Trout Stalker Ranch, Heron Lake State Park, and El Rito, Rio Arriba County, NM - May 3, 2015

My friend Wyatt Eglehoff and I left my house near Santa Fe just before 4:30 a.m. on May 3rd and headed up to Trout Stalker Ranch. Once again our goal was to get there at sunrise and once again we failed!

Wyatt talked me into turning off of Highway 84 to drive a mile down CR 151 (road to Christ of the Desert Monastery) to try for Black-throated Sparrow, which he had found a few days before. 

It was barely getting light when we reached his spot (precisely a mile). In just a couple of minutes Wyatt's keen ears picked up one singing, and after another minute of scanning we found several BLACK-THROATED SPARROWS! County bird #1 for the day. 

The beautiful Black-throated Sparrow, this pic was taken in Lamy, NM in April 2014

After the quick detour for the sparrow we were on our way again. The will-power just wasn't there to pass up the turn-off to La Puente and Los Ojos. If you've read my other posts on Trout Stalker, well, you know the drill. However, not much time was spent along this stretch of the Chama River as there really wasn't much activity. The OSPREYS were still hanging out at their nest and a GREAT BLUE HERON lumbered off from the flooded portion of a gravel pit. 

We drove onto the ranch at 7:30 a.m. so not too bad. One of the first birds we saw was a SPOTTED SANDPIPER working the edge of one of the numerous wetlands. Birding on Trout Stalker is easy because the wide range of habitats on the ranch are easily accessible. Most of the time you can bird right near the ranch roads. 

Before too long our day list on the ranch was growing as we ticked off birds we had seen on previous trips as well newly arriving migrants and nesting species. YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS flitted about while YELLOW WARBLERS sang from various riparian areas, and we found ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLERS working low in thick tangles. 

Male Yellow Warbler

Wyatt and I took a long walk through the woods on the south end of the ranch. We didn't add many new birds for the day, but it didn't matter because it was so beautiful! It was nice to see the Loft House sans the snow!

Walking along the creek near the Loft House

Trees greening up!

Spring is slow in coming to parts of the woods

The awesome Loft House

Another view of the Loft House surrounded by woods, pastures, and the Chama River!

Goose Lake still had numerous honkers and I was surprised that they already had babies,  obediently paddling behind their parents. Besides MALLARDS we also picked out a female  RUDDY DUCK and three exquisite CINNAMON TEALS. Speaking of Mallards Wyatt has been looking for the "Mexican" race of Mallard and darn if he didn't find one in one of the extensive marshes on the ranch! Later on in the day we found yet another on a pond along Hwy 95 (road to Heron Lake State Park). 

Arrogant Goose Lake

Canada Geese pair with goslings

The list of new birds for the ranch was growing! We added NORTHERN ROUGH-WINGED, BARN, and VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOWS, a noisy BELTED KINGFISHER, and BLACK-CHINNED AND BROAD-TAILED HUMMINGBIRD. We walked down to the edge of one of the marshes to try for rails and we were rather shocked how quickly we heard 2 VIRGINIA RAILS and at least one SORA. Of course at times it was hard to concentrate with all the male YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRDS continuously giving their very strange calls.

Belted Kingfisher

"Mexican" Mallard on left

Male "Mexican" Mallard flying with familiar male Mallard (top)

One of the cool things today were the large number of LEWIS'S WOODPECKERS with 8 seen on the ranch! On the way over to check out the cabin pond area we took time to check on the DIPPERS and were happy to see them still at their great dome nest under one of the bridges.

One of many Lewis's Woodpecker next to the Loft House on the ranch today

Lewis's Woodpecker

Lewis's Woodpecker

We birded around the buffalo pen and cabin and after having a really nice visit with ranch owners Ashlyn and Dan Perry we explored a couple more areas of the ranch. While we were talking with the Perry's some real lunker trout were jumping out in the pond! Dan and Ashlyn gave us a tip about a pond and area of the ranch I hadn't been to before. We headed over there and were happy to discover easy access to some great upland habitat. It was now past mid-morning and the birds were becoming quiet, but Wyatt's ears picked up a calling BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER. We will be sure to visit this area earlier in the morning next time. The ranch was really looking pretty and the day was lovely with mild temps, little wind, and really impressive clouds.

Easily accessible upland area on the ranch

Upland pond

Ranch pond with upland habitat

On our drive out of the upland area Wyatt spotted another White-tailed Antelope Squirrel (see post about this from 4/19. It is still undetermined if this is a separate population of this species or if the range maps are just really wrong!

White-tailed Antelope Squirrel

We birded the woods in the northeast corner of the ranch before heading to our next stop at Heron Lake State Park.

The woods, as is much of the ranch, is greening up rapidly and there are flowers!

One of the birding paths on the ranch

Ranch area being prepared for wildlife enhancement and eventually viewing area

We had a great morning on the ranch ending up with a record 59 species in just 3 hours! Is 75 possible in one morning? Stay tuned! The total number of species I've identified on the ranch since my first visit on 2/10/15 (10 visits) now stands at 98 species. See the list at end of this post!

After a quick break in Chama we drove up to Heron Lake State Park. We checked the ponds along Hwy 95, but besides the "Mexican" Mallard, a few other ducks, and lots of BREWER'S BLACKBIRDS we didn't add anything new.

Male Brewer's Blackbird acting territorial!

By the time we got to Heron Lake the skies had thickened with clouds and the wind was really picking up - just like every other time we've been there!

We stopped at the Island View Campsite which has become our new favorite spot to scan the lake from. It's a short walk out to the bluffs that provide a commanding view of 90% of the lake. Our efforts were rewarded with a record 11 FORSTER'S TERNS! We also added a small flock of both WILSON'S PHALAROPES and WILLETS. All three are county birds! The number of WESTERN GREBES had dwindled, but there were still some impressive numbers. Also impressive were a couple dozen CALIFORNIA GULLS and a large number of   RING-BILLED GULLS. The ducks were mostly gone except for several RUDDY DUCKS AND LESSER SCAUPS.

Heron Lake from the Dam

View of Heron Lake from our vantage point near Island View Campsites

Wyatt kept talking about a place called El Rito that he promised is a great migrant trap. He said not only was it a short distance from the Hwy 84, but that I could pick up a Sage-brush Sparrow along the way. Enough said, I was in!

We skipped checking Abiquiu Reservoir and headed straight to El Rito. Wyatt directed me to stop along a massive sage brush plain just a few miles outside of the village. Despite the gusty winds we located a few SAGE-BRUSH SPARROWS. This area is part of the Carson National Forest.

Sagebrush flats, part of Carson NF, where we found Wyatt's staked out Sagebrush Sparrow

Sagebrush Sparrow

El Rito (Spanish for Little River) was awesome! Historic and fascinating with old New Mexico architecture and funky art. It also is the location of reportedly one of the oldest churches in NM. Here is a website I found with some interesting information http://www.folkstreams.net/context,1021

For our immediate purposes El Rito has wonderfully large trees, a college campus (Northern NM) filled with large cottonwoods, a pond surrounded by lush vegetation, and ample farm fields that are regularly flooded!

El Rito "long" house

Pond just a block from the village of El Rito

Barn in El Rito

Part of historic El Rito and some of the big trees!

Wyatt was questioning out loud what great birds might show up here and I said "you mean like that PURPLE MARTIN flying above us!! We couldn't believe it. Needless to say El Rito will be added to the Rio Arriba County routes. After watching a couple LEWIS'S WOODPECKERS it was time to start heading home. We stopped along a soppy field that was covered up with swallows. TREE, VIOLET-GREEN, BARN, N. ROUGH-WINGED, CLIFF, and a single BANK SWALLOW were all mixed together! Along with the PURPLE MARTIN that meant that we had ALL the swallows you can possibly see in northern NM in one spot!

The 12 county birds I added today brought my total Rio Arriba list to 176.

Trout Stalker Ranch Checklist for 2015:

The number following the species is the aggregate number of that particular species seen (without repeat counting) between February 10 - May 3, 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 - 70  (2/10/15)
3. Gadwall - 6  (3/28/15)
4. Mallard - 12  (2/10/15)
5. Cinnamon Teal - 4  (5/3/15)
6. Northern Shoveler - 4  (3/28/15)
7. Green-winged Teal - 9  (3/19/15)
8. Ring-necked Duck - 12  (2/16/15)
9. Bufflehead - 2  (3/18/15)
10. Common Goldeneye - 7  (2/17/15)
11. Hooded Merganser - 4  (4/19/15)
12. Common Merganser - 16  (2/16/15) 
13. Ruddy Duck - 1  (5/3/15)
14. Wild Turkey - 14  (3/9/15)
15. Pied-billed Grebe - 2  (3/28/15)
16. Great Blue Heron - 7  (3/9/15)
17. Turkey Vulture - 7  (3/28/15)
18. Golden Eagle - 2   (4/19/15)
19. Bald Eagle - 7  (2/10/15)
20. Red-tailed Hawk - 5  (2/10/15)
21. Virginia Rail - 2  (5/3/15)
22. Sora - 1  (5/3/15)
23. American Coot - 6  (3/28/15)
24. Killdeer - 5  (2/17/15)
25. Spotted Sandpiper - 1  (5/3/15)
26. Solitary Sandpiper - 1  (4/19/15)
27. Wilson's Snipe - 3  (3/28/15)
28. Ring-billed Gull - 1  (3/18/15)
29. Rock Pigeon - 4  (3/9/15)
30. Eurasian Collared-Dove - 2  (2/16/15)
31. White-winged Dove - 2  (3/15/15)
32. Mourning Dove - 12  (4/19/15)
33. Great Horned Owl - 2  (3/18/15)
34. Black-chinned Hummingbird - 2  (5/3/15)
35. Broad-tailed Hummingbird - 1  (5/3/15)
36. Belted Kingfisher - 1  (5/3/15)
37. Lewis's Woodpecker - 7  (2/10/15)
38. Red-naped Sapsucker - 3  (3/15/15)
39. Downy Woodpecker - 1  (3/9/15)
40. Northern Flicker - 9  (2/16/15)
41. American Kestrel - 4  (3/19/15)
42. Say's Phoebe - 4  (3/9/15)
43. Pinyon Jay - 3  (3/9/15)
44. Steller's Jay - 6  (3/9/15)
45. Western Scrub-Jay - 6  2/10/15)
46. Black-billed Magpie - 14  (2/10/15)
47. Clark's Nutcracker - 3  (3/16/15)
48. American Crow - 12  (2/10/15)
49. Common Raven - 25  (2/10/15)
50. Horned Lark - 4  (3/15/15)
51. Northern Rough-winged Swallow - 6  (5/3/15)
52. Tree Swallow - 85  (3/28/15)
53. Violet-green Swallow - 20  (5/3/15)
54. Barn Swallow - 6  (5/3/15)
55. Black-capped Chickadee - 9  (2/10/15)
56. Mountain Chickadee - 3  (3/15/15)
57. White-breasted Nuthatch - 5  (2/10/15)
58. Brown Creeper - 2  (3/9/15)
59. Rock Wren - 2  (4/19/15)
60. House Wren - 4  (4/19/15)
61. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - 1  (5/3/15)
62. American Dipper - 4  (2/10/15)
63. Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 2  (3/15/15)
64. Western Bluebird - 8  (2/16/15)
65. Mountain Bluebird - 4  (2/16/15)
66. Townsend's Solitaire - 3  (2/16/15)
67. American Robin - 16  (2/10/15)
68. European Starling - 12  (2/16/15)
69. American Pipit - 3  (4/19/15)
70. Orange-crowned Warbler - 2  (5/3/15)
71. Common Yellowthroat - 1  (4/19/15)
72. Yellow Warbler - 5  (5/3/15)
73. Yellow-rumped Warbler - 15  (3/28/15)
74. Spotted Towhee - 5  (3/19/15)
75. American Tree Sparrow - 14  (2/10/15)
76. Chipping Sparrow - 10  (5/3/15)
77. Field Sparrow - 1  (4/19/15)
78. Vesper Sparrow - 5  (4/19/15)
79. Savannah Sparrow - 4  (4/19/15)
80. Song Sparrow - 14  (2/16/15)
81. Lincoln's Sparrow - 2  (4/19/15)
82. Harris's Sparrow - 2  (2/10/15)
83. White-crowned Sparrow - 6  (4/19/15)
84. Dark-eyed Junco - 16  (2/10/15)
85. Red-winged Blackbird - 37  (2/10/15)
86. Western Meadowlark - 5  (3/18/15)
87. Yellow-headed Blackbird - 5  (4/19/15)
88. Brewer's Blackbird - 4  (3/28/15)
89. Great-tailed Grackle - 5  (3/18/15)
90. Brown-headed Cowbird - 6  (5/3/15)
91. Pine Grosbeak - 1  (2/17/15)
92. House Finch - 3  (5/3/15)
93. Cassin's Finch - 14  (2/17/15)
94. Pine Siskin - 49  (2/17/15)
95. Lesser Goldfinch - 1  (5/3/15)
96. American Goldfinch - 7  (3/9/15)
97. Evening Grosbeak - 5  (3/9/15)
98. House Sparrow - 3  (2/16/15)