California & New Mexico Trip Report April 2005

By Paul Lynch

 I travelled to San Jose, California and Albuquerque, New Mexico on business for 12 days. I arrived on Sunday the 3rd and had 2 free days to bird. The first day I visited some sites I knew from previous trips and on the second I headed up to Point Reyes National Seashore. In New Mexico I again had a couple of days to bird, so on the first I headed to Bosque Del Apache and on the second visited some local sites. In total I saw 118 species in California and 95 in New Mexico.

April 4th. Started off in Stephens Creek park. Around the parking lot had Stellers Jay, Mourning Dove, Black Phoebe, Spotted Towhee, Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon form) and American Robin. Nearby along the trail I added Bushtit, Red-shouldered Hawk, California Towhee, Chestnut-backed Chickadee and a Wrentit washing itself on the dew on some leaves. The sound of calling California Quail brought me to an open area where I found the quail but they were very secretive and wouldn't pose for the camera. This area also had Northern-rough winged Swallow, Violet-green Swallow, Scrub Jay, Chipping Sparrow and Anna's Hummingbird. A Great Blue Heron flew over head. Back on the trail and got brief views of Hairy and Nuttals Woodpecker. An open area in the wood had singing Lincolns Sparrow and Bewicks Wren as well as an Acorn Woodpecker and a Black-tailed Deer that eyed me caously from nearby.

My next stop was at Palo Alto baylands. The duck pond had California, Ring-billed and Glaucous-winged Gull, Canada Goose, Mallard, Lesser Scaup, Ruddy Duck and Amreican Coot. Around the pond there was Golden and White- crowned Sparrow, Brown-headed Cowbird, Red-winged and Brewers Blackbird. Trees at the back of the pond had nesting Great and Snowy Egret as well as Black-crowned Night Heron. House Finch sang form the wardens garden as Anna's Hummingbirds buzzed around. The tide was low and the mud-flats had Willet, Marbled Godwit, Western Sandpipers, Black-bellied Plover, Long-billed Curlew and Long-billed Dowitcher. Had great views of American Avocet and Black-necked Stilt. Barn and Cliff Swallows were nesting under the eaves of the visitor centre and Song Sparrows sang in the marsh.. Finished of with Pintail, Canvasback and Western Gull.

Next onto Charleston Slough  where there was a lot more waterfowl. In addition to those seen at Palo Alto were Shoveler, Cinnamon Teal, Green-winged Teal, Gadwall and American Wigeon. Good numbers of waders including American Avocet and Black-necked Stilt and also a flock of White Pelicans. A Northern Harrier hunted over the reed beds and I got a brief view of an American Bittern.

My final stop of the day was at Alviso which also borders the south bay. More Avocets and Stilts here as well as my first Killdeer of the day. Around the education centre here was Northern Mockingbird, Mourning Dove, California Towhee and more sparrrows. A pair of Barn Owls peeped out of a nest box high in a tree. The ponds behind the centre held what I had been hoping to see, large numbers of Eared Grebe, many now in breeding plumage. Several Fosters Terns flew past and I found a couple of Greater Yellowlegs in the slough nearby. There were a few Tree Swallows and Western Meadowlark about also and a pale red-tailed Hawk perched on an electricity pylon. Marsh Wren and Pheasant were heard but not seen. Day total 80.

April 5th.An early start I headed to Point Reyes north of San Francisco. Many thanks to Leon Abrams for his directions and recommended route. My first stop was at Five Brooks pond, but before I got there I had seen Great & Snowy Egret, Marbled Godwit, Belted Kingfisher, Stellers Jay, Mourning Dove, American Crow and Band-tailed Pigeon. The small pond held a few Mallard, American Wigeon and a male Woodduck. There was Red-winged & Brewers Blackbird, Brown-headed Cowbird, Scrub Jay and House Finch. One tree along the trail had Wilsons Warbler, Warbling Vireo, Hutton's Vireo and Chestnut-backed Chickadee. There were several Allen's Hummingbirds and Tree Swallows hawked over the pond. I went looking for an Osprey nest that is in the area but there were no birds on the nest. I did get a brief glimpse of a Varied Thrush, as well as Acorn Woodpecker. In my way back to the car park I heard California Quail and this time they were more obliging in posing for the camera.

I then went to Bear valley where I picked up Turkey Vulture, Red-Tailed Hawk, Western Bluebird, Black Phoebe, Lincolns Sparrow and American Robin. I enquired at the centre about Snowy Plover at Limantour Beach but the warden had not had any reports of them yet this year. I headed there to see what I could find. Song Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow and American Goldfinch were singing in various locations, as were Marsh Wren and Common Yellowthroat around the pond on the left, giving brief views before disappearing again. An Osprey flew over before heading towards the lagoon and a female Northern Harrier rolled and dived over the marsh. in a display flight. From the beach there were lots of Surf Scoter on show (as they were everywhere else I went) and a few Common Loons. Several Raven and Turkey Vulture fed on a seal carcass on the beach. There was a large mixed flock of  waders feeding on the tide line, Dunlin, Western Sandpiper, Sanderling and Black-bellied Plover. As they moved on along the beach a movement nearby caught my eye, it was a pair of Snowy Plover which gave some good photo opportunities. I then tracked back along the lagoon adding Red-breasted Merganser, Double-crested Cormorant, Horned Grebe, Caspian Tern, Mallard, Gadwall Canada Goose, Greater Yellowlegs, Willet and Ring-billed Gull.

Then it was on to Chimney Rock picking up Red-winged, Tri-colored and Brewers Blackbird along the way. Here I saw both Pelagic and Brandt's Cormorant, Black Oystercatcher and Pigeon Guillemot. An extremely tame Savannah Sparrow fed its two newly fledged chicks within feet of me. In the sea were lots more Surf Scoter, Western Grebe, Red-Throated Loon, Lesser Scaup and Bufflehead. Elephant seals sunned themselves on the beach below.

I finally headed to Point Reyes Lighthouse picking up a Peregrine along the way. Thousands of Common Murre nest here below the lighthouse. On the way home I spotted a female Turkey on a roadside field near Olmeda and at Bolinas bay were Egrets, waders and Eared Grebe. Total species for the day was 85.

April 8th. Spent an hour at Sunnyvale Bayland park before heading to the airport. Birds here included Yellow-rumped Warbler, Bullocks Orile, Barn, Northern-rough winged and Cliff Swallow, House Finch, Red-tailed Hawk, Hermit Thrush and Western Meadowlark along with sparrows, blackbirds, ducks and waders. Flew on to Albuquerque in New Mexico arriving at my hotel at about midnight. 34 species. See List below.

April 9th. 5:30 start as I set off for Bosque Del Apache NWR about 90 miles south. Saw a few small flocks of Chihuahuan Raven on route as the sun started to rise. Spent about an hour birding around the reserve centre seeing Mourning & White-winged Dove, Starling, Red-winged Blackbird, Great-tailed Grackle, White-crowned Sparrow, Gambels Quail, Barn, Northern-rough winged and Cliff Swallow, House Finch, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Verdin, Northern Mockingbird and American Goldfinch. I then headed off on the auto trail stopping at the Marsh Deck just as a Peregrine flew over. A tree in the middle of the marsh had a nesting Great Blue Heron and the marsh itself had Shoveler, Gadwall, Snowy Egret and Kildeer. Next I went to the marsh boardwalk and Marsh trail. The ponds here had Lesser Scaup, Coot, Redhead, Clarks Grebe, Neotropic Cormorant, Mallard, Ruddy Duck, Green-winged Teal, Ring-necked Duck, Northern Harrier and Eared Grebe. The cliffs at the back of the trail had Rock Wren and Says Phoebe. I then went on to Rio Viejo trail seeing Pheasant and a Coyote on the way. This trail was fairly quiet but did have Black Phoebe, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Dark-eyed Junco and Chipping Sparrow. The River trail was also quiet as the wind started to pick up, though I did have a Bells Vireo at the head of the trail and a pair of Northern Flicker. A flock of White Pelican flew over head. By mid day it was very hot and windy and the birds were keeping a low profile. I did pick up a pair of Western Kingbird and on some more of the ponds had Double-crested Cormorant, White-faced Ibis, 2 Snow Geese, Cinnamon Teal, Bufflehead, American Wigeon and Great Egret. Phil Norton Observation Blind which boasted having great photo opportunities had no birds. At this stage I had covered all 12 miles of the auto route and was contemplation heading back as things had gone very quite. However I stuck it out for another couple of hours and as the wind died down a bit and some clouds started to cover the sun the birds started to reappear. I spotted 3 Wild Turkey running through the brush and Red-tailed Hawk and Turkey Vulture circled above. A small flock of birds in a tree near the Observation Blind turned out to be Waxwing and from the Flight Deck I managed to pick a couple of Blue-winged Teal out of the many duck there. The first hummingbird feeders of the season had been put out that morning and when I checked on them there was two male Black-chinned squabbling over them. One more loop of the auto trail produced my first American Kestrel of the trip, a couple of Ring-billed Gulls, a Swainson's Hawk , Savannah Sparrow, Common Raven, Coopers Hawk and a super male Yellow-headed Blackbird which was too close to photograph. Total species for the day was 72, Bell's Vireo and Verdin being life birds for me.

April 10th.Had arranged to meet local birder Rebecca Gracey, whom I had birded with before and we were going to check out some of Albuquerque local spots. Despite waking up to a cold morning with snow showers  we decided we would head out and hope for a break in the weather. I wasn't long coming as we started off at the Rio Grande Nature Centre. The first pond here had a good variety of wildfowl, Mallard, Ring-necked Duck, Ruddy Duck, Green-winged Teal, Lesser Scaup, Cinnamon Teal, Woodduck, Shoveler, Gadwall, Coot and nesting Canada Goose. The feeders near the centre had lots of White-crowned Sparrow as well as Mourning Dove and Red-winged Blackbird. In the trees we saw a pair of Northern Flicker and a Downy Woodpecker. No sign of the Western-screech Owl had been recently seen roosting in a tree cavity.

We then headed to Bosque area in Corrales. Here we saw Pine Siskin, a pair of American Kestrel, Spotted Towhee, Says Phoebe and Black-crowned Night Heron.

Next we headed for Cochiti Lake stopping along the way so Rebecca could find Black-billed Magpie for me (US tick). We then stopped at the foot of the dam where a pair of Osprey were nesting on an artificial platform. One bird was on the nest while the other fished in the nearby river. There were 100's of swallows hawking over the river and we picked out Northern-rough winged, Barn, Violet-green and Cliff. In the river itself were Bufflehead, Lesser Scaup, Common Merganser and a male Hooded Merganser. At the top of the dam White-throated Swift joined the swallows and a pair of Mountain Bluebird and some Chipping Sparrow perched in a tree. The lake had a few Coot and Clarks Grebe.

After lunch we went to the Petroglyph monument but heavy rain prevented us from birding here. Back at the Nature centre I added another Osprey and a Canvasback on the pond as well as Yellow-rumped Warbler, Black-capped Chickadee, Bewick's Wren, Great-tailed Grackle, Hermit Thrush and American G0ldfinch. Day total 54 species.

April 11th. Some free time in the afternoon so I headed op to the summit of the Sandias. Not very birdy but fantastic scenery with lots of snow. The few birds I did see included Steller's Jay, Mountain Chickadee, Pine Siskin and Dark-eyed Junco (Grey-headed form). I then returned to the Nature Centre (nothing new here) and the Petroglyph monument where I saw a Blue-grey Gnatcatcher, Rock Wren, Says Phoebe and Black-throated Sparrow. 36 species today.

So overall I saw 154 species, including 11 life, 3 US, 4 California and 13 New Mexico ticks. Many thanks again to Leon Abrams and Rebecca Gracey for their help. See full list below.

Reference: The North American Bird Guide, by David Sibley – Excellent reference.

Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society :-  http://www.scvas.org/index.shtml

Golden Gate Audubon Society :- http://birding.about.com/hobbies/birding/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://www.audubon.org/chapter/ca/goldengate/

Both clubs hold field trips on most weekends. Useful to check for good sites to visit (with directions).

County by county guide:- http://birding.about.com/hobbies/birding/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http%3A%2F%2Ffog.ccsf.cc.ca.us%2F%7Ejmorlan%2Fcounty.htm

South Bay birders unlimited:- http://www.stanford.edu/~kendric/birds/index.html

Where to watch birds in California:- http://birding.about.com/hobbies/birding/msub2-us-calif.htm  Good links to local clubs.

Marin Audubon :- http://www.marinaudubon.org/

Point Reyes Bird Observatory :- http://www.prbo.org/cms/index.php

Albuquerque Audubon :- http://www.peacocklaw.com/nmac/cnmas/

Bosque Del Apache :- http://www.hanksville.org/voyage/misc/bosque.html  &   http://www.friendsofthebosque.org/

Rio Grande Nature Centre :- http://www.rgnc.org/

New Mexico Birding :- http://www.interaktv.com/NM/NMBirding.html

New Mexico Birding :- http://www.camacdonald.com/birding/usnewmexico.htm

Species list for trip. Species seen in several locations are marked as common.

Life Birds    US Birds    State Birds