Big Bend National Park, Day 1.

We made it into Big Bend National Park today, did some great hiking in the Chisos Mountains, and saw some amazing sights.

Here’s a pyrrhuloxia or desert cardinal (Cardinalis sinuatus), close cousin to the Northern cardinals we see in Estabrook.

Here’s a Say’s phoebe (Sayornis saya) on the hunt for dinner out on the desert north of the mountains.

Here’re a couple more picture from yesterday at Terlingue. First is a cactus wren (Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus) trying to hide.

Second is a loggerhead shrike (Lanius ludovicianus) on the hunt and not hiding from anyone.

Finally, here’s a butterfly from the Chisos Mountains like I’ve never seen before. It is aptly named the American snout or common snout butterfly (Libytheana carinenta), and is said to migrate sometimes in quantities “so huge as to darken the sky in places.”

That’s it for now. Tomorrow we’re supposed to take a Rio Grand boat trip, so maybe I’ll have some water birds to show you.