New Mexico Trip Report March 2006

By Paul Lynch

March 11th. 5:00 start as I set off for Bosque Del Apache NWR about 90 miles south. Saw a few small flocks of Chihuahuan Raven on route. Headed straight to the Flight Deck to look for Sandhill Cranes in the hope not all had left the first week of March. There was a single bird asleep out in the marsh. After a few minutes it woke up and flew off. It was the only Crane I saw all day. There were plenty of duck on the marsh including Mallard, Gadwall, Pintail, Shoveler, Green-winged Teal, Ruddy Duck and Bufflehead. Got some great views of a Juv. Red-tailed Hawk catching a rodent of some kind and feeding on it. The ponds near the centre had Long-billed Dowitcher, Killdeer and Avocet. Spent about an hour birding around the reserve centre seeing Mourning & White-winged Dove, Starling, Red-winged Blackbird, Great-tailed Grackle, White-crowned Sparrow, House Finch, Gambels Quail, Curve-billed Thrasher, Verdin, Spotted Towhee, Cliff Swallow and my first Pyrrhuloxia. I then headed off on the auto trail stopping at the marsh boardwalk and Marsh trail. The ponds here had Lesser Scaup, Coot, Redhead, Western Grebe,  Mallard, Ruddy Duck, Green-winged Teal, Ring-necked Duck, 4 Snow Geese, American Wigeon, Cinnamon Teal, Canvasback, Violet-green Swallow, Northern Harrier and Eared Grebe. The cliffs at the back of the trail had Rock Wren, White-crowned Sparrow, Brewers Sparrow, Black-throated Sparrow, Northern Flicker and Says Phoebe. I also added a dark phase Rough-legged Hawk and a Sage Thrasher.  By mid day it was very windy and the birds were keeping a low profile but I did see Western Meadowlark, Roadrunner, American Kestrel. Double-crested and Neotropic Cormorant, Snowy Egret, Black-crowned Night-Heron, Bewicks Wren, Turkey Vulture, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Savannah and Lincoln's Sparrow. Phil Norton Observation Blind had a flock of White Pelecan, Canada Goose and several duck species. Before I left I added Ring-billed Gulls, Common Raven, Sharp-shinned Hawk and a flock of American Pipits. Total species for the day was 72, Sandhill Crane, Sage Trasher, Brewers Sparrow, Rough-legged Hawk and Pyrrhuloxia all being life birds for me.

March 12th.Woke up to several inches of snow. Had arranged to meet local birder Rebecca Gracey, whom I had birded with before and we had planned to go to Sandia Crest to look for Rosy-finches. The roads were clear so headed to he Rio Grande Nature Centre to meet her. The ponds here had a good variety of wildfowl, Mallard, Ring-necked Duck, Green-winged Teal, Lesser Scaup, Woodduck, Shoveler, Gadwall, Coot, Canada Goose and there were two Sandhill Cranes in the field nearby. The feeders near the centre had lots of White-crowned Sparrow as well as Mourning Dove, House Finch, Downy Woodpecker, Red-winged Blackbird, Dark-eyed Junco, Coopers Hawk and a White-throated Sparrow.

We headed out for the Sandia's but when we got to the crest road realised would not be able to go up as the roads were still covered with snow. We abandoned the car and flagged down an SUV and hitched a ride to the top with some skiers. It was - 14 C,º, 8" of snow and 80mph winds. There were a group of  birders at the crest house to catch and band the finches but the winds were so high the birds were keeping a low profile and they soon gave up on the idea. I got brief  glimpses of a few Black Rosy Finches. The food and coffee is good up here. We got back down with the birders and decided to go twitching.  A rare Yellow Grosbeak  from Mexico had been discovered visiting a garden back in December. After a couple of weeks it moved and started visiting a birders back yard 9 miles away and was been seen daily.  We sat in the wind and cold for 90 minutes before it finally turned up. It fed at the feeder for 3 minutes before flying off again.

March 15th. Some free time in the afternoon so I headed back up to the summit of the Sandias. Not many Rosy-finches about but did see a few Black's. There were plenty of  Mountain Chickadee, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Dark-eyed Junco (Grey-headed form) and a few Steller's Jay. A Great Horned Owl flew across the road on my way back to the hotel.

March 16th. Decided to have another crack at the Rosy-finches before I got my flight so headed up early. This time was rewarded with great views of Black, Brown-capped and a few Grey-crowned Rosy-finches including one Hepburn's sub-species.

So overall I saw 91 species, including 9 life and 9 New Mexico ticks. Many thanks again to Rebecca Gracey for their help. See full list below.

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

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.

State Birds    Life Birds