Traveling south and west from Alburquerque, NM we headed for Carlsbad Caverns National Park. Our first stop was at Rattlesnake Springs, a prime birding habitat due to the pond fed by an underground spring. We saw, Summer tanager, Scarlet tanager, Orchard oriole, Ladderbacked Woodpecker, Western Kingbird and a variety of other local birds. The next day we visited the Caverns, walking down into the mouth and hiking a little over a mile in length and a decent of 800 feet. We rode the elevator up.