the next five hours. It wasn't hard to sift through and find the trip highlights: fog and snow on the pass, wind turbines not moving.

On our last day, the sun came up moody and dramatic, then climbed into clouds. The sky was the biggest story as almost all the usual birds were in shadows. Then as we finished the loop, suddenly we had bright sun. We decided to go back around the loop, and I had enough energy.

Mary is in a care facility now, and Ron's glossectomy is also on our minds. I had three sleep starts, misfires in one night, so my energy took a major hit. But I enjoyed my rest while I looked through more than 2,000 photos of hungry critters. We know we are truly blessed people.

On our second time around the loop, the sun lit the iridescent feathers on the ibises. The marsh wren sang on the tallest reed, the white feathers on the Canada geese were also crisp and bright, and the night heron had emerged from deep in the reeds.

While we focused on the night heron deep in the reeds, I also watched the cinnamon teal and canvasback ducks nearby. And I caught glimpses of spring’s mating behaviors all around us. The dash-mounted trail cam quietly recorded beautiful wide open spaces bathed in golden sunlight.

Even more rain and less light on Tuesday, but we visited MVNWR and there were plenty of things to enjoy. The solitude, vibrant colors, and the reassurance that at least a few of the night herons and avocets had returned in the last month. As always, we enjoyed photos of blackbirds.

It was raining and we headed to Monte Vista NWR anyway. Our reward was our best day (for the variety of wildlife} in a long time. As we got to the refuge, the deer moved until they got a safe distance away and then they stayed there for a while and just watched us before disappearing.