At Rio Grande Village, we immediately saw a pair of Vermillion Flycatchers, and got a nice photo of the female. We walked towards the Black Hawk nest just in time to see the raptor departing. It was a great area with Summer Tanagers, Ash-throated Flycatchers and Golden-fronted Woodpeckers all over the place.
We had lunch at a table and had a Turkey Vulture check out the garbage can right beside us. Then, a Golden-fronted Woodpecker started admiring itself in our car outside mirror.
Barbara spotted a Roadrunner, which came right up under our feet – too close for photography! Bill spotted another one with a snake.
In the heat of the day, we took a short hike at the campground to a pond. We were able to scope a Great Blue Heron for a young couple. There were several Bullfrogs calling, but few other birds.
On the way back, we stopped at the Hot Springs trail. The springs are right at the river, so we tested them out. We heard and saw a Canyon Wren, who did not want his picture taken. The cliff side had many Cave Swallow nests and native pictographs.
We briefly stopped, again, at Dugout Wells, but nothing was stirring in the heat.
We returned to our lodge for a beer and an earlier dinner. We met some birders who had seen a Hepatic Tanager outside their cottage. So, after dinner, we went for a walk in that direction. No sign of the Tanager, but we did see a female Varied Bunting. We continued our walk out onto the Window View Trail for our last sunset of the trip.
