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| American Kestrel watches from up above. |
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| Western Kingbird welcomes visitors |
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The
Cibola Nature Center was very interesting........ There is a nice collection of bird eggs, bones and other exhibits that you will
want to check out in the nature center. I always start in the nature center first, pick up some info and ask the ranger or
volunteer working what they would recommend to see. The lady there that day suggested the "corn field" and gave
us a map. I must point out that we are visiting Cibola in August on our way to Tucson Arizona. I asked the lady about the
pictures I had seen on line of water and water birds and she said that Cibola doesn't keep the 40 acre pond flooded year
round. Best time to visit is mid-November through mid-February. Anyway, we headed off to the "corn field"
to check it out. We found it after struggling to figure out the small map that was given to us. As we entered the corn field
we were greeted by several swooping cliff swallows. I got my camera out and all was good with the world! We walked about 30
mins. and I knew we were in trouble. BUGS! I have never seen anything like it. Even on my trips to Costa Rica and Belize.
We were busy smacking ourselves, scratching our heads, jumping around, and swatting each other. It was hard to focus, but
I got a few pictures. We had a lot of laughs out in the corn field. After several hundred bug bites later, we left and continued
on our way to Tucson AZ. We did pass a lake and campground as we were heading out, but didn't see many birds. Only one
lone Egret. (See the picture at the bottom of the page.) We will have to try to visit Cibola again during a different time
of year. Lesson learned: Benadryl "itch stopping gel" helps, but I will carry Deet with me at all times.
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