Memorial Day Weekend

Began the weekend Friday morning first at the ponds between Tingley Beach and the Rio Grande, and while I did see the Green Heron by the water and a Snowy Egret way up in a cottonwood, both disappeared before I could get a picture; good to know they’re back for the summer. Pretty quiet that morning, but did spot one Cedar Waxwing,

a couple Blue Grosbeaks, heard the Black-headed Grosbeak singing away, and saw a single Western Grebe on the river.
Next was a visit to the nearby Botanic Garden, which doesn’t open until 9am, but I headed straight for the Japanese Garden to see if the Black-crowned Night Herons had returned, and yep, they did!

There were two of them, which I assume might mean a nesting pair, and did notice one favoring his left leg which seemed caught up in some old fishing line.
This morning, I met some delightful birders from England visiting the Rio Grande Nature Center, and traded a few stories and email addresses (both of which I’m sorry to say bounced, so if either of you happen onto this post, maybe you’d post a comment and we’ll try again). Off in the woods by myself, a Lewis’ Woodpecker flew over, which is quite rare for me, but other than that, either a Cattle or Snowy egret flew by, a Black-headed Grosbeak, White-breasted Nuthatch, and a pair of American Kestrels were all I saw (here’s a picture of one of the latter).

Meeting the British crew again by the pond viewing area, they pointed out a belted kingfisher (Yay! Don’t see them everyday!), a few Wood Ducks, Canada Geese, and of course, Black-chinned Hummingbirds.

Tanager Surprise

This morning’s mission to track down the Western Tanager was an unqualified success! Usually, I’ll only see one a two a season somewhere up on the mountain in tall pines, but took a chance this morning at the end of Romero Road in Corrales. A few spotted towhees and blue grosbeaks about, a downy woodpecker and a nuthatch, but whoa! Western Tanagers were just everywhere this morning. Easily 15 – 20 males and a few females, and even saw one dip into the levee for a drink. Finally, a decent picture of one.

Mid-May

The wind finally stopped blowing (kind of a New Mexico tradition in the spring), and spring migration appears to be in full bloom. Started this morning at the Tingley Beach ponds. Green Herons are back, as well as Summer Tanager, Blue Grosbeak, Black-headed Grosbeak, Yellow-breasted Chat, Red-winged Blackbirds, and a Spotted Sandpiper. Frogs are croaking, and there was even a muskrat cruising around. Mostly mallards, coots, and Canada Geese, but no Snowy Egrets just yet. Nice shot of some baby ducks (mallard?).

Then it was on to the Rio Grande Nature Center and the Aldo Leopold trail along the river. All week, western tanagers had been flying around at work, but security considerations inside the fence there prevented my taking pictures. The hunt was on, and sure enough, there were a couple along the river, but acting a little skittish and hard to photograph, but did get this one.

Quite a few warblers around this week, including a Black-throated Gray Warbler seen at Elena Gallegos last week, and Audubon’s, Yellow, and Wilson’s today at the Nature Center. Will keep working on better pictures of that Western Tanager.

Spring Migration

Excellent birding this morning at the Rio Grande Nature Center and then the Montano Bosque Loop (where there are confirmed sightings of nesting owls, but I didn’t find them). A group of us on the morning bird walk at the Nature Center saw Cinnamon, Green-winged, and Blue-winged Teal, Myrtle and Audubon’s Warblers, Hairy and Downy Woodpeckers, a Peregrine Falcon(!), the first Summer Tanager of the season, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Eastern Bluebird, a Roadrunner, Osprey, Turkey Vulture, Canada Geese (w/goslings), Black-chinned Hummingbirds, Kestrel, Swainson’s and Cooper’s Hawks, Killdeer, Pied-billed Grebe, Wood Ducks, Ash-throated Flycatcher, Say’s and Black Phoebes, White-breasted Nuthatch, and a number of other birds. Surprise of the day, however, was my first ever long-tailed Weasel.

It was already 11:00 am by the time I made it to the Montano site, so things were a little slow. Saw another porcupine sleeping in a tree and almost stepped on a Cooper’s Hawk that was perched right next to the trail; here’s his portrait.

Belen Birds

Finally a nice sunny morning after a few days of our usual spring mix of wind and rain, so I motored down to the Belen Marsh this morning after hearing of some of the birds that had been seen there recently. The rather small marsh is about 1/2 mile from the first I-25 exit on the right at the Taco Bell. Among the birds there this morning were Black-necked Stilts, American Avocets, Long-billed Dowitchers, Ruddy Ducks, Green-winged Teal, and Red-winged Blackbirds. Lighting wasn’t so great for pictures, but I did get a nice one of a Stilt.

Then it was on to the Whitfield Wildlife Conservation Area I’ve described before. A little quiet there today, although Western Meadowlarks were abundant, and there were a few coots, stilts, and kestrels about, and a red-tailed hawk circling above.
On the way home, I stopped by the Montano Bridge area again to see if the kingfisher was still at the pond in front of Bosque School, but as it was close to noon, few birds were active. Nice look at a Black Phoebe, an American Kestrel hunting from one of the cottonwoods, and another porcupine, although that guy was higher in the tree than the others I’ve seen.

Easter Special

Easter morning promised a delightful spring day with the temperature already near 60 at 8am, and about the nicest day so far this year.
Started off the morning near the Open Space Visitor Center, parking at the east end of Orilla one light south on Coors from the Visitor Center sign. Didn’t see the Lewis’ woodpecker that had been seen there earlier this week, but did see several kestrels, a wood duck, mallards, and a few others.
Next I went back to the area just south of Montano on the west side of the Rio Grande and tracked down another porcupine — now that I know what to look for, I’ve been seeing them just about every visit. The real treats of the day, however, were the Belted Kingfisher (only the second I’ve ever seen in Albuquerque) and a White-faced Ibis (the first for me in Albuquerque), both hanging out at the small pond outside the Bosque school.

Couldn’t have been more surprised seeing both of those birds in nearly the same spot. Oh, and there was a nice western bluebird.

Other birds seen included northern flicker, more kestrels, last week’s northern goshawk, black phoebes, Bewick’s wren, white-crowned sparrows, and a pair of common ravens.

Late March

Finally got back out there this weekend, and as expected, things were a little quiet as winter winds down and spring hasn’t quite sprung. The ponds at Tingley Beach had a few ducks and a couple of red-headed blackbirds had shown up. Here’s a shot of a couple of ring-necked ducks who were there.

Having seen a report of a burrowing owl at Bullhead Park, that was the next stop, but no luck on a rather cool and blustery day. There is a large prairie dog town just inside the Kirtland AFB fence is the southeast corner of the park where I’ve seen the owls before, so will have to stop by again.
By Sunday, the wind had finally stopped, and I spent a little time at one of my favorite spots, the west bank of the Rio Grande just south of Montano. Saw lots of mallards, a few wood ducks, a bluebird, flicker, chickadee, towhee, white-crowned sparrows, a nuthatch, and a northern goshawk. Oh, and now that I know what they look like, sure enough, another porcupine hanging out in a tree.

Thailand Pix!

Good news! I’ve waded through pictures from the Thailand trip and have now updated my travel page at http://www.sandianet.com/travel with a link to some of the pictures (and a couple of very short and very weak videos). Scroll on down to the bottom of that page and click on the Thailand link.
It still needs a little work, but was way easier than trying to text blog postings on that (way cool) tiny iTouch.

Doi Inthanon

Excellent 4 days at Doi Inthanon to wrap up a great trip, as I sit in the Bangkok airport awaiting that long flight home. All together, a total of 447 birds seen and another 23 heard, along with 3 kinds of monkeys, gibbons, mongoose, mouse-deer, muntjac, and sambar. Pictures soon!

Doi Lang

Two nights at Thaton River Chalet, with days up in the cool high country of Doi Lang. Some good pictures yesterday at a Myanmar border guard station with a feeder for birds. Back through Chiang Mai today on the way to Doi inthanon, highest mountain in Thailand sure to be a trip highlight.