Ferruginous Hawk from Torrance County, NM - 10-29-14

Ferruginous are, in my opinion, one of the world's coolest hawks!

Ferruginous Hawk

Scaled Quail celebrating last day of October 2014

Got back from work today and was happy to see this male cottontop checking things out from the top of our courtyard wall. This was a really good year for the quail with at least two large broods from at least two pairs each. Predation, however, is extremely high as the babies are easy targets from coyotes, owls, hawks, and the assholes that let their cats run loose outside. That said it was still successful and there are still quite a few of the babies (now all grown up) left.

Adult male scaled quail

Sagebrush Sparrow, Barn Owl, Long-billed Curlews, longspurs, raptors and much more! 10-29-14 Torrance County

I posted the first county record of Dunlins in Torrance County, NM yesterday, but there was so much more!!

I spent several hours cruising the incredible farmlands of eastern Torrance County and had an amazing day. I've been hammering the ag fields of southern Santa Fe County, but I got spoiled yesterday because it was sooooo birdy!

Here are just a few of the highlights from yesterday: Ferruginous Hawk - 12, Red-tailed Hawk - 4, Prairie Falcon - 2, American Kestrel - 6, Loggerhead Shrike - 9, American Pipit - 8, McCown's Longspur - 9, Chestnut-collared Longspur - 30, Sandhill Crane - 1,150, Sagebrush Sparrow - 1, Wood Duck - 1, Long-billed Curlew - 14, Green-winged Teal - 5, Ruddy Duck - 6, Mountain Bluebird - 5, Curve-billed Thrasher - 2, Western Grebe - 2, Chihuahuan Raven - 24, Say's Phoebe - 1, Western Meadowlark - 47, Barn Owl - 1, Great-tailed Grackle - 2, and Brewer's Blackbird - 2.

Sagebrush Sparrow

Sandhill Cranes

Sandhill Cranes migrating

Prairie Falcon

Prairie Falcon

Dark morph Ferruginous Hawk

Dark morph Ferruginous Hawk

First record of Dunlin for Torrance County, NM - 10/29/14

Went to the salt lakes in Torrance County today which are called Laguna del Perro on a map. They are part of the Salt Mission Trail and are now only knee-buckling beautiful, but a great place to see odd birds!

Today was no exception with 14 Long-billed Curlews, a handful of puddle ducks, and these two Dunlins, the first record for the county!

Neat yard birds today including Pinyon Jays, Cassin's Finch, Pine Siskin, Mountain Chickadee and Canyon Towhee - 10-28-14

It was another warm day (for this time of year) in Santa Fe County, NM but the feeders remained active all day with a good mix of birds - 28 species total. It was hard to get any work done with the high level of activity continuing most of the day. Many of the yard birds have learned to come before sunrise to ensure they get in a first round of feeding because they know that right after the first sun rays hit the hordes of Pinyon Jays will move in! Today that was at 7:45 a.m. and 46 crazy and noisy jays took control of the yard.

Three fly-over Sandhill Cranes today were not only unexpected, but a new yard bird to boot - species number 107!

Other birds the parade include Red-shafted Flicker, Ladder-backed Woodpecker, Broad-tailed Hummingbird (really late), Pine Siskin, American Goldfinch, House and Cassin's Finch, Mountain Chickadee, Curve-billed Thrasher, Canyon and Spotted Towhee, Dark-eyed Junco (mostly pink-sided), White-crowned Sparrow, White-winged, Eurasian Collared, and Mourning Doves, and Common Raven.

Pine Siskin on New Mexico Sunflower

Dark-eyed (pink-sided) Junco

Part of the hourly invasion of Pinyon Jays

A regal male Pinyon Jay taking a break....sort of

Mountain Chickadee

Mountain Chickadee showing off that honking beak!

Canyon Towhee in his perfect element of soil and dead grasses

Female Cassin's Finch taking a moment to pose

Flashback Parasitic Jaeger and Scissor-tailed Flycatcher August 2014

Since winter will be here sooner or later here is a male Scissor-tailed Flycatcher hanging out along a farm field near Roswell (yes the UFO place), NM.

We were on our way back from Brantley Lake State Park where we saw this Parasitic Jaeger. One of just a few records for the state!

Male Scissor-tailed Flycatcher near Roswell, NM

Immature Parasitic Jaeger at Brantley Lake State Park near Carlsbad, NM - August 2014

Huge kettle of Swainson's Hawks coming to roost - October 2014

While driving home around 5:30 p.m. my wife and I were stunned to see Swainson's Hawks gathering from every direction and forming this large kettle of 200+ birds. They swirled around and came quite close to this very large row of trees where approximately 30 Turkey Vultures were already roosting. They never would quite land, but instead would gain altitude and then come back down and so on and so on. The kettle grew and grew just a couple hundred feet from the ground. Some of the birds were a mere 40 feet high! After observing this remarkable behavior for about 30 minutes suddenly, as if on cue, they all rose in unison and started to peel off in small groups as they hastily beat it to the southwest. I still can't figure out what they were doing. It was clear they were gathering, but how did they know where to meet and why so late in the afternoon! One more observation is that their crops were nearly bursting as they had been gorging themselves on some of the horde of millions of grasshoppers. When it was all over a solitary Swainson's remained atop a dead snag. I'm wondering if he or she was there from the beginning!

Part of large gathering of Swainson's Hawks near Estancia New Mexico - Torrance County

Williamson's Sapsucker in Manzano Mtns - October 2014

Lately I've started to explore the Manzano Mountains which are located east and south of Albuquerque, NM. They aren't as high as the nearby Sandias, and are a bit harder to access, but nonetheless offer some great alpine birding. This is the location of the only international hawk watch site in New Mexico.

On a recent visit I had Golden-crowned Kinglet, Brown Creeper, Wild Turkey, Red-breasted, White-breasted, and Pygmy Nuthatches, Stellar's Jay, Mountain Chickadee, Dark-eyed Junco (I missed the very lost Yellow-eyed Junco that was seen there recently), Yellow-rumped (Audubon's) Warbler, Pine Siskin, Evening Grosbeak, Townsend's Solitaire, Western Bluebird, Lincoln's Sparrow, Hermit Thrush, White-throated Swift, Merlin, and many more! I also was able to get a rather poor pic of this spectacular male Williamson's Sapsucker.

Male Williamson's Sapsucker

Huge flock of Long-billed Curlews!

For just a few moments I could fantasize that it was 1814 and not 2014 as I stood out on the prairie marveling at a flock of 300+ Long-billed Curlews flying by on their way south.  It was a pretty neat experience standing out on the prairie by myself listening to them call as they wheeled overhead.

Once a regular winter resident in northeast Florida sadly my friends back there say this has now become a rare bird. Well maybe my 300 birds would have been thousands 200 years ago, but just for a moment it was fun to watch them.

Part of a flock of 300+ Long-billed Curlews moving over the New Mexico Prairie near Estancia in Torrance County

Late Clay-colored Sparrow - southern Santa Fe County 10-23-14

Found this very late Clay-colored Sparrow in a hedgerow in southern Santa Fe County, NM the other day. It was hanging out with a large flock of Chipping Sparrows. Clay-colored Sparrows are very common migrants from August to September.

Clay-colored Sparrow

Female Cassin's Finch at feeder with House Finches

The Cassin's Finches continue to slowly increase in my yard which is great after an absence of over a year! Here is a female with a male and female House Finch. The streaks on the undersides of this bird are a bit heavier than most, which made me look twice. I'm always on the hunt for the super rare (in our area) Purple Finch.

Female Cassin's Finch with male and female House Finch - October 27, 2014

Pine Siskins increasing despite continuing record warm temperatures!

This pic of siskins on their thistle sock is remarkable mainly because of the apple tree in the background chock full of green leaves! In fact we picked three golden delicious apples today from what should be a leafless tree.

So hopefully the siskins, which are usually scarce in my yard, know something we don't. I hope it's that SNOW is on the way!

Pine Siskins

White-lined sphinx moth caterpillar (Hyles lineata) Qaurai Ruins

I was birding Qaurai Ruins (part of Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument) recently and noticed this interesting caterpillar. I don't know a whole lot about caterpillars, but this seems to be the larvae of the widespread white-lined sphinx moth (Hyles lineata). It was a bright warm day and there were quite a few caterpillars crossing over the walkway at this really cool National Park Service site. 

White-lined Sphinx Moth

Golden Eagle in Torrance County - 10/13/14

This rather bedraggled adult Golden Eagle was a nice surprise while birding at Quarai Ruins which is a unit of Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument.

Quarai is near the tiny village of Manzano and is a wonderful place to go birding. There are two trails that go through riparian habitat on either side of a creek. Huge cottonwoods and extensive understory attract a wide variety of nesting, migrating, and wintering species. Rarities show up on a regular basis including an ultra-rare Black-throated Green Warbler that I observed there a couple weeks ago. The site is also worth a visit to see the impressive ruins of the Spanish mission church and learn about the rich Pueblo culture that existed there for hundreds of years.

Golden Eagle - Qaurai Mission

Cassin's Finches showing up in Santa Fe County!

After being a no-show for well over a year Cassin's Finches are slowly starting to trickle in. This male is one of two that are frequenting the yard recently. I'm hoping for another invasion year like in the winter of 2010/11 when I had up to 50 in the yard every day! I found a female Cassin's the other day about 60 miles south of here in Torrance County, NM. There have been flocks of Evening Grosbeaks moving through and huge flocks of Pine Siskins.

I'll let you know!