ABA Reportable in New Mexico – and Then Some, though no Wood-Rail, Part 1, July 2013

With a late July business trip to Denver, and some spare time at home, I decided to add a couple days of vacation to work on my New Mexico state list.  I’ve been targeting NM lately, with three previous trips there in the last 12 months.  With a great migrant fallout and 20 new statebirds on my last NM trip in May, I was just 12 short of the old ABA reportable threshold.  And since I’ve never been to northern NM in summer, that gave me quite a number of reasonably regular nesting birds to try for.  As a result I was hopeful I could surpass the reportable threshold with several to spare, though of course I would have preferred a trip in June so there would be more song.  But I had to work around the business trip dates and hope for the best. 

A couple weeks before my trip a megararity was found in southern NM – a Rufous-Necked Wood-Rail, a first record for the US.  This would be an amazing addition to my trip if the bird stuck around long enough.  It was found at Bosque del Apache NWR, which is an excellent birding location - perhaps the best spot in NM.  There are a number of regular breeders at the refuge that I need for my NM list, plus some shorebird migrants and a continuing Carolina Wren that would be good additions.  So although this was farther south than I was expecting to travel, the possibility of seeing a megararity lifebird plus adding several other local specialities made the extra driving worthwhile.  As the trip approached the Wood-Rail was still being seen and heard, including the day before I left for the trip.  So I was hopeful I would get a lifebird bonus on what was otherwise a NM statebirding trip.

Day 1 – Evening at Bosque del Apache NWR

My flight arrived in Denver mid-morning, and I quickly started my 7 ½ hour drive south to Bosque del Apache.  If all went well I would arrive at the refuge in the early evening which is a time when the Wood-Rail was most often seen.  While en route I called the refuge and asked about the bird’s status – it was last heard pre-dawn the day before and not seen or heard at all that day.  That certainly wasn’t the best news, but there was a recent day when it was only seen after 6:30 PM, so I hadn’t given up total hope.  With only 2 brief stops along the way I got to the refuge at 6:30 and went right to the boardwalk on the Marsh Loop where it had been seen.  There were at least 30 other birders there, but no one had seen it that day.  Luckily quite a number of my other targets had been reported from that spot as well, so I had other birds to look for while waiting for the Wood-Rail.  One of the first birds I saw was a distant tern that turned out to be a Forster’s – my first new NM statebird for the trip.  A little later one of several very cooperative Least Bitterns came into view (#2), including this one that I captured in a phone-scoped photo.

In recent days this impoundment had featured a number of shorebirds I needed for my list, but that evening there was nothing new for me, though there was a large flock of Avocets, 3 Greater Yellowlegs (I need the other yellowlegs for my statelist), and some Western Sandpipers.  In the distance I finally got some looks at 2 Common Gallinules (#3) at the edge of the marsh.  I’ve now seen this species throughout much of its range in numerous regions across the US (see my statebird map below).

But as sunset approached, and still no Wood-Rail sighting, these 3 statebirds seemed like poor consolation prizes.  I left the refuge about 30 minutes after sunset, some 18 hours after I left my house that morning.  On the drive to my hotel several Lesser Nighthawks passed low over the road which were my last bird of the day.

Day 2 – Bosque del Apache, Magdalena Mountains, and Points North

While waiting unsuccessfully for the Wood-Rail on the evening of Day 1, I had quite a bit of time to think through the next day’s strategy.  Obviously the lifebird was my key target, and early morning had been a good time for the bird in the past, though of course the bird had not been seen or heard for 36 hours.  On the other hand, of course early morning would also be the prime time for landbirding, and I was worried that many of these landbirds would be tough to see later in the day especially so late in the summer.  I was given some advice for a great landbirding spot a short distance away – Water Canyon in the Magdalena Mountains, with key targets there not possible elsewhere on my itinerary being Red-faced Warbler, Olive Warbler, and Greater Pewee.  Decisions, decisions…  I decided to start at 5, pre-dawn, at the rail spot, and give it until 7.  If I didn’t have the bird by then it would be 48 hours since the last sighting, so I would give up on the Wood-Rail, bird briefly elsewhere on the refuge, and then head to the mountains.

I was the first person to arrive at the refuge at 5, to almost complete darkness.  As I intently listened for the unique call of the Wood-Rail, the pre-dawn chorus started with 2 distant Great Horned Owls.  A few minutes later a barely visible owl circled overhead and then called – it was a Barn Owl.  Overhead the stars and planets were putting on quite a show, including Jupiter low in the eastern sky.  I was quite lucky to be able to get this phone-scoped photo (heavily cropped) showing Jupiter and 4 of its moons.

It was now first light and about 20 other birders were with me along the boardwalk.  But still no Wood-Rail.  The dawn chorus consisted of several Chats and Yellowthroats, along with Blue Grosbeaks, a White-winged Dove, and even a Roadrunner cooing.  The impoundment featured a different mix of shorebirds from yesterday – no avocets or yellowlegs but now several Baird’s and Least Sands were in with the Westerns.  And 3 dark ibis were feeding in the distance – 1 was noticeably larger and fed a short distance from the other 2.  But they stayed too far away for positive ID.  At 7 I stuck to my plan, and left the boardwalk, disappointed about the Wood-Rail, but hopeful for my other targets at the refuge.

Most of my targets were seen along the Seasonal Tour Road so that was my planned first stop.  Soon after I left the boardwalk I saw a couple other birders with binocs trained into the sky.  I hopped out of the car and watched 2 Green Heron’s fly by (#4).  One of the first birds I saw on the Seasonal Tour Road was a large raptor perched on a dead tree in a distant impoundment.  Although I assumed it was just a Red-tail, I stopped and looked at it through the binocs.  I’m glad I did – it was a Peregrine (#5).  As my statebird map shows, I still need this recovering species in a lot of states.

As I drove slowly along the brush was full of small passerines like Lesser Goldfinches, Blue Grosbeaks, Chats, and Yellowthroats.  At my first stop I flushed a small warbler which I followed to a distant perch which turned out to be a Lucy’s Warbler (#6).  A few minutes later I arrived at the spot where the long-staying Carolina Wren had been recently reported.  I got out of the car and started to walk down the road to listen for the wren.  Luckily it started calling soon thereafter (#7), because the mosquitoes were intense!  NM is now my third state seeing this species as a rarity (along with ID and CO).

As I neared the end of the road, I stopped to watch a family of Bewick’s Wrens feeding young.  And a minute later a pair of Willow Flycatcher’s starting singing (#8).  That was all 3 of my landbird targets for the refuge in just a 15-minute span.  While heading back to the refuge exit a male Vermillion Flycatcher flew by and perched most cooperatively at the edge of the road.  Though not new for my NM list, I can never see enough Vermillion Flys!  Just before I left the refuge I passed by a small mudflat in the last impoundment which contained a couple Killdeer, a Spotted Sand, and a Solitary Sandpiper (#9).  I left the refuge at 8 AM with mixed emotions – although I missed the Wood-Rail I was very happy with 9 new statebirds including a few that are very good for NM.

The next stop was in the foothills of the Magdalena Mountains at a location called The Box.  This is a rocky pinyon juniper area reported to be one of the best spots for Gray Vireo, and possibly some of my other targets.  The dirt road up the valley had been washed out by recent heavy rains, so I parked the car and walked up the hillside into the junipers.  It was quite a walk uphill under a warming sunny sky, but I eventually got into the habitat which featured Scott’s Orioles, and Canyon and Rock Wrens, but no Gray Vireos.  Though I was able to add one target - 2 Black-throated Gray Warblers singing above me on the hillside (#10).  I’ve now seen BT Grays throughout its normal western range as well as two eastern states as a rarity.

Next stop was the mouth of Water Canyon, which unfortunately I didn’t reach until about 10 AM.  The lower stretches of the canyon were in pinyon juniper habitat, but with hardly any song.  Best I could do was a flock of Bushtits and a Western Pewee.  The woodland transitioned to mostly deciduous trees with a few Ponderosa pines when I reached the Water Canyon Campground.  Just outside the campground I heard an unfamiliar pigeon sound.  I tracked it down and found a flock of 12 Band-tailed Pigeons (#11).  And nearby I stopped to check out some dead snags and an Acorn Woodpecker flew in (#12).  That was #264 for me in NM, the ABA reportable threshold!  I continued up the canyon making numerous stops up into the ponderosa pines and firs but saw few birds, even though I played some Pygmy Owl tape.  Initially the highlights were several Cordilleran Flycatchers (#13) along the dry creek that paralleled the road up the canyon, and a stop with several Hammond Flycatchers and Juniper Titmice.  My statebird map for Cordilleran now pretty well matches this species’ range though with a gap in UT.

  

Then on a next stop I heard distant calls of a Pygmy Owl – but was it a recording from another birder?  I doubled back to get closer to the calls and sure enough the sounds were coming from a distant inaccessible part of the canyon – a Northern Pygmy Owl (#14).  The owl continued to call for at least the next 30 minutes.  One last stop in the canyon yielded a family group of Ash-throated Flycatchers, and the first of 2 family groups of Blue-Gray Gnatcatchers (#15) – one of my nemesis birds for NM.  And I can finally fill in NM as one of my last gaps in my statebird map for this species.

Other birders I ran into mentioned they earlier had a Painted Redstart and Red-faced Warblers in the canyon, but I wasn’t so lucky.  The small number of birds and the almost complete lack of bird song really had me worried about finding many of my woodland targets, though I was happy to have found the Pygmy Owl.  Maybe it was just the time of day – it was now 1:30 PM and getting warm even at this altitude.

On my way up the canyon earlier in the day a young boy noticed me birding along the road and mentioned that I could come by his house to see his hummingbirds if I wanted.  So as I returned to this area, and still needing Calliope Hummingbird, I decided to drop by the house.  I was invited to their yard and quickly found a single feeder that was loaded with hummingbirds.  I estimated about 100 birds in total, with maybe 70% Broad-tails buzzing away, 20% smaller but very aggressive Rufous, and about 10% shier but larger Black-chins.  Finally I noticed a smaller bird perched in a nearby shrub – a male Calliope (#16).  I would also find a female Calliope a bit later.  These small birds were tiny compared to their relatively larger cousins.  I took this photo with my iPhone of a representative group of the hummers at the feeder.

The homeowners were very friendly and shared some good stories about their local birding experiences, including the fact that they fed the doves – the flock of Band-tails I had earlier were actually in their yard. 

It was now 3 PM and time to figure out what to do with the rest of my day.  I decided to start heading north making what would hopefully be short stops for specific target birds – “tactical strikes” as I call them.  The first one was a marsh called the Taco Bell Marsh on e-bird that had several recent reports of Cattle Egrets.  Though I was completely relying on the location listed on e-bird, I hoped that the title meant that there would be a Taco Bell nearby.  Luckily the location was perfect (right next to a Taco Bell), and I pulled up to a small wetlands that had nesting Black-necked Stilts, a few Wilson’s Phalaropes, and several peeps.  And in a small group of trees nearby were 17 Cattle Egrets (#17).  It’s great when e-bird works out so well.  My sightings for this species have now covered all the southern states but are still very spotty elsewhere across the US. 

Next stop was at a location along the Rio Grande River in Isleta with nesting Common Black-Hawks.  These birds are only infrequently seen in the area, but when they are seen they are typically perched on light poles on a dam at this spot.  As I neared the dam I quickly noticed a large black bird on a distant light pole.  I found a spot to pull over and there was the Black-Hawk (#18).  That was lucky!

Next stop was in a juniper habitat east of Albuquerque at the Four Hills Open Space for possible Gray Vireos.  I arrived at the spot and after a few minutes realized that this might not be a very fruitful chase – although it seemed like good habitat it was a large area with no bird song.  So I headed back to the car after adding Canyon Towhees to the trip list. 

A short distance to the north was a location where I was told that Scaled Quail were reliable.  This location was in a neighborhood along Simms Park Road near the Elena Gallegos Open Space, where feeders attract quail.  This was my biggest nemesis bird in NM – I’ve spent many hours in good habitat and have birded specific locations for them, but with no luck.  One of the problems in Albuquerque is that the introduced Gambel’s Quail may be displacing the native Scaled Quail.  I arrived at the preferred location but could find no feeders.  But there was good native habitat in the area, so I decided to walk through the area and give it a try.  Just a couple minutes after leaving the car I heard a brief call of what I thought was a Scaled Quail – but I couldn’t be sure.  A short walk later I saw movement in the grasses – a family group of at least a dozen Gambel’s Quail.  Will this be another failed search?  But just a few seconds later I saw more movement and there was a Scaled Quail moving through the brush (#19) – no longer a nemesis bird for my NM list.

Since I was able to quickly get my targets on most of my tactical strikes, there was still a little time left to try for one last target – Osprey.  Although there were no recent Ospreys reported on e-bird, there was a report from early June of birds on a nesting platform just south of Cochiti Lake not too far off the route to my next hotel. Of course the report was 45 days old, and maybe the birds would have left the nest by now, but I decided to give it a try.  I arrived at the location listed on e-bird but there was no nesting platform in site.  So I decided to drive to the lake and look for them there.  But before I reached the lake I noticed a platform up ahead – it was the Osprey platform complete with an adult and full-sized juvenile (#20).  Although the e-bird location wasn’t exact, the report still gave me enough information to be able to find one of my targets.  My statebird map for Osprey is pretty well filled in except for the plains states.

I finished the day with 106 species – not bad for a hot day in July.  And 17 new birds for my NM list.

Northern New Mexico - 35 New Statebirds, March 2013

With a business trip in the Rockies I was able to add a little extra birding time to work on my New Mexico state list.  My NM list was just at 197, I had never been to northern NM, and had done only limited winter birding in NM, so there were quite a number of possibilities for me.  Although my initial planning concentrated on birding the Sandia Mountains including the Rosy-Finches, I soon realized that there would be many other possibilities in the general area.  So I expanded my research, reached out to some local birders for advice, and put together a plan where I hoped for about 21 new statebirds.  But this included a number of wintering birds that could have moved north by then, so I would have to get lucky with some late wintering individuals in order to reach or exceed my goal.  Another complication was that the area has been under an extreme drought for a couple years, so some of the wetland areas might actually be dry now, obviously limiting my chances on waterbirds.

My first stop was at Maxwell NWR in northern NM, with targets being a number of prairie and water birds.  The first bird I saw at the refuge was a shrike that turned out to be a late adult Northern Shrike (statebird #1).  Later on I found several Loggerheads, providing good comparisons.  With a quick stop at the headquarters I found out that only Lake 13 had any water, and many of the waterfowl had already moved on.  Undeterred, I made my way to Lake 13 where I quickly found the first of several Bald Eagles (#2).  The lake was full of waterfowl – principally a good mix of dabblers and some Canada Geese.  But before I could start my search through the waterfowl I noticed some Greater Yellowlegs on the far shore.  When I starting scanning the shoreline with my scope I noticed a number of smaller passerines flitting about – Horned Larks at first, then joined by a number of Longspurs.  Even at several hundred yards I could tell they were Chestnut-collared Longspurs – I estimated 100 birds (#3).  Couldn’t pick out any other longspur species at that distance though.  In my statebird map below, I’ve now seen Chestnut-collared in 5 states as a migrant/wintering bird and 3 in its breeding territory.

 

Next with a scan of the waterfowl I found 2 white geese that turned out to be Ross’s (#4) and 2 male Common Mergansers (#5).  There were also a number of gulls there – 65 Ring-bills and 1 adult and 1 second cycle California which are pretty good for NM. 

Then with a drive around the refuge I ran into many migrating Mountain Bluebirds (#6) and the first of several Downy Woodpeckers for the trip (#7).  Now I only need Downy in AZ for a clean sweep of all the continental US states.  One of my last birds was a sub-adult Golden Eagle – not a new statebird but a great bird nonetheless.  A key miss was Magpie which is resident in the area.  And I guess I was too late for the Tree Sparrows and Lapland Longspurs that are supposed to winter there.

Next stop was nearby Stubblefield Lake – though I forgot to ask at the refuge if it still had water so I wasn’t sure if the trip would be for naught.  En route to Stubblefield I flushed another Golden Eagle and saw several other Bald Eagles.  When I arrived at the lake there was only a bit of water left, but it was teeming with waterfowl.  Mixed in with 22 Common Mergs were 2 Red-breasted Mergansers (#9) which were a bit of a surprise.  A quick stop at Spring Lake to the south yielded no more statebirds, but it did have the only Eared Grebes and Western Grebe for the trip.

Next stop would be Santa Fe.  En route along I-25 while going through a nice area of pinyon-juniper habitat I saw a bird perched atop one of the pines that even at highway speeds was an obvious Pinyon Jay (#9).  That was lucky!  Pinyon Jays can be pretty tough to find, so I’m happy to have seen them now in 6 states. 

The key target in Santa Fe was a private feeding station that has had a group of Common Grackles all winter.  I was able to get the location of the feeding station from e-bird, but had no access to the feeders.  I decided to go to the spot anyway, and hoped to be lucky with the grackles.  When I arrived I found a Great-tailed Grackle and a number of typical feeder birds, but no Common Grackles.  I had to come back through Santa Fe later on the trip so maybe I’d stop by there again.

Next I headed to Albuquerque, with the first stop being the Rio Grande Nature Center, not only for birding, but also to get some local advice for the targets in the park and the Sandias.  I arrived at 4:30 just before it closed at 5, so I spent much of that time getting some very helpful information.  Before they closed I was able to see the staked-out male Hooded Merganser at the pond on the refuge (#10) – a sweep of the mergs for the day!  And I found a cooperative Black-capped Chickadee (#11) with Mountain Chickadees.  My states with Black-caps cover most of its range with the exception of ND where my list is still less than 100, and some where it has a very limited range.

Next stop was the Tingley Beach and fishing area where Neotropic Cormorants had been reported off and on.  The Neotropics turned out to be quite easy there – I had 18 perched in one tree at one point (#12).  Also had a Double-crested for good comparison.  That was my 6^th state for Neotropics – a bird that is expanding in the west.  The Common Goldeneyes that had spent the winter there had moved on though.

Now it was almost dusk and I headed back to the Rio Grande Nature Center to try for Western Screech-Owl.  I played some “tape” (actually played the BirdTunes app recording) but had no luck.  Although I struck out on the last bird of the day, it had been a most successful day.

The next morning I started my day pre-dawn en route up to Sandia Crest.  The New Mexico birdfinding guide mentioned that Saw-whets are possible just uphill from the Capulin Spring Campground.  So I pulled over near the campground entrance and played some tape.  Just a few seconds later a Saw-whet responded (#13).  On these trips I feel like I’ve been successful with nightbirds if I can get even just one new statebird tick – so I guess I was successful with the nightbirds on this trip.  Then I headed up to the crest at 10,600+ feet especially to try for the Rosy-Finches.  The latest news was although the restaurant at the crest was closed, the Rosy-Finches were still coming to the feeders.  I quickly found the 2 feeders in the dim pre-sunrise light and positioned the car so I could view them from the driver’s seat if need be.  But then I noticed that the feeders looked empty, so I walked up to both and they were completely picked clean – not a seed to be seen in or under either feeder!  They must have been empty for some time.  Are visiting birders supposed to bring seed to fill the feeders?  My hopes for Rosy-Finches were dashed.  But I decided to stick around until sunrise in hopes that some of the other high altitude finches might be around.  While standing there in the 26 degree chill (underdressed I’m afraid), a flock of 50-60 Rosy-Finches appeared over the restaurant, circled a few times, then disappeared back over the cliff on the other side.  Not nearly close enough to ID as to species, but certainly Rosy-Finch sp.  Then I noticed a few Juncos coming in below the feeders, so maybe there was hope that the finches too would return remembering when the feeders used to have seed.  A bit later I heard some finch-like song that I didn’t recognize coming from the edge of the parking lot.  A minute later 3 chunky finches flew overhead and landed in the pines at the restaurant – Pine Grosbeaks (#14) – good birds for NM!  And although my statebird map looks pretty spotty, it’s starting to match the typical range for this bird.

When I stopped looking at the grosbeaks I noticed there was a bird sitting on one of the feeders – a Black Rosy-Finch (#15).  It flew to the ground and fed in the parking lot with some juncos for a while.  Over the next 90 minutes small groups of 2-8 Rosy-Finches came in, briefly checked out the very empty feeders, then flew back over the cliff.  During that time I was able to see 2 Brown-caps (#16) and 1 Gray-Crowned (#17), the rest being Blacks.  Given the lack of food at the feeders I felt very lucky.

Next search was for Three-Toed Woodpeckers just below the crest.  I had gotten local information about a pair nesting a short distance away.  During a brief 15-minute walk I heard a Hairy, and a Downy-like call (could that one have been Three-toed?).  But I was getting pretty cold and headed back to the car.  En route uphill back to the car I was definitely feeling the effects of the altitude, and didn’t know if I should go slower to catch my breath or faster to get into the warm car.  I decided on the latter, and could hardly breathe when I got inside the car.  With ears ringing and short of breath I decided I should get down off the mountain as soon as I could.  A few hundred feet downhill I came upon a flock of siskins “gritting” in the road – I guessed easily 100 birds.  While scanning through them I found a couple Red Crossbills also in the road (#18), which soon grew to 20 birds.  I got some OK phonescoped photos of some of the more photogenic males perched nearby as well as some in the road. 

While watching the Crossbills I heard some singing finches nearby which turned out to be Cassin’s Finches (#19).  That was quite a nice stop.  My Cassin’s finch coverage now pretty closely matches its typical range.  Then less than a mile down the mountain a pair of woodpeckers flew over the road and landed nearby.  I hopped out and saw that they were Three-toed Woodpeckers (#20).  I didn’t make any other stops on the way down, instead riding slowly with the windows down.  Siskins were abundant on the entire ride – I was never out of earshot of singing birds.  And Cassin’s Finches were singing at multiple spots.  That gave me 8 new statebirds from the mountains – and some pretty good ones too.

Next stop was at the Tijeras Ranger Station in the foothills on the south side of the Sandias.  While walking a nice loop trail through sage and pinyon-juniper habitat I found 2 of my targets – a pair of Juniper Titmice (#21) and several Townsend’s Solitaires (#22).  That’s just about my last likely state for Juniper Titmouse.  And now I had already exceeded my goal for the trip with a lot of birding to come.  However, no luck with Sage Thrashers that had been seen there earlier in the month.

Then on to nearby Tres Pistolas Canyon for some dry foothills birding.  Before I got to the trailhead I heard a thrasher singing that turned out to be the first of several Curve-billed Thrashers (#23).  Somehow I had missed that one in southeastern NM last year so it was good to finally check this one off.  That was my only statebird for this spot, but I enjoyed seeing many Scrub Jays and hearing numerous Townsend Solitaires in full song.

Next I was heading south of Albuquerque en route to Bosque del Apache NWR.  Along the way there was a spot where Burrowing Owls were reported on e-Bird.  The spot was just called “Grasslands” with no details, so I hoped the location had been selected correctly in e-Bird.  I arrived at the spot which turned out to be an area for a future development – paved roads built but no houses.  I started to scan the area and found a couple prairie dogs, so I was optimistic I was in the right spot.  Then with a bit more scanning I found 2 Burrowing Owls looking at me from their hole (#24).  That’s the third state where I’ve added this species to my statelist based solely on e-Bird data (NM, ID, NV).  E-Bird can be really valuable for a lot of these searches, though not always.  It seems information on e-Bird can be more focused on identification and less on providing specific locations and tips on finding the bird.

Then onto Bosque del Apache.  There had been no recent posts from the refuge on e-Bird nor the listserve, so my first stop was at the refuge headquarters to get some updates.  Some white geese were still around, so that gave me hope for Snow Geese, and the Harris’ Sparrow last reported at their feeder a week ago was still around too.  (That was a surprise – would have thought no e-Bird sightings for over a week meant it was gone.)  I walked over to the window to see the feeding station and found a couple Gambel’s Quail (#25), and within 30 seconds found the Harris’ Sparrow (#26) feeding with a number of White-crowns.  The map of my Harris’ states really depicts its penchant for vagrancy – in addition to seeing it in states in its typical central US wintering range, I’ve now seen it in 3 western and 4 northeastern states as a rarity.

Then out on the refuge I found the flock of white geese which I estimated to be 670 birds.  Although the first birds I saw were Snow Geese (#27), I realized that most were Ross’s – perhaps 400 of them.  That was by far the most Ross’ I’ve seen in one flock or in one day for that matter.  A large flock of Tree Swallows was also feeding over that same impoundment, and it took me the better part of 20 minutes looking through them to finally find an early Violet-Green (#28), filling in one of my last states for that species.  That was the last of my new statebirds for the refuge, as I was unsuccessful in finding a pair of Carolina Wrens that had been wintering on the refuge.  Though I did have 7 species of shorebirds there (including an early Western Sandpiper).  That gave me another exciting day with 16 new statebirds, and 85 species for the day.

The next morning I started pre-dawn at Embudito Canyon on the west side of the Sandias with Scaled Quail being my key target.  This was a beautiful spot which featured numerous Canyon Towhees, gorgeous Black-throated Sparrows, and Curve-billed Thrashers, but no gallinaceous birds.  Best I could do was some Gambel’s Quail at a feeder back in suburbia.  I had spent some time trying for Scaled Quail in southern NM last year – guess it’s my nemesis bird for NM.  En route through Albuquerque I stopped at a wintering spot for a Peregrine Falcon, but I think it already headed north.  With 2 consecutive misses I wondered if my statebird luck was running out.

Next stop was back at the Rio Grande Nature Center to try for Eastern Bluebirds, which I was told are now nesting there.  It had gotten pretty windy, so I was a bit concerned about finding them.  But I went to a spot suggested by the folks at the Nature center and quickly found a flock of 4 birds (#29).  That fills one of my last gaps for Eastern Bluebird in my statebird map.  And I guess I was back on track.

I bid farewell to Albuquerque and headed north with a stop yet again in Santa Fe to try for the Common Grackles.  But I only saw the typical feeder birds, so didn’t waste much time and headed north of Santa Fe toward the Ohkay Owingeh Fishing Lakes.  En route I had a flyover Black-billed Magpie (#30) – I would eventually see 9 others later in the day.  Although this was on the southern edge of its range, should would have hated to miss such a showy bird that is typically easy to see across the western part of the country (that was my 14^th state for this species). 

I got to the fishing lakes, parked at the gate, and started the ½ mile walk into the area.  There I ran into another birder who knew the area very well.  He asked if I could ID small dark geese, and he pointed out what turned out to be 2 Cackling Geese (#31) in with some Canadas.  Earlier in the day he had some Common Goldeneyes on the river (and even some Barrow’s there earlier in the month), but we could only find Buffleheads.  He suggested another option would be to look for the Goldeneyes up river as I headed up north.

The next planned stop was up to Eagle Nest Lake State Park, and en route decided to try for Goldeneyes where the river paralleled the roadway.  On my second stop sure enough I found a Common Goldeneye (#32) in the river with some Buffleheads.  Then up to the beautiful area with Eagle Nest Lake.  The lake was in a bowl with several square miles of grasslands, surrounded by mountains covered in conifers.  I had lots of raptors around the lake and grasslands including 9 Bald Eagles, 1 Golden Eagle, and 1 late Rough-legged Hawk (#33).  With the exception of the upper Midwest where I’ve done no winter birding, I’ve now seen Rough-legs in most or its regular states.

The lake itself was 99% frozen, but the small portion that was open had quite a number of waterfowl including a pair of Greater Scaup (#34) – another good bird for NM, along with a Common Goldeneye and 28 Common Mergs.  One adult California Gull was a good find.

The last stop of the trip was on a bit of a whim to try for Dipper.  I needed Dipper for my statelist, but wasn’t thinking I would get into the right habitat on this trip.  But I did an e-Bird search and found that a Dipper had been reported recently from Cimarron Canyon State Park which was just to the east of Eagle Nest Lake and along my route.  So everything was falling into place.  However, the state park was a long narrow park in the canyon, with likely lots of potential Dipper habitat.  The e-Bird location was shown as being at the western end of the state park, so I decided to make a quick try at that west end.  I got to the western edge of the park, played a bit of tape, and a Dipper flew right to me (#35).  What a great way to end a great trip!

That gave me 35 new statebirds, way over my goal of 21.  And although I did miss a few of the local wintering species that had been reported earlier in the month, with my late trip I was able to add at least a couple as early spring migrants.  And for my statebird maps, filling in NM sure has a bigger visual impact than finding a new statebird in one of the smaller northeast states.  Plus I had a very respectable 120 species for the trip (all entered into e-Bird).  Now with 232 species on my NM statelist, that's my 44th state with more than 200 species, and I’m slowly getting closer to that very high ABA reportable threshold of 264.  (Or at least that used to be the threshold when the ABA still had thresholds.)  There are quite a number of possible breeding birds in northern NM that I still need for my list – maybe a summer trip there might be enough to get over that reportable threshold.