Today was a travelling day, from our base in Green Valley to our overnight stop at El Paso, a distance of around 330 miles – most of which was across the deserts of New Mexico. We did manage one birding stop, at the poo ponds at Willcox, which provided three new birds for the trip: Red-necked Phalarope, Cinnamon Teal and Bendire’s Thrasher. After arriving at our hotel in the late afternoon we had an abortive visit to a site close to the Rio Grande and the Mexican border but the access had been closed. We are now just one species short of our trip target, but still a long way to get back to Houston – 750 miles. Our route takes us away from the desert and up onto the Edwards Plateau, with the prospect of some very interesting birding still to come.