All but three of these photos were taken in and around the Orilla Verde Recreation Area of the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument, located upstream of Pilar, NM. The Racecourse stretch of the Rio Grande is immediately downstream of Pilar (bald eagle photo) and Embudo (merganser female and downy woodpecker photos), where my wife Kathy and myself live, is 10 miles downstream of Pilar. The herd of bighorns I most often photograph is found in the vicinity of Taos Junction Bridge (6 miles upstream of Pilar), and the road that climbs from the bridge to the western rim of the gorge. Today (2-23-17) was the first occasion that I saw nesting activity amongst the Canada geese, who prefer to nest on grassy islands. All of the ducks seen here are winter visitors. Photos were taken with a Nikon Coolpix P900 superzoom camera.
Belted kingfisher female, Orilla Verde Recreation Area
Downy woodpecker, Embudo
Canada geese, Orilla Verde Recreation Area
Canada goose pair taking up residence on an island in the Rio Grande
Another Canada goose pair taking up residence on an island in the Rio Grande
Bighorn ewe
Vallecito Mountain and Rio Grande Gorge
Basalt cliff, Rio Grande Gorge
Bighorn herd on the east side of the Rio Grande, in the canyon of Taos Creek
Bighorn ewe
Sculpted and polished boulders, Taos Creek
Bald eagle, Racecourse stretch
Bald eagles, Orilla Verde
Bald eagles, Orilla Verde
Bufflehead male with Goldeneye females
Gadwall
Goldeneye females
Goldeneye females
Merganser pair
Merganser female, Embudo
Frosted peaks. Pueblo Peak (right), Vallecito Mountain (left) and Rio Grande Gorge
Vallecito Mountain and Rio Grande Gorge
Bighorn ewe
Bighorn ewe
Bighorn ram – the one I call Mr. Tough Guy
Same bighorn ram
Bighorn rams
Coyote
BelieveSteve (StevenRichardMiller) 
Beautiful!
LikeLike
Thanks!
LikeLike