We're off on a great birding trip to south-central New Mexico. Our guides are the experienced and well respected Don Freiday and Pete Bacinski from New Jersey Audubon. Sharon and I are hoping to amass a good number of life-birds on this trip as it is our first venture into New Mexico. Day 1 found us beginning outside Albuquerque at Tres Pistoles Canyon. Almost immediately, we began checking off new species. Curve-billed thrashers, Western bluebirds, and a Townsend's solitaire were all in great view. From here, we ventured up into the Sandia Mountains and Sandia Crest, an elevation of over 10,000 feet. Our target birds were the Rosy-finches, but a crowd on the decks near the feeders spoiled our chances at these birds. A nearby flyover of a Sharp-shinned hawk and nice close views of two more life-birds, the Mountain chickadee and the Steller's Jay, were more than ample compensation for the missed finches. We plan to return to the mountain later in the trip and perhaps our luck will be able to photographed the finches at that time. We ended the day with a trip to the Rio Grande Nature Center and had great views of wood ducks, ruddies, common and hooded mergs, and more. After a successful day like this, what more could we ask for? Now it's off to Socorro and an early visit to Basque del Apache tomorrow.