Trip to Trout Stalker Ranch and Northern Rio Arriba County, NM - March,18,19, 2015

My last day of work was 3/16/2015 so to celebrate my wife Carol and I decided to spend a couple days exploring the area around Chama, NM. Carol isn't really a birder, and this was evident by our extremely casual departure of 8:15 a.m.! But hey, it's alright, I'm retired now!

We stopped for gas in Espanola where we filled up for $1.99 a gallon! I'm guessing this will be the last time, maybe ever, that gas under two bucks will be found. 

Our first stop was at Abiquiu Lake. It was plenty scenic, but most of the birds that my friend Wyatt and I had found just a few days ago were absent. 

Serene Abiquiu lake on morning of March 19th

As we were driving north Carol mentioned the Monastery that sits along the Chama River about 13 miles northwest of Highway 84. I told her that I had been tempted to drive down there and that today was as good a day as any. 

We turned down Forest road 151 and soon were winding down a winding and dusty road with dazzling scenery at every turn. Most of the birds we were seeing along the way were MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRDS and HORNED LARKS. After about 5 miles we reached the Chama River Gorge and soon dropped down along the river. The views were magnificent. This area is managed by the Santa Fe National Forest and there are plenty of places to park and hike, plus one primitive and one slightly more developed campsite - http://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/santafe/recarea/?recid=75502 - We didn't stop and bird all that much because we were anxious to get to the monastery, but it was obvious that this would be a great place to explore in spring, summer and fall. Lots and lots of cottonwoods! The most prevalent birds were TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRES, BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEES, GREAT BLUE HERON, BUSHTITS, AND DARK-EYED JUNCOS. 

Forest Road 151 leading to Chama Wild and Scenic River and Monastery

"Big Eddy" one of the Santa Fe NF Chama Wild and Scenic River accesses

Part of Chama Wild and Scenic River - great views and birding too!

The going was a bit slow as the road made numerous sharp turns and it wasn't very wise to speed around corners on loose gravel. Especially seeing that at times the drop off was 100 feet or more! We arrived at the Monastery at Christ in the Desert around 12:30. Carol started walking the several hundred yards from the parking area to the church complex while I tried my luck at finding a Canyon Wren. I played a recording briefly and almost immediately two very loud CANYON WREN songs came cascading down the nearby cliffs - a county bird!

Entrance into monastery

Monastery sign

Distant view of monastery (from edge of Chama) and towering cliffs - home to Canyon Wrens!

The monastery complex was very lovely, and, well, quiet. Carol enjoyed exploring the church and especially the gift shop! It takes a little effort to get here, but the journey through the beautiful Chama Wild and Scenic River and capped off by a neat experience at the monastery is well worth it. The monastery does have public hours daily and is free admission. The monastery is on private land and it is important to respect the monk's privacy. There is also lodging if you are looking for a secluded and unique experience. More information can be found at - http://christdesert.org

Monastery chapel

View from inside chapel - nice!

Carol in front of chapel

I turned left off of Highway 84 at Tierra Amarilla and along the wet meadows that lead down to La Puende. We turned onto CR 340 that runs along an amazing stretch of the Chama River and then up to Los Ojos. Along the way we observed a LEWIS'S WOODPECKER, several GADWALLS, AMERICAN WIGEON, GREEN-WINGED TEALS, and an amazingly beautiful male CINNAMON TEAL which was also a county bird for me. We drove by Tierra Wools, but decided to stop and take the tour this famous establishment tomorrow.

We made our way back out to Highway 84 and headed into Chama to enjoy lunch at the spacious Subway that always has friendly service along with wifi! We got our sandwiches to go and stopped over at the Elkhorn Lodge to reserve a room for the night. We met Emily, who is the owner's daughter and manages the site. We got checked in, grabbed the key, and were off again, this time to Heron Lake. By this time it was overcast and the wind was really picking up. We stopped at the La Laja Boat Ramp to scope over the lake, but there were virtually no birds.

La Laja boat ramp at Heron Lake where officials don't have to worry about folks fishing from the dock - now far from the shore! However, its a great place to scan for water birds.

After Heron Lake we hopped over the short distance to the El Vada State Park boat ramp, which is the extreme northern part of the lake. In best of times this boat ramp can only be used during high water. Like so many other boat ramps in New Mexico and the west in general this one was HIGH and DRY! It was a stunning view to see that the the entire north half of the lake was dry and barren and had been so for some time! The Chama River was still flowing through the vast empty flats. It reminded me of the vast deltas in Alaska. Needless to say there weren't many birds, but we managed to find a GREAT BLUE HERON, a COMMON GOLDENEYE hunting in the rapids of the river, and several MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRDS. We wondered what the people were thinking from their expensive homes perched on the cliffs above the now dry lake.

Dry northern end of El Vada Lake. Note houses up above "lake shore"

Rio Chama now exposed in dry lake bed

Huge El Vado Lake (north end) boat ramp leading to lonely dock and dry lake bed

Before heading over to Trout Stalker Ranch in Chama we made one more stop at the Rio Chama trailhead. From here a 5.5 mile trail descends down a dramatic cap rock stairway near Heron Dam. The trail, which crosses the river by suspension bridge, affords panoramic views and an adventurous route to neighboring El Vado Lake.

I assumed, as do a lot of folks, that the lake, dam, and state park are named after the bird, but in fact they are named after Kenneth A. Heron, an engineer in the early 1900s who initiated the diversion of water from Colorado to arid areas further south. The best birds at this location were 10 GREAT BLUE HERONS, 2 CLARK'S NUTCRACKERS, and a stunning adult GOLDEN EAGLE!

We arrived Trout Stalker Ranch around 5:00 p.m. It was getting really windy and cold, but it wasn't raining yet despite heavy showers and snow up in the San Juan's to the north. The meadow along the road leading into the ranch was flooded from snow melt and we observed a two new birds for the ranch - a RING-BILLED GULL and several GREAT-TAILED GRACKLES. There were several MALLARDS mixed in too. 

We drove across the ranch and caught up with Greg Friday, the ranch's manager, over at the buffalo pen. He had just finished feeding the buffaloes and asked Carol if she wanted to hand feed the large bull. She jumped at the chance and thoroughly enjoyed the experience, including its "raspy tongue!" 

The pond next to the cabin had several COMMON MERGANSERS and one adult male RING-NECKED DUCK. After a nice visit with Greg we decided it had been a long day and headed over for the night at Elkhorn Lodge. 

Carol headed to town to grab us some dinner and I wandered around the grounds listening and looking for the owls Emily told me start calling around 7:00 p.m. or so. Sure enough, after just a few minutes a pair of GREAT HORNED OWLS started calling right near the lodge's office! I even got to see the male which obligingly stayed out in the open for Carol to see when she got back. There was also a LEWIS'S WOODPECKER still active across the river in the Trout Stalker Ranch woodlands. 

After a good night's sleep we were pleasantly surprised to find a clear and mild morning. After a quick search I found one of the owls sitting right out in the open. The light wasn't that great yet, but I managed a few decent shots. After coffee and saying good by and thanks to Emily we were off to bird Trout Stalker. 

One of the Great Horned Owls living on the grounds of Elkhorn Lodge

We found Greg working on one of the ranch's bridges and after hanging out for a while we headed down to the deciduous woodlands on the north end of the ranch. Carol wanted to see one of the dippers and we lucked out when we found the male AMERICAN DIPPER with a beak full of moss!

Water Ouzel with next material in Chama River on the ranch

Red-winged Blackbird on ranch about to sing to the world

Letting it rip!

We were just about to leave the ranch when Greg called and in a very excited tone related how there was a pair of Canada Geese sitting high up in a cottonwood in a heron's nest! I was stunned for a second, but soon was heading back to find Greg and the geese!

We pulled up and sure enough there was a pair of geese very contently sitting 60 feet up in a heron next! We watched them for nearly an hour and it was amazing. The female looked like she was actually preparing the nest and the male was busily calling and DEFENDING against any approaching geese! At one point they both took off the nest and chased away a group of very surprised and confused geese who were just passing by. After just a moment both the geese returned and effortlessly landed back in the nest. We wondered out loud if they were actually going to use this nest, and if they did how would it work with the goslings. Also, they were in a pretty vulnerable spot to everything from weather to predators. I've never witnessed this behavior before and it will be interesting to see what happens. I'll let you know!

Pair of Canada Geese in heron nest on ranch!

Coming back in for effortless landing

Male chasing off "intruders!"

We left the ranch and headed into Chama to grab a quick lunch to go. We drove a couple side streets where Carol spotted a feeder that had quite a bit of activity including a RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH, a county bird!

After checking out a couple areas around Chama we drove to Los Ojos and Tierra Wools. We were greeted by a very nice lady name Kate who proceeded to give us a wonderful tour of huge building. Kate showed us the looms and miles and miles of hand made wool fibers. The range and assortment of colors was extraordinary and quite frankly has to be seen to believe - just beautiful. Tierra Wools is a cooperative and indeed we saw many people working on projects. Kate told us that they have a Tierra Wools festival in early August. Check it out!

Tierra Wools

Part of Looms inside Tierra Wools

Old building on main street Los Ojos

After Los Ojos we made our way over to Heron Lake and one more check for waterfowl. I'm glad we did because there were 3 WHITE PELICANS near the La Laja boat ramp - another county bird! It was also really beautiful there with puffy clouds and a sky you can only find in New Mexico. 

Heron Lake and a gorgeous NM sky!

White Pelicans (and Ring-billed Gulls) at Heron Lake

We were having a great time, but it was time to start heading back around Santa Fe. We made two brief detours on the way back. The first was to the village of Canjilon located east of 84 on SR 115. I wanted to check out how to get over to Canjilon Lakes and El Rito Canyon, both excellent birding sites. The forest road leading to the lakes was rather muddy so we decided to let things dry out a bit and try in a few weeks. 

By the time we passed the Ghost Ranch it was actually raining! There was a break in the sky as we approached Abiquiu Lake so we made a quick stop over at one of the overlooks. It only took a couple minutes to figure out that there were practically NO BIRDS! There were no birds, but it was very cool to watch a storm pass over the lake!

Storm over Abiquiu Lake

We arrived back home at 6:30 p.m. Our trip covered 396 miles which included, two state parks, two national forests, Trout Stalker Ranch, Chama, Los Brazos, Los Ojos, Tierra Amarilla, La Puende, and Abiquiu. I added a few county birds and also some new ones for the ranch. My winter birding on Trout Stalker concluded with 56 species which I think is darn good considering I only birded there 7 times. Number after species indicates total number of that species observed.

Trout Stalker Bird List - 2/10/15 to 3/19/15

1. Canada Goose - 24
2. Mallard - 7
3. Green-winged Teal - 3
4. Ring-necked Duck - 2
5. Bufflehead - 1
6. Common Goldeneye - 7
7. Common Merganser - 8
8. Wild Turkey - 14
9. Great Blue Heron - 2
10. Killdeer - 2
11. Ring-billed Gull - 1
12. Rock Pigeon - 4
13. Bald Eagle - 3
14. Red-tailed Hawk - 3
15. Eurasian Collared-Dove - 1
16. White-winged Dove - 2
17. Great Horned Owl - 2
18. Lewis's Woodpecker - 3
19. Red-naped Sapsucker - 1
20. Downy Woodpecker - 1
21. Northern Flicker - 7
22. American Kestrel - 1
23. Say's Phoebe - 1
24. Pinion Jay - 3
25. Stellar's Jay - 2
26. Western Scrub-Jay - 6
27. Black-billed Magpie - 14
28. Clark's Nutcracker - 3
29. American Crow - 12
30. Common Raven - 25
31. Horned Lark - 4
32. Black-capped Chickadee - 9
33. Mountain Chickadee - 3
34. White-breasted Nuthatch - 4
35. Brown Creeper - 1
36. American Dipper - 4
37. Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 1
38. Western Bluebird - 8
39. Mountain Bluebird - 4
40. Townsend's Solitaire - 3
41. American Robin - 10
42. European Starling - 3
43. Spotted Towhee - 1
44. Song Sparrow - 10
45. American Tree Sparrow - 14
46. Harris's Sparrow - 2
47. Dark-eyed Junco - 16
48. Red-winged Blackbird - 37
49. Western Meadowlark - 3
50. Great-tailed Grackle - 5
51. Pine Grosbeak - 1
52. Cassin's Finch - 8
53. American Goldfinch - 2
54. Evening Grosbeak - 3
55. Pine Siskin - 44
56. House Sparrow - 3

Birding Rio Arriba County, Espanola to Chama! - 3/15/15

My friend Wyatt Eglehoff has a wealth of knowledge about birding in massive Rio Arriba County, which stretches from Santa Fe County right up to the Colorado border! We've been trying to coordinate a time when we could bird there together and this past Sunday was the day - hopefully the first of many adventures! I certainly took advantage of his vast experience and we ended up having a wonderful day and lots of great birds!

Wyatt promptly showed up at my house at the appointed time of 5:45 a.m. and we headed north through Santa Fe and then on past Espanola. 

Our birding day started before sunrise on the Highway 74 bridge over the Chama River near the small village of El Duende (duende is a hard word to interpret. Different sources list the definition as a ghost, an evil spirit, inspiration, magic, fire, elf, gremlin, charm, magnetism or goblin - take your pick!) El Duende is not too far north of Espanola off of Highway 84. I was hoping to hear or see a Great Horned Owl, but we had to "settle" for a singing BLACK PHOEBE, a few CANADA GEESE, a COMMON MERGANSER, a COMMON RAVEN (which in the dim light went from being a goose to an owl to a raven), and two AMERICAN KESTRELS. 

We arrived at the huge Abiquiu Lake right as the sun was rising - perfect timing. Our intention wasn't to spend much time here as we were anxious to get further north. We made a quick stop at the main boat ramp and there were a few geese, several RING-BILLED GULLS, 1 female LESSER SCAUP, lots of AMERICAN COOT, but not much else. I was ready to book north, but Wyatt strongly suggested that there was a cool overlook close by that was worth checking. I put up a small protest, but then remembered that I needed to take advantage of Wyatt's knowledge!

Lofty observation point at Abiquiu Lake

We pulled off of the highway where we had a commanding view of the lake and a large cove. The light was stunning as the sun was rising behind us. There were lots more birds here than at the boat ramp. Wyatt was very gracious not to say "I told you so!" 

Some of the highlights we observed from our lofty perch were 3 RED-BREASTED MERGANSERS, 2 HOODED MERGANSERS, COMMON MERGANSERS, several COMMON GOLDENEYES,  BUFFLEHEADS, a couple RUDDY DUCKS, MALLARDS, an AMERICAN WIGEON, a PIED-BILLED GREBE, and the best bird of this stop, a winter plumage COMMON LOON. 

We forced ourselves away from this great spot and soon were pulling into a US Forest Service picnic/camping area known as the Echo Amphitheater -
(http://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/carson/recreation/hiking/recarea/?recid=44462&actid=50) This intensely scenic spot is, as the name implies, is a giant natural semi-circle of beautiful cliffs. It also has a nice patch of trees, shrubs and grasses near the cliffs that can harbor a surprisingly high number of birds. We dipped on our goal of finding a Canyon Wren, but there were plenty of WESTERN SCRUB-JAYS and DARK-EYED JUNCOS to keep us company. The best part was a Common Raven which repeatedly flew back and forth across the rock amphitheater calling the entire time. It was hard to believe that it wasn't thoroughly enjoying listening to its greatly amplified croaks! 

Echo Amphitheater. Legend has it that settlers were murdered on top of the cliff and their blood can still be seen today!

It was a nice day of birding because we didn't really have a plan or a time frame which freed us to veer off  whenever the urge to do so hit us. So suddenly I found myself turning off onto highway 531 (at Tierra Amarilla) and towards the village of Los Ojos. We drove past the Chama Valley Schools where we enjoyed a pair of BALD EAGLES, lots more geese, and a calling KILLDEER. 

We continued through the small community of La Puente (spanish for The Bridge) and turned north onto CR 340, which takes you along a fabulous stretch of the Chama River, wet meadows, and a large riparian corridor. We both wondered out loud just how great this road will be during the migration and breeding season. It wasn't all that bad the day we were there! Just a few of the birds we found include LEWIS'S WOODPECKER, 2 LINCOLN'S SPARROWS, several SONG SPARROWS, lots of geese, mallards, bufflehead, a NORTHERN PINTAIL, RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS, and a pair of BALD EAGLES. This is going to be a great little stretch of road to hit over and over again! 

We drove through the village of Los Ojos (for quite a while known as Park View, but changed back to its original name in 1972) and the location of the well-known Tierra Wools (http://www.handweavers.com). Many people I talk to tell me that Los Ojos means "the eyes" (which it probably does), but actually the name comes from the many fresh water springs (ojos or ojitos) found in the area. In fact the nearby "Park View" Fish Hatchery uses one of these large springs.

Bald Eagles near Tierra Amarilla

We arrived in Chama around noon and Wyatt suggested we stop by the Elkhorn Lodge (https://www.elkhornlodge.net), which offers a large complex of rooms and cabins. It is situated on 8 acres along the Chama River and is directly across the river from Trout Stalker Ranch! Our purpose was to check out the feeders near the office. There was a lot of activity, but mostly MOUNTAIN and BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEES, DARK-EYED JUNCOS, WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCHES, and CASSIN'S FINCHES.  

Wyatt has waited patiently to finally get a chance to bird the Trout Stalker Ranch so we left Elkhorn and headed directly to the ranch. The ranch's snow was melting rapidly and so was the ice on the numerous ponds. We worked our way across the ranch, but on a mild day in early afternoon the activity was a little slow. A RED-TAILED HAWK sailed past as we headed over to the north end of the ranch and the large woodlands along the Chama. Wyatt was keen on seeing the Pine Grosbeaks and Harris's Sparrows that I had seen recently. Unfortunately we dipped on both of those target species, but did pick up EVENING GROSBEAKS, a RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET (heard by Wyatt), and a pretty snazzy looking male RED-NAPED SAPSUCKER. We left the ranch, but Wyatt was impressed with the large and diverse Trout Stalker Ranch and said he couldn't wait to get back!

Our next stop was Heron Lake to look for water birds. I was amazed to see that the once half frozen lake was now completely wide open! Wyatt told me that the best place to observe the lake was from the La Laja Boat Ramp on the extreme north end of the lake. From here you have a commanding view of much of the lake plus a couple near-by coves. 

Heron Lake with far distant Brazos Cliffs

I am always amazed at how few birds, at times, there can be on New Mexico's Reservoirs. It seems to me that anywhere there is water in an extremely arid environment there should be lots of birds! That said, I'll take quality over quantity and that was the case today. We scanned the lake finding COMMON GOLDENEYES, COMMON MERGANSERS, LESSER SCAUP, AMERICAN COOT, and RING-BILLED GULLS. However, we also found a HORNED GREBE, DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANTS, and the best bird of the day, a breeding plumaged FRANKLIN'S GULL. The cormorants and Franklin's Gull were both county birds. 

Our final stop was at the San Juan Bridge which crossed the Rio Grande near Espanola. When they built a new and modern bridge they left the old one for pedestrian use. This area is a favorite for birders because of the large riparian areas on both sides of the river. Jerry Friedman had found a White-throated Sparrow the day before at this location so we swung by hoping to pick up a county bird for Wyatt! Nothing  was stirring except for a BLACK PHEOBE hunting from the bridge and a rather rude young man buzzing all around us on an extremely loud and exhaust spewing motorcycle of some sort. So we dipped on the sparrow and it was time to head home. 

It was, however, another fabulous day of birding in Rio Arriba County. I picked up numerous county bird and three new birds for Trout Stalker Ranch. We explored some new areas that now will become part of the fast growing list "routine" stops!

  

Serious Scenary and Serious Birds at Trout Stalker Ranch - March 9, 2015

A great day was spent enjoying the beautiful snowy scenery and observing some awesome birds at Trout Stalker Ranch this past Monday.

I left Santa Fe at 6:15 with the goal of arriving at the ranch (in Chama, NM) at 9:00 a.m. It felt weird leaving so late, but I wanted to make a stop at Abiquiu Lake, which is a bit over an hour away, at dawn but with the time change that meant sleeping in an hour!

The sun was just peaking over the red rock cliffs north of Abiquiu when I arrived at 7:30 a.m. There were surprisingly few birds. Geese were honking noisily and there was a ridiculously large raft of coots in the center of a lagoon. (By the way, a dense flock of AMERICAN COOTS is appropriately called A Cover!)

I was about to leave, but decided I shouldn't be lazy and got the good old Swarovski scope out for a quick scan. My efforts were rewarded when I spotted a rare HORNED GREBE! This was a Rio Arriba County bird!

A very far off image of a Horned Grebe. See the red eye?

The drive north to Chama is really enjoyable and today was no exception. For absolute beauty it's hard to beat the view as the early morning sunlight turns the rock formations stunning patterns of red, yellow, orange, and a colors I don't even know the name of. Georgia O'Keefe knew!

It was a whole new world as I approached the northern New Mexico village of Tierra Amarillo. Suddenly there was snow everywhere and it was a winter wonderland. The majestic San Juan Mountains looming in Colorado finally had some good snow pack.

I was almost to the ranch when I came upon a large flock of WILD TURKEYS feeding alongside the highway. That is one of the beauties of birding this area - there's very little traffic to disturb wildlife. (Okay, I can't resist...a group of turkeys is known as A Rafter. You can't make it up!)

Flock of turkeys near Trout Stalker Ranch

I made the turn towards the entrance of the ranch and all I could do was to stop in the road and simply admire how beautiful everything looked with the pure snow and the mountains reaching for the sky in the distance.

Snowy field on ranch with San Juans in distance

I love the patterns in the snow. 

Snow scene surrounding entrance to Trout Stalker Ranch

After taking some snow pics and checking out a few birds I was on the ranch at 9:00 a.m. as planned. The biggest difference that I noticed from my last visit was the vastly increased number of RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS. Despite the chilly temperatures and snow-covered cattails, the males were singing their hearts out!

I told ranch owner Ashlyn Perry that I would be at the ranch about 9 and was about to give her a call when I saw her walking her great dog Rowdy! We had a nice discussion about the future of birds, birders, and birding on the ranch. What a great place to have a meeting! While we talked there were LEWIS'S WOODPECKERS working some nearby trees, CANADA GEESE honking along the river, and even a GREAT BLUE HERON flying along the Rio Chamita.

Earlier, while I was working my way to my meeting place with Ashlyn, I got a wild hair (feather?) to try to get a picture of a killdeer standing in the snow. I went to the part of the ranch where I saw a couple of these hardy plovers two weeks before. Lo and behold there was a KILLDEER standing on a snow covered field. It looked like it was having fun!

Killdeer checking out the winter scene, and perhaps thinking about warmer days ahead!

For the next few hours I birded along the Chama River where it was easy to lose track of time and get lost in the absolute beauty of the ranch's riverfront. There were plenty of birds including both an adult and immature BALD EAGLE, a few AMERICAN GOLDFINCHES, several CASSIN'S FINCHES, a lone DOWNY WOODPECKER, and the best bird of the morning a BROWN CREEPER, which try as I might I could not capture it in a photo!

Rio Chama on ranch

Rio Chamita on ranch

Really birdy area of ranch with large marsh and woodland

Can you guess which side of Chama River is the ranch and which side, well isn't..? Hint,  the river is reflecting the ranch!

Another one of my favorite spots on the ranch to go birding is by a cabin situated next to a large pond and the buffalo pens. Except for lots of blackbirds I didn't see many birds, but it didn't matter as I had a blast just hanging out on one of the rocking chairs on the cabin's spacious porch.

The awesome view from the porch of the cabin 

A few of the buffalo!

Okay, so now is where you'll have to bear with me. I think dippers are some of the coolest species of birds on the planet, so it is no wonder how joyful I feel when I get to play with the ones on the ranch! What a privilege to have the opportunity to not only observe, but to photograph these fascinating creatures; and photograph I did. In fact I took over 200 pics of just one bird! Normally I would control myself, but it was building a nest! It was incredible to watch as this AMERICAN DIPPER gathered moss from the river bank and took a hefty beak full to its nest site on one of the steel beams holding up one of the ranch's bridges! It repeated this moss-gathering operation over and over! So here are some of the pictures of this rarely seen activity.

A rolling dipper does gather moss!

Male dipper

Check out his footprints on the rock!

Right at home

Looking intently

Washing gunk off of the moss

Love those legs and feet

Dippers sure blend in to their environment!

Got a big load...

...which needs to be washed

A body built for water from head to that big broad tail

I can't resist the white eyelids shots

What rapids!

I tore myself away from the dippers and decided to check out the south end of the ranch. I crunched my way across the snow to the river and was delighted to see the season's first Say's Phoebe - a true sign of spring! These hardy flycatchers are a common sight throughout New Mexico and love to hang out in riparian corridors. On the way out I stopped to take another scenic pic, this one of the large main lake on the ranch, and a BALD EAGLE!

First of Season Say's Phoebe on Trout Stalker Ranch!

Frozen Lake on ranch

The always dependable bald eagle hanging out by the large lake on the ranch

I had my highest species total on this trip with 33 species. That brings the winter species count so far to 42 species, which isn't bad considering I missed the first two and a half months of winter! The results of my five bird outings on Trout Stalker Ranch:

1. Canada Goose - 24
2. Mallard - 7
3. Ring-necked Duck - 1
4. Common Goldeneye - 7
5. Common Merganser - 2
6. Wild Turkey - 14
7. Great Blue Heron - 1
8. Killdeer - 2
9. Bald Eagle - 2
10. Red-tailed Hawk - 3
11. Eurasian Collared-Dove - 1
12. Lewis's Woodpecker - 2
13. Downy Woodpecker - 1
14. Northern Flicker - 3
15. Say's Phoebe - 1
16. Pinion Jay - 3
17. Stellar's Jay - 1
18. Western Scrub-Jay - 5
19. Black-billed Magpie - 14
20. Clark's Nutcracker - 1
21. American Crow - 12
22. Common Raven - 5
23. Black-capped Chickadee - 9
24. White-breasted Nuthatch - 4
25. Brown Creeper - 1
26. American Dipper - 4
27. Western Bluebird - 2
28. Mountain Bluebird - 1
29. Townsend's Solitaire - 1
30. American Robin - 10
31. European Starling - 3
32. Song Sparrow - 1
33. American Tree Sparrow - 14
34. Harris's Sparrow - 2
35. Dark-eyed Junco - 16
36. Red-winged Blackbird - 37
37. Pine Grosbeak - 1
38. Cassin's Finch - 5
39. American Goldfinch - 2
40. Evening Grosbeak - 3
41. Pine Siskin - 44
42. House Sparrow - 3

Come on spring! I'm ready to see warblers, orioles, tanagers, and lots of other dazzlers at the ranch!

I reluctantly left the ranch around 2:00 p.m. and headed over to El Vado Lake State Park. I had never been there and was really looking forward to checking out a new New Mexico lake. It was an interesting drive across a high plateau with lots of sagebrush, though much of it has been denuded by sheep. Nonetheless there were some interesting areas along the way including a wet meadow where Highway 112 crosses the Rita de Tierra Amarilla (a small tributary of the Rio Chama). The most common birds observed were dozens of MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRDS. 

I never made it to the main area of the state park because the road was closed for the season! Sort of a bummer, but I continued to El Vado Lake dam hoping I could get access to that portion of the lake. The good news is I could. The bad news is the lake is still mostly frozen so no waterfowl. However, the area looks like it has great potential for some awesome birding. Also, both Heron Lake and El Vado Lake State Parks are just a short distance from Chama.

A very frozen and very accessible El Vado Lake

There were lots of WESTERN BLUEBIRDS along the El Vado lakeshore, but not much else so I decided to move on to another area. 

Before heading back to Santa Fe I explored the area around Tierra Amarilla (spanish for yellow earth) which is the county seat of Rio Arriba County. There were lots of small roads radiating out through wet meadows and other interesting habitats. I will definitely be checking this fascinating and unusual place on a regular basis. The best birds were two adult BALD EAGLES on the edge of town. 

The Santo Nino Church in Tierra Amarillo, one of many interesting builings in the village

I made a quick stop back at Abiquiu Lake and found the horned grebe in the same spot where my day started early this morning.

Another super day of birding on Trout Stalker Ranch and the other really neat areas in north central New Mexico. Stay tuned for more great birds and birding from this bird rich area. 

First of Season Sage-brush Sparrow, Torrance County - 2/28/15

I was feeling pretty bad as the flu was coming on fast and furious, but I decided to take a ride down to the ag fields in southern Santa Fe County and extreme northern Torrance County. If you look on Google Maps it is CR 23 which runs between Moriarty (Torrance) and SR 8 (Santa Fe). 

The main purpose was to look for longspurs as we FINALLY had some snow and you have to have snow covered farm fields in order to find them. Actually finding the longspurs was easy and I had all three species in Santa Fe County. But much more on that in my next post!

First I want to share this very cooperative Sage-brush Sparrow. Of course I love any sparrow, but these guys are high on the list of my favorites. 

Sage-brush sparrows are hard to find and there is a narrow window to find them in early spring and very sporadically in fall. This one was hanging out with a large flock of White-crowned Sparrows. Enjoy!

Sage-brush Sparrow