Weekend Sangre de Christo Audubon Trip to Melrose Woods, Clovis, and Fort Sumner, NM - 9/27- 29/2013

Starting on Friday, September 27th, I led a group of hardy and eager birders from Santa Fe for a weekend of fabulous birding in eastern NM.  We birded our way down through the ag fields of southern Santa Fe County, down through Santa Rosa, and straight on over to the one and only Melrose Migrant Trap. This small area of cottonwoods stands out in the middle of a vast area of barren plains and attracts multitudes rarities. We didn't get a mega-rarity at Melrose, but enjoyed not one, but TWO Flammulated Owls.  

We birded long and hard each day hitting a multitude of areas in DeBaca, Roosevelt, and Curry Counties. It was a great weekend of birding and we were rewarded with lots of great views of some awesome birds.   

The List:                        

1. Gadwall - 1
2. American Wigeon - 40
3. Mallard - 49
4. Blue-winged Teal - 56
5. Cinnamon Teal - 2
6. Northern Shoveler - 44
7. Northern Pintail -  21
8. Green-winged teal - 203
9. Ruddy Duck - 57
10. Wild Turkey - 3
11. Pied-billed Grebe - 1
12. Eared Grebe - 6
13. Double-crested Cormorant - 4
14. Great Blue Heron - 1
15. Great Egret - 2
16. Black-crowned Night-Heron - 7
17. Turkey Vulture - 33
18. Osprey - 1
19. Sharp-shinned Hawk - 1
20. Cooper's Hawk - 3
21. Swainson's Hawk - 27
22. Red-tailed Hawk - 7
23. American Coot - 400
24. Killdeer - 30
25. Black-necked Stilt - 1
26. American Avocet - 52
27. Spotted Sandpiper - 2
28. Greater Yellowlegs - 13
29. Lesser Yellowlegs - 2
30. Long-billed Dowitcher - 4
31. Ring-billed Gull - 1
32. Rock Pigeon - 140
33. Eurasian Collared-Dove - 96
34. White-winged Dove - 1
35. Mourning Dove - 180
36. Flammulated Owl - 2
37. Burrowing Owl - 7
38. Common Poorwill - 2
39. Black-chinned Hummingbird - 2
40. Broad-tailed Hummingbird - 1
41. Red-headed Woodpecker - 2
42. Red-naped Sapsucker - 4
43. Ladder-backed Woodpecker - 3
44. Hairy Woodpecker - 1
45. Northern Flicker - 31
46. American Kestrel - 16
47. Merlin - 1
48. Peregrine Falcon - 3
49. Olive-sided Flycatcher - 2
50. Western Wood-Pewee - 12
51. Willow Flycatcher - 1
52. Hammond's Flycatcher - 2
53. Gray Flycatcher - 2
54. Dusky Flycatcher - 3
55. Cordilleran Flycatcher - 1
56. Say's Phoebe - 8
57. Vermilion Flycatcher - 1
58. Cassin's Kingbird - 11
59. Western Kingbird - 9
60. Scissor-tailed Flycatcher - 15
61. Loggerhead Shrike - 1
62. Plumbeous Vireo - 1
63. Pinyon Jay - 26
64. Blue Jay - 3
65. Western Scrub-Jay - 6
66. American Crow - 4
67. Chihuahuan Raven - 26
68. Common Raven - 26
69. Horned Lark - 9
70. Tree Swallow - 26
71. Violet-green Swallow - 4
72. Northern Rough-winged Swallow - 2
73. Bank Swallow - 1
74. Cliff Swallow - 20
75. Barn Swallow - 840
76. Juniper Titmouse - 1
77. Red-breasted Nuthatch - 4
78. Rock Wren - 4
79. House Wren - 1
80. Bewick's Wren - 1
81. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - 2
82. Golden-crowned Kinglet - 1
83. Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 20
84. Western Bluebird - 2
85. Townsend's Solitaire - 14
86. Hermit Thrush - 2
87. American Robin - 3
88. Sage Thrasher - 1
89. Curve-billed Thrasher - 3
90. European Starling - 71
91. Orange-crowned Warbler - 35
92. Common Yellowthroat - 1
93. Yellow Warbler - 2
94. Yellow-rumped Warbler - 68
95. Townsend's Warbler - 2
96. Wilson's Warbler - 28
97. Spotted Towhee - 1
98. Canyon Towhee - 2
99. Chipping Sparrow - 11
100. Clay-colored Sparrow - 1
101. Vesper Sparrow - 6
102. Lark Sparrow - 1
103. Lark Bunting - 1
104. Lincoln's Sparrow - 1
105. White-crowned Sparrow - 5
106. Western Tanager - 3
107. Lazuli Bunting - 3
108. Dickcissel - 1
109. Red-winged Blackbird - 53
110. Western Meadowlark - 1
111. Yellow-headed Blackbird - 56
112. Brewer's Blackbird - 1,425
113. Common Grackle - 9
114. Great-tailed Grackle - 345
115. Brown-headed Cowbird - 150
116. House Finch - 100
117. House Sparrow - 190