Birding the Rio Grande River at Buckman, Santa Fe County - March 14, 2015

I headed down to the Rio Grande River in Santa Fe County if for no other reason because this was my first Saturday off after 30 years working for Uncle Sam! The main reason, however, is because this has become an exceptional area to go birding. The USFS has done a marvelous job of cleaning it up and keeping everyone out except those that really respect what has been done here.

The birding was a bit slow, but the hike along the river was awesome. I was there about three hours and never saw a soul! Most of the waterfowl had moved out, but I did see a flock of BUFFLEHEADS, a few COMMON GOLDENEYES, numerous MALLARDS, and 2 AMERICAN WIGEONS.

Landbirds were tough to come by except for a couple hundred AMERICAN ROBINS and a small flock of CEDAR WAXWINGS.

This area is only going to get better and better as the native vegetion grows back and replaces the now removed exotic stuff.

Rio Grande River at Buckman

Riparian area along the Rio Grande in Santa Fe County and a few of the Siberian Elms that were girdled

My lonely car at the gate. This is a far cry from the dozens of off-road vehicles that plagued this area until recently.

One of the Cedar Waxwings at the Rio Grande in Santa Fe County