And then the object of my quest. Mexican Free-tailed Bats by the thousands!

On my first night there, I sat with everyone else in the amphitheater at the cave entrance and got to witness their incredible counterclockwise swirling emergence from the deep, up close, but photography is not allowed. So the next night I watched and photographed without a flash from the parking lot area.

They travel out in long wavering lines, heading south and southeast towards the Black and Pecos Rivers.

The Rangers I asked said there were maybe a half million, but no one was counting.

Crevice Spiny lizard, Carlsbad Caverns, Sept. 18, 2017

Emerging from the underworld, I spotted this band-tailed lizard on the rock wall above the cave entrance.

 And then another. This one about 8 -10 in. long

Sceloporus poinsettii up close.

Black River, and Carlsbad Caverns, Sept. 2017

 Black River, 9/18.

 Side-blotched lizard, Black R., 9/18.

 Carlsbad Cavern natural entrance, 9/18.

 Cave swallows nesting just inside the entrance, some fledglings of second brood still being fed, 9/18.

"Draperies" deep within the cavern, 9/18. A hushed world of fantastic formations.

Ready for the red birds? Rattlesnake Springs.

 A summer tanager singing as if its spring, 9/18.

 A little gem of a bird. A Vermilion flycatcher, 9/18.

And a juvenile Mississippi Kite, a real treat.

A visit to Rattlesnake Springs, a famous birding oasis just south of Carlsbad Caverns.

 Turkey vultures at their roost on their way south, 9/18.

 A wild turkey hoedown, 9/18.

Rattlesnake Springs.

A quick trip to the deep South, September 2017. Santa Fe to Carlsbad Caverns.

I've been putting off visiting Carlsbad Caverns for 42 years, so decided its time!

 Ospreys are on the move too! Clines Corners 9/17.

 Cool roadside art! N. of Roswell, 9/17.

 A Wilson's warbler stops in Roswell on way to the tropics, 9/17.

Sunrise on the plains(Llano Estacado), from my campsite, N. of White's City, 9/18. About 400 miles south of Santa Fe.