Summer Road Trip - Alamosa Nat'l Wildlife Refuge


Peter and I just returned from our summer road trip to the Great Sand Dune National Park in Colorado.   I'll be sharing some of the sites along the way in the next couple of blog posts and hope you enjoy them.

Alamosa Nat'l Wildlife Refuge(  https://www.fws.gov/refuge/Alamosa/about_the_refuge.html )
This is a wildlife refuge that covers 11,169 acres and has a mission to enhance the wetlands and desert habitats while providing protection for migratory birds.  It is located in the San Luis Valley in south central Colorado.


It wasn't until we drove into the visitor's center and followed the scenic trail that I realized what diverse habitat existed in this area.  The road followed the Rio Grande where we saw a Ruddy Duck in breeding plumage.  I love the male's blue beaks! 

Ruddy Duck in breeding plumage

At the visitor center there was a large milkweed plant that was different than the ones we have.  I did not see any Monarch butterflies but the bloom was lovely.

Milkweed
There was a pair of Brewer's Blackbirds building a nest.  I rarely get good pictures of black birds so I'm pretty happy having these.

female Brewer's Blackbird

Male Brewer's Blackbird


We also saw Yellow-headed Blackbirds and Red-winged Blackbirds!  Seems lots of birds like pass through this area!

Yellow-headed Blackbird
Red-winged Blackbird

2 White-faced Ibis in flight
On the way out of the refuge we saw these Ibis flying and I think they will somehow work into a design for jewelry!

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