First Rio Arriba County, NM Record for Field Sparrow at Trout Stalker Ranch and Hundreds of Western Grebes at Heron Lake - April 19, 2015

I was really looking forward to heading up to Trout Stalker Ranch (Chama, NM) since I hadn't been there since the end of March.

The spring migration had been retarded by northerly winds and a low of 23 degrees F on Friday, the 17th, and then 4 inches of snow on the 18th didn't bode well for new arrivals.

However, undaunted, my friend Wyatt Eglehoff and I left my house near Santa Fe at 5 a.m. The plan was to head straight to the ranch, but with so many wonderful places to bird along the way that didn't exactly happen! We allowed ourselves about 30 minutes to do the loop between Tierra Amarilla and Los Ojos. This short detour off of Highway 84 goes west off on 531, down through La Puenta, along the Chama River on 340, and back to 84. It is a lovely drive through wet pastures and the riparian corridor of the river. The Eastern Bluebirds we had in this area back in March were nowhere to be seen. The birding was surprisingly slow so not much time was spent here. The most notable change were the first WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS I had seen in this part of the county.

We slowed briefly in Los Ojos to observe a small mixed flock of LESSER and AMERICAN GOLDFINCHES. Back on Highway 84 we made fast tracks to the ranch arriving at 7:45 a.m.

Things are greening up! The ranch was really beautiful with the snow and ice all melted and everything starting to get green. The weather was great too. The wind was basically calm and after reaching a low of 22 degrees F the temperature quickly rose into the 50s. The ponds were like mirrors reflecting the lovely surroundings.

Goose Lake at Trout Stalker Ranch

The ever present CANADA GEESE were honking loudly and many moms were already sitting on eggs! A large number of TREE SWALLOWS were shaking off the morning chill and waiting for insects to take flight. YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRDs are one of my favorites and several males were vying for territory and making their odd creaking calls from the ample cattails. Not to be outdone a few male GREAT-TAILED GRACKLES made their presence known too.

Goose on nest in stump!

Goose riding the rapids!

First Yellow-headed Blackbirds this spring!

Lots was happening all at once! A RED-TAILED HAWK was soaring nearby, SONG SPARROWS were seemingly everywhere, a flock of RING-NECKED DUCKS sailed across the pond, NORTHERN FLICKERS called and hammered endlessly in the nearby woods, and we flushed a WILSON'S SNIPE that used its perfect camouflage to completely disappear along the edge of the marsh not 30 feet away. 

Red-tailed Hawk

We headed over to the wetlands and woods on the southern part of the ranch and were rewarded with a SOLITARY SANDPIPER gobbling down lots of aquatic insects. A fully adorned breeding plumage COMMON YELLOWTHROAT uncharacteristically perched out in the open for over a minute. There were a few YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS in the woods (one of which was of the myrtle race). We stood next to the Chama River and were entertained by two AMERICAN DIPPERS chasing each other back and forth right in front of us. A bit later on we walked under one of the bridges over the river to observe their fascinating dome nest. I had watched the male make countless trips back in March to gather moss for the nest. The finished product is an amazing sphere of vegetation and mud with a single opening just big enough for one of the adults to come and go. It's pretty big too, about half the size of a basketball I'd say. We spotted a few more birds in our foray into this fascinating part of the ranch including two RED-NAPED SAPSUCKERS, a couple LINCOLN'S SPARROWS, a WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH, and a few WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS.

Dipper gathering moss back in March

The results of the dippers hard work!

 We drove north along the main ranch road enjoying the rapidly greening meadows that were gleaming white with snow just a short while ago! We were just about to check the pond next to the cabin when a small flock of sparrows feeding along the edge of the pasture caught our eye. We followed them down the road leading along the fence line and were happy to find that there were both SAVANNAH and VESPER SPARROWS. We kept following them in the car until they settled in a large bush along side the road. We were scanning them over when I was stunned to see a FIELD SPARROW! I couldn't believe it! Wyatt got on it and we managed to get some good looks. I knew that since this rare sparrow (anywhere in NM) would need better documentation I got out and chased the flock until I was able to get a few poor, but identifiable pics. We both couldn't believe what we had just seen. Wyatt did some quick checking and announced that this was the first Rio Arriba County record and one of only a few records from all of northern NM! Trout Stalker Ranch is an amazing place and I can't wait to see what rarity shows up next!

First record for Field Sparrow in Rio Arriba County

Field Sparrow showing rust smudge behind eye on gray face, small pink bill, small white eye-ring, long dark tail, and rusty cap. 

Right then Greg Friday (the ranch manager) drove up to say hey. We were still giddy over the sparrow, but slowly calmed down. Greg had mentioned that he had spotted a Golden Eagle recently in this area so I was keeping an eye out. Amazingly a few minutes later I spotted a pair of GOLDEN EAGLES soaring over the ranch. What an awesome morning! After a nice visit with Greg (as always) we pushed off and finally made our way over to the cabin pond. Four female HOODED MERGANSERS were hiding in vegetation in the far corner of the pond. As we got closer they begrudgingly moved further away giving us good views. 

Our final stop was in the woods next to the Chama River towards the northeast corner of the ranch. It was really quiet and there were few birds, but we didn't mind as it had been a spectacular morning on the ranch. We ended up easily topping our previous high number of species seen in one morning observing 52. Not only that we added an impressive 14 species to the ranch's list bringing it to the nice round number of 80! Check out the list at the bottom of this post.

After the obligatory stop at the Chama Subway with its huge space and convenient WiFi we decided it was time to head on over to Heron Lake State Park to look for waterbirds.

By the time we got to Heron Lake it was really windy. Well it's spring in NM so that is no surprise, but nonetheless it doesn't exactly enhance birding.

Heron Lake taken from road across dam

We were headed to the La Laja boat ramp, our favorite spot to observe birds on Heron, when I noticed that the camp grounds were finally open for the season. I pulled into the Salmon Run Campground and we decided to hike down to a bluff that gave us a commanding view of the lake. For the next hour we scoped over the lake

The lake was full of birds! There were well over 500 WESTERN/CLARK'S GREBES. We could identify with certainty a few dozen Western Grebes and 6 Clark's. Other birds included 3 EARED GREBES, several CALIFORNIA GULLS, a few RING-BILLED GULLS, a raft of LESSER SCAUP, bright male RUDDY DUCKS, and small numbers of DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANTS. 

I added a boatload of Rio Arriba County birds today bringing my total list to 162 species. 

Wyatt and I started heading home and made the almost mandatory stop at Abiquiu Lake. Except for a few AMERICAN COOT it was virtually birdless!

After doing a bit more exploring down a few side roads around the small settlement of Medanales we arrived at my house at 7:15 p.m. It was a great day and with the spring migration about to be unleashed both of us are looking forward to getting back up there soon!

The number following the species is the total number of that particular species seen (without repeat counting) between February 10 - April 19, 2015. Species in bold represent a bird that is either rare and/or was seen in unusually high numbers. The date following each species represents the first sighting.

1. Ross's Goose - 1  (3/28/15)
2. Canada Goose - 62  (2/10/15)
3. Gadwall - 6  (3/28/15)
4. Mallard - 12  (2/10/15)
5. Northern Shoveler - 4  (3/28/15)
6. Green-winged Teal - 9
7. Ring-necked Duck - 12
8. Bufflehead - 2
9. Common Goldeneye - 7
10. Hooded Merganser - 4  (4/19/15)
11. Common Merganser - 14
12. Wild Turkey - 14
13. Pied-billed Grebe - 2  (3/28/15)
14. Great Blue Heron - 7
15. Turkey Vulture - 4
16. Golden Eagle - 2   (4/19/15)
17. Bald Eagle - 4  (2/10/15)
18. Red-tailed Hawk - 4  (2/10/15)
19. American Coot - 5
20. Killdeer - 2
21. Solitary Sandpiper - 1  (4/19/15)
22. Wilson's Snipe - 2
23. Ring-billed Gull - 1
24. Rock Pigeon - 4
25. Eurasian Collared-Dove - 2
26. White-winged Dove - 2
27. Mourning Dove - 3  (4/19/15)
28. Great Horned Owl - 2
29. Lewis's Woodpecker - 3  (2/10/15)
30. Red-naped Sapsucker - 3
31. Downy Woodpecker - 1
32. Northern Flicker - 7  
33. American Kestrel - 4
34. Say's Phoebe - 4
35. Pinion Jay - 3
36. Stellar's Jay - 4
37. Western Scrub-Jay - 6
38. Black-billed Magpie - 14  (2/10/15)
39. Clark's Nutcracker - 3
40. American Crow - 12
41. Common Raven - 25  (2/10/15)
42. Horned Lark - 4
43. Tree Swallow - 85
44. Black-capped Chickadee - 9
45. Mountain Chickadee - 3
46. White-breasted Nuthatch - 5  (2/10/15)
47. Brown Creeper - 2
48. Rock Wren - 2  (4/19/15)
49. House Wren - 2  (4/19/15)
50. American Dipper - 4  (2/10/15)
51. Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 2
52. Western Bluebird - 8
53. Mountain Bluebird - 4
54. Townsend's Solitaire - 3
55. American Robin - 16
56. European Starling - 12
57. American Pipit - 3  (4/19/15)
58. Common Yellowthroat - 1  (4/19/15)
59. Yellow-rumped Warbler - 6
60. Spotted Towhee - 3
61. Song Sparrow - 14
62. Lincoln's Sparrow - 2  (4/19/15)
63. American Tree Sparrow - 14 (2/10/15)
64. Field Sparrow - 1  (4/19/15)
65. Vesper Sparrow - 5  (4/19/15)
66. Savannah Sparrow - 4  (4/19/15)
67. Harris's Sparrow - 2  (2/10/15)
68. White-crowned Sparrow - 2  (4/19/15)
69. Dark-eyed Junco - 16  (2/10/15)
70. Red-winged Blackbird - 37  (2/10/15)
71. Western Meadowlark - 5
72. Yellow-headed Blackbird - 5  (4/19/15)
73. Brewer's Blackbird - 4
74. Great-tailed Grackle - 5
75. Pine Grosbeak - 1
76. Cassin's Finch - 14
77. American Goldfinch - 2
78. Evening Grosbeak - 5
79. Pine Siskin - 44
80. House Sparrow - 3