Barrow's Goldeneyes, Rufous-crowned Sparrows, Sage Thrashers and More! 2/8/15 Santa Fe County, NM

This is my first post since returning from a month of birding in Ethiopia (much more on that fabulous trip soon!)

I've gone birding several times since returning from Africa and I need to catch up on those posts too, but this morning was extra special! We are having absurdly warm tempuratures in northern NM now. I won't launch into a rant on global warming, but this stuff is really scary. Instead of a ground cover of snow there are weeds!

ANYWAY, since it is so warm I was anxious to head out yesterday morning to see what was happening with birds over in the Rio Grande River gorge (there is a great stretch of riparian habitat along the river that is accessible here in Santa Fe County).

My first stop was at Diablo Canyon, which is not only spectacular in its rugged majesty, but hosts several rare or uncommon SFC birds. One of these is Rufous-crowned Sparrow which is a rare, but regular breeder. However, they are extremely rare winter residents in the canyon.

Normally you have to hike down into the steep steep canyon walls about a mile before you encounter the proper brushy habitat, so imagine my surprise when I litterally stumbled upon two of these cool birds before I even entered the canyon's entrance! Other interesting observations in the canyon include approximately 1,000 American Robins and a nice count of 13 Sage Thrashers.

Rufous-crowned Sparrow at Diablo Canyon 

Sage Thrasher at Diablo Canyon

The sun was rising fast and so was the tempurature so I thought I better head the relatively short distance to the river. I haven't been to the river in a while and I was overwhelmed at how wonderful the area looked. At one time the entire length of the river's edge was covered with garbage  and choked with invasive trees and plants. But now the USFS has cleaned it all up and removed all the trash invasive stuff; and not only that they have planted hundreds of native trees and shrubs! Awesome! Furthermore they have a trail head parking area and it is now impossible for anyone to go tearing around on ATVs, trucks, or dirt bikes.

So it is fitting that in this new pristine environment the first birds I spotted were these two magnificent Barrow's Goldeneyes!

Two Male Barrow's Goldeneye

There were lots of neat birds at the river today, including hermit thrushes, yellow-rumped warblers, ruby-crowned kinglets, cedar waxwings, and this fly-by immature bald eagle.

Immature Bald Eagle