Full on Spring

Spring has finally kicked in around here with warming temperatures, a few more blooms in evidence, and just enough rain to get water flowing again in some of the mountain creeks.  We’re still in the worst drought in the country, however, so spring has been slow to arrive, there are way fewer flowers and butterflies around than last year, and the whole show just seems off to a delayed start.

In preparation for this week’s Audubon Thursday Birder trip, I poked around Tuesday in Embudito Canyon seeing what birds were about. It was great to finally note running water at the canyon mouth, even if greatly reduced in volume compared to previous years. Although I didn’t spot the Scott’s Oriole we’d hear calling and catch a quick glimpse of on Thursday, I did get good close looks at a pair of Blue-gray Gnatcatchers to show to everybody later in the week.

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

Also hanging out in the canyon were both Gambel’s Quail and Scaled Quail, one of the latter I seemed to surprise in the cactus.

Scaled Quail

Having not checked in on the status of things for almost two weeks in the three Great Horned Owl nests I’ve been watching, that afternoon it was off to visit the ones near the Alameda and Montano Bridges.  A lot has been going on at both of them, with three little ones at Alameda getting very close to fledging and leaving the nest for good – this guy is probably the smallest of them and looks to have a couple of weeks to go.

Great Horned Owl – Alameda

Both owlets at Montano had also grown considerably since my last visit and were quite actively looking around upon hearing me stomping around down below.  You can just make out Mom there on the left, and the guy in the middle is really taking on its adult plumage.

Great Horned Owl – Montano

The next morning was a little cloudy, but that actually made it easier to get pictures of the two little ones at the third nest way up in a cottonwood near Tingley Ponds.  I think this nest got going a week or so after the others, so they’ll probably still be hanging around for awhile after the other nests are abandoned.

Great Horned Owl – Tingley

In other baby bird news,  Killdeer are now actively nesting and I went to visit two places where that”s been going on.  One is right next to the parking lot at the Rio Grande Nature Center easily located by the orange cones and “Under Construction” tape surrounding the nest.

Killdeer Nest

The nest is surprisingly (but typically) crude; just a depression in the dirt with a few pebbles and twigs around it.  Probably not a good idea to disturb nesting, since the adult moves away trying to distract intruders leaving the eggs unprotected, only their patterning providing simple but effective camouflage.

The second nest was in an even more ridiculous location on a soccer field in a park at Rio Rancho.  Apparently nesting was a success, however, as at least one little one was running around the field with the parents watching nearby.  The little one could not have been more than a few days old, but had already learned  important survival tactics.  It wouldn’t let me get closer than about 20 yards or so and carefully made its way toward the edge of a field where a tree shaded the rock-covered base.  Quickly darting up the hill, the juvenile simply disappeared in the shadows and only by assuming it still had to be there and looking carefully was I finally able to pick him out of the background.  Amazing.

Immature Killdeer

The Audubon Thursday Birder trip to Embudito turned up several more species than I’d found earlier in the week, including that Scott’s Oriole, a Cooper’s Hawk, and a Red-tailed Hawk, so although it was still pretty quiet up there, it was a good trip with a good list of species overall.  Several more hummingbirds, both Black-chinned and Broad-tailed, were also around that day.

Black-chinned Hummingbird

That afternoon, a couple of us headed off to Hondo Canyon in search of a few butterflies.  Usually a pretty good location this time of year with a small waterfall and lots of chokecherry, we seemed to have missed most of the chokecherry bloom and the drought seemed to keep other plants from leafing out, so we weren’t very successful.  The first, and one of my favorite, butterflies we did see, however, is the Great Purple Hairstreak, nectaring on one of the few blooming chokecherries.

Great Purple Hairstreak (Atlides halesus)

Western Tanagers and Black-headed Grosbeaks are showing up in good numbers pretty much everywhere these days, and add color and music to those wanderings in the woods.

Black-headed Grosbeak

Saturday, it was off on another butterfly quest to Las Huertas, which always has water and usually good butterflies.  A little windy, cloudy, and cool, there weren’t many butterflies around that morning, although the chokecherries were still looking good and there were several other flowers in bloom that attracted the few we would see.  I did spot an interesting large moth just hanging out by the side of the road, which looks like it’s probably a Spotted Apatelodes Moth.

Spotted Apatelodes Moth (Apatelodes torrefacta)

Since the weather was keeping butterfly activity down, we decided to continue on up the canyon and over to the east side of the Sandias on a fairly decent dirt road that I’ve only driven from the other side a couple of other times.  We stopped to check out several of our usual spots, noting that the wild iris are just about ready to burst into bloom near the Tree Spring Trailhead and that they’ve finally opened Cienega Canyon to visitors again.  We were amazed at the number of Field Crescents flying around the meadow and actively nectaring (as many as three individuals on a single bloom) at the few dandelions in the area.

Field Crescent (Phyciodes pulchella)

We had a couple of other new species for the year there (Margined White, Western Tailed-Blue), but will have to visit again soon when the lupines will hopefully start blooming.  With the drought so bad this year unless we get some rain soon, many of these areas may soon be closed to the public and it could prove difficult finding places to go for birds and butterflies until the usual summer “monsoon” kicks in.

Birdathon Bonus

My major event this past week was participating in the Audubon Thursday Birder’s Birdathon, an effort to spot as many bird species in a 24-hour period as you can for a fundraiser for the Central New Mexico Audubon Society.  This year’s Birdathon was held in the area around Fort Sumner, New Mexico from 10 am Thursday May 9 through 10 am Friday.  Overall, our group of 17 managed to identify 137 species including six that hadn’t been seen in the 15 previous annual events and a few rather special encounters.

A few of us arrived a day early to scout some of the locations we’d visit over the next two days, including Sumner Lake, the Melrose Trap, Bosque Redondo Park, and a couple of other locations around Fort Sumner.  On our drive in to Sumner Lake, we’d spot an unusual nest of a Ferruginous Hawk, a Loggerhead Shrike, and a number of Bullock’s Orioles along the highway.

Bullock’s Oriole

Once we started walking around, things were looking good for the next day at the Melrose Trap, too.  Although it looked a bit dismal at first with the trees not yet leafed out and damage from a recent fire all too evident, the area was filled with assorted flycatchers, Western Kingbirds, a pair of American Kestrels, nesting Great Horned Owl, Blue Grosbeaks, and plenty of Hermit Thrushes.

Hermit Thrush

I kept seeing a bird that looked similar, but different, from those Hermit Thrushes and finally tracked it down – a Brown Thrasher, a rather unusual sighting in New Mexico and one that we wouldn’t see again during the actual Birdathon.

Brown Thrasher

We started off at 10 am the next day along the road leading to Sumner Lake, seeing all of the species we’d seen during our scouting visit and adding a few additional species.  The group then split up to work both sides of the Pecos River where it flows from the lake.  We added most of the species we’d seen the previous day there, too, but got some special additions of a Broad-winged Hawk and Red-headed Woodpecker.  Just as we got started there, Western and Summer Tanagers were spotted flying between perches,

Western Tanager

the willows were full of Common Yellowthroat, Wilson’s Warbler, and Yellow Warblers,

Yellow Warbler

and the usually uncommon Northern Waterthrush was still hanging out in the middle of the river.

Northern Waterthrush

Something was going on with the sky that morning that I’ve never seen before that seemed to provide a good omen for the day, ice crystals high in the atmosphere creating what I understand is called a “fire rainbow”.

Fire Rainbow

After a couple of hours tallying all the species we could find in that area, we next headed for Sumner Lake for a few shorebirds, herons, cormorants, and lunch.  Lunch, of course, got the attention of a few of the gulls that were present, including this one that made a close fly-by.

Ring-billed Gull

After lunch and a last look around at the lake, we headed back to town to check out a few good birding spots between Fort Sumner and Bosque Redondo Park.  In an area behind the high school, we’d make nearly a clean sweep of blue-colored birds – Blue Grosbeak, Indigo Bunting, Lazuli Bunting, and Blue Jay among the species we’d see.  At Bosque Redondo Lake, we added American Avocet, Pied-billed Grebe, and Cliff Swallows.

Cliff Swallow

A flooded field in the area drew in large numbers of White-faced Ibis, Wilson’s Phalaropes, Greater Yellowlegs, Solitary Sandpipers, and Red-winged and Yellow-headed Blackbirds.

White-faced Ibis

Late in the afternoon, we headed to the famous Melrose Trap which unfortunately was much less birdy that afternoon than it had been the day before.  We managed to add a few species to our list, such as that Great Horned Owl we’d spotted the day before,

Great Horned Owl

but not all that many other species.  One of the guys on the trip knew of a Burrowing Owl location a few miles away so to wrap up the day we headed off to check it out as the wind started blowing.  Tick! Not only did we get great views of two Burrowing Owls at that spot but on the way in, Rebecca somehow spotted a pair of Scissor-tailed Flycatchers in a tree along the highway while we were going 65 mph – we quickly pulled over as did everybody else in our caravan and got good looks at them before they flew off to put some distance between us.

Friday morning, we returned to the Melrose Trap where we’d spend a few hours adding a few more species despite the cool and cloudy weather.  A highlight for many of us was when an uncommon Blackpoll Warbler was spotted in a tangle of bushes and small trees and who stayed around for quite awhile giving everyone just excellent looks at it.

Blackpoll Warbler

I also had an up close and personal moment with a Summer Tanager that perched in a small tree and allowed a close approach for several pretty good pictures.

Summer Tanager

Even more amazing, as I was wandering off by myself toward the fence line at the north end of the property to check on the Great Horned Owl again, I must have been walking in an area that hadn’t been disturbed lately as several birds including White-crowned Sparrow, Blue Grosbeak, and a House Wren flushed as I approached.  And then an even larger and totally unexpected bird, a Sora, quickly appeared before scuttling away into denser groundcover.  I was able to get one quick picture that isn’t quite in focus because the bird was so close, seen so briefly, and in bad lighting, but unmistakable.

Sora

These guys are usually found skulking around in the reeds around ponds and such, and certainly not in scrub desert habitats. Everybody got excited about it and apparently this was only the third time that species has ever been seen at Melrose Trap.

To wrap up the Birdathon, we then headed back to Bosque Redondo Lake and sure enough got a few additional species to add to our grand total of 137.  A bright American Goldfinch perched in a stand of Russian olive trees got my attention,

American Goldfinch

but you couldn’t ask for a better bird to end on than a Rose-breasted Grosbeak, only the second time I’ve seen that species in New Mexico in almost 30 years!

Rose-breasted Grosbeak

As a bonus addition to the trip, Rebecca and I headed off to Bitter Lake NWR and Rattlesnake Springs in Carlsbad Caverns NP in search of a few butterflies for the next couple of days.  Not many butterflies were out, maybe due to the drought and the cloudy weather, but we did get a few good ones and some more great birds.  At Bitter Lake, we spotted a roosting Common Nighthawk, a treat for me that I’d never seen before.

Common Nighthawk

At Rattlesnake Springs, after getting a really brief view of one when we first arrived, we spent most of the day hoping to get a better look at a Painted Bunting.  We were finally successful at nearby Washington Ranch that afternoon although the pictures didn’t come out very well.  I did get some pretty good shots, however, of some of the Painted Turtles that were basking near the pond there.

Painted Turtle

Rattlesnake as always turned up some good birds including plenty of Western Tanagers, Blue Grosbeaks, Black Phoebes, warblers and sparrows, and a good number of the spectacular Vermilion Flycatcher.

Vermilion Flycatcher

On the way home, we stopped for lunch at the BLM Valley of Fires Recreation Area near Carrizozo, and finally had great weather that brought out a few butterflies on some of the flowers that had come into bloom from the rains the day before.  First up was a pair of mating Sandia Hairstreaks.

Sandia Hairstreak (Callophrys mcfarlandi)

We’d been seeing these butterflies individually fairly regularly in the spring on their host plant Texas Beargrass (Nolina texana), but this was the first time I’ve seen them mating.  Also present in exactly the same place we’d seen one last year around this time was an Eastern Collared Lizard.

Eastern Collared Lizard

With the weather so nice, we did the long loop trail through the lava beds at Vally of Fires, and while we didn’t see many butterflies on the trail, right at the end of the loop Rebecca spotted one of several dark butterflies we’d had zip by earlier that morning perched on a small Dwarf Desertpeony (Acourtia nana) flower.  Although we hadn’t noticed those tiny flowers before, that butterfly would find them easily and flit between them nectaring at each for a few moments before going to the next.  We eventually identified it as a Saltbush Sootywing, our fourth ‘lifer’ in about as many weeks!

Saltbush Sootywing (Hesperopsis alpheus)

The previous weekend, we’d taken a targeted trip to the Zuni Mountains near Bluewater Lake in a search for another lifer, the Desert Elfin, and managed to locate a single individual that made the trip a complete success.

Desert Elfin (Callophrys fotis)

During that trip, I found myself chasing a Spring White on its quest for a particular nectar plant, a species of rock cress.  Butterfly behavior continues to amaze me as I followed that butterfly for maybe five minutes as it flew all over the area without resting until it finally found that specific plant. How they manage to do that defies the imagination.

Spring White (Pontia sisymbrii)

We continued on FR 180 to the junction that led to Bluewater Lake and found a good-sized flock of Pinyon Jays at someone’s feeder.  Of the four jays we get here (Western Scrub Jay, Steller’s Jay, the occasional Blue Jay, and Pinyon Jay), the Pinyon Jay is not all that common and usually seen as a large flock flying away off in the distance, so it was fun to finally get a closer look at them.

Pinyon Jay

A good week for birds and butterflies, but time to get back out there as I keep getting reports of more owl babies, nesting killdeer, and lots of migrant birds passing through town these days.

Spring Snowballs

While it really is snowing in the Midwest this week, spring is breaking out big time around here.  And that can only mean it’s time to check up on those Great Horned Owl nests again to see if any owlets have yet appeared.  When they do, those little guys start off looking a lot like fuzzy tennis balls or snowballs before quickly growing up to adult size.  Making the rounds on both Sunday and again on Wednesday of the three active nests I’ve been watching since early March, at last there’s ‘snowballs’ in all of them!

On the way to the first nest near the Alameda Bridge on Sunday, I was treated to two flyovers by Snowy Egrets, passing by close enough for pretty good photo opportunities.

Snowy Egret

At the nest, both adults were sitting proudly by and you could just make out two little ones in there way up in the tree.

Great Horned Owls (Alameda)

When I returned a few days later, one of the adults was nowhere to be seen, but two little ones were much more active and easier to spot (and there just might be another one tucked in between them), with the other adult keeping close watch nearby.

Great Horned Owls (Alameda)

Next up was the first nest I’d found near the Montano Bridge, and (yes!) a couple more  ‘snowballs’ were present there, too.

Great Horned Owls (Montano)

On my return visit a couple of days later, one of them was really standing tall and in good light

Great Horned Owl (Montano)

with an alert adult watching quietly from a nearby tree.

Watchful Adult Great Horned Owl (Montano)

On to Tingley Ponds and the third nest I’ve been keeping an eye on.  This nest is very high in a tree and difficult to see, but on Sunday it seemed like there might be a little ‘snowball’ tucked under Mom up there, with Dad (I presume) perched in exactly the same spot I’d seen him a few weeks earlier.

Great Horned Owl (Tingley)

It wasn’t until Wednesday that I was sure there was at least one little one up there when it poked its head up for a second before snuggling back down again.  If you zoom in by clicking on this picture, you’ll see it in the lower right corner next to Mom. I’ll have to make a return trip soon when they’ve had a little more time to grow, but I wouldn’t be surprised to also find two owlets in there.

Great Horned Owl (Tingley)

This week was also pretty good for butterflies on a couple of jaunts first to Las Huertas Canyon and another day to Hondo Canyon.  A sure sign that spring really is here was that we’d see a good variety of species, including Southwestern Orangetip, Spring Azure, Thicket Hairstreak, Juniper Hairstreak, Great Purple Hairstreak, Painted Lady, Satyr Comma, Hoary Comma, Common Checkered-Skipper, and lots of Duskywings.

Two-tailed Swallowtails are being seen all over town this week,  and although they rarely seem to land a couple of them paused long enough to be photographed, including this one in Las Huertas,

Two-tailed Swallowtail (Papilio multicaudata)

and another one that found a favorite spot by the waterfall in Hondo Canyon it would return to a number of times for minutes at a time.

Two-tailed Swallowtail (Papilio multicaudata)

A real highlight of the day in Las Huertas was spotting a Yucca Giant-Skipper, a butterfly we’d been searching the last two years for before finally seeing our first one just the week before near Silver City.

Yucca Giant-Skipper (Megathymus yuccae)

I can only assume they’ve always been there but we must have just passed them off as maybe a moth or other flying insect that didn’t catch our attention before.  They do tend to fly by pretty fast and low, almost disappearing into the background when they do land, but once you know what to look for, there they are.

Last Thursday on a cold and cloudy morning, a large group of Audubon Thursday Birders went to Otero Canyon for a great walk led by Ashli and Larry Gorbet who have done a considerable amount of research on nesting birds in the canyon over the last several years. Because of the weather, there really weren’t many birds around, but everyone enjoyed the trip and getting to hear some of the fascinating details of their research.

Perhaps dissuaded by the weather forecast calling for freezing temperatures and high winds, a smaller group showed up this week for the trip to Randall Davey Audubon Center in Santa Fe. Fortunately, that forecast wasn’t quite correct and although a little chilly at the start, the sun was shining and the day warmed up nicely with quite a few species seen during the morning walk.  Several Black-billed Magpies were flying about, which don’t make it as far south as Albuquerque, and we’d see the last of the Townsend’s Solitaires for the year and the first Western Tanagers and Black-headed Grosbeaks, several warblers, two kinds of hummingbirds, and about twenty other species.  A pair of Spotted Towhees were busy in a tree close to the group as we started off, one posing nicely for this picture.

Spotted Towhee

And late in the walk, we got good looks at a Wilson’s Warbler bouncing around in the shrubbery and barely pausing long enough anywhere for a picture.

Wilson’s Warbler

As I was getting ready to wrap up this posting, a friend of mine told me of yet another Great Horned Owl nesting in a most unusual location north of Corrales.  He reported seeing both adults and three ‘snowballs’ hanging out there, so for sure I had to go see.  On my way over with time to kill, I stopped by the two spots in that area where I’d seen Burrowing Owls recently just in case they were also raising chicks.  I’m wondering, though, if their due dates are a little later in the year and they might be deep in a burrow sitting on a nest, since I didn’t see anybody at the first nest and only this sentinel at the second nest where I’d seen two owls on my last visit.

Burrowing Owl

Missed out on seeing all three little ones at the new nest, but did see at least one little guy.

Great Horned Owl

and if you look carefully there on the left you’ll see Mom peeking out from behind it.  It didn’t take her long to make it pretty obvious we should back off.

Great Horned Owl

Planning to look for a few new butterflies in the coming week, but may just have to check up on the snowballs one last time before they disappear.

On the Road Again

It was a sunny but chilly morning with the Audubon Thursday Birders at the Alameda Open Space last week with some pretty good birds, including large flocks of Barn, Cliff, and Violet-Green Swallows, a tree full of American Goldfinches,

American Goldfinch

Franklin’s Gulls, and even an Osprey and Eastern Phoebe after we’d wrapped up for the morning.

The next morning it was off again on another long weekend road trip in search of some new butterflies in the area of Silver City NM and Springerville AZ. During the four-day trip, we’d end up with 26 species of butterflies, including two ‘lifers’ and a new one for my New Mexico state list, and pick up a few good birds while we were at it.  As dry as it’s been this winter and the fickle weather keeping temperatures a little cool and breezy, spotting butterflies was a bit difficult at times, but getting those new ones made for a successful and fun trip.

Our first stop was Railroad Canyon just past Emory Pass in the Gila National Forest, which we’d first been introduced to by local expert Elaine Halbedel last year. A butterfly that’s always fun to see and unmistakable in the right light is the Southern Dogface, with this one showing that puppy profile quite well.

Southern Dogface (Zerene cesonia)

While we were in Railroad Canyon, we’d also see two Arizona Hairstreaks (Erora quaderna), a butterfly I’d first seen on the road trip to Tucson a couple of weeks ago, but this was a first for me in New Mexico. There were quite a few Duskywing and Spring White butterflies about that day and about a dozen other species, including the Morrison’s Skipper (Stinga morrisoni) that we’d seen for the first time last year.  Just as we were about to give up for the day, Rebecca noticed this large moth-like insect zooming by and somehow guessed it was a Yucca Giant-Skipper, one of our target butterflies (and the first lifer!) for the trip.  Fortunately, it would land for about a minute before zipping away only to come right back to the same area, so we were able to get decent pictures and identify it for certain.

Yucca Giant-Skipper (Megathymus yuccae)

The next morning, it was off to the Gila River Bird Management Area where Elaine had also shown us some good butterflies last year.  As we pulled into the canyon, we spotted a Common Black-Hawk, which nests in this area but isn’t seen very often further north.

Common Black-Hawk

After it flew off its perch, it was back to butterflying but after several hours it was surprising how few butterflies of any kind we saw there that morning.  A very small patch of some kind of vetch we spotted on the way out finally seemed to attract a few butterflies, including a Pipevine Swallowtail, Common Streaky-Skipper, and an Acmon Blue.

Acmon Blue (Plebejus acmon)

We’d stopped earlier that morning on the way from Silver City at another spot Elaine showed us last year, Mangas Springs, but it had still been too chilly then, so we decided to check it out again on the way back after things had warmed up. Skulking around in the roadside cattails was a Marsh Wren, which is usually easy enough to hear but impossible to see let alone photograph, but this time one popped up just long enough for a decent picture.

Marsh Wren

Still pretty quiet for butterflies, we did get a Mylitta Crescent, the first for the year, perched on those dried cattails.

Mylitta Crescent (Phyciodes mylitta)

Highlight of our time there, however, and maybe for the whole trip, was Rebecca spotting a tiny, non-descript butterfly sunning itself on a small area of damp mud by the side of the road.  Luckily, it stayed there long enough for a closer examination and a few pictures, because it would turn out to be a Carus Skipper, our second life butterfly for the trip and one that is rare to uncommon in its rather restricted range.

Carus Skipper (Polites carus)

Getting a life butterfly two days in a row is pretty rare, too, so it was a good day.  Later that afternoon, we headed back into the mountains where butterfly activity had been higher the day before, and found a few at Cherry Creek and McMillan Campgrounds.  A single flowering cherry tree at one of those stops attracted a variety of butterflies and other insects, including a Two-tailed Swallowtail,

Two-tailed Swallowtail (Papilio multicaudata)

a White-lined Sphinx Moth, sometimes called a Hummingbird Moth for its fast wingbeat and hovering behavior,

White-lined Sphinx Moth (Hyles lineata)

and a Snowberry Clearwing, another type of sphinx moth that looks like some sort of bumblebee.

Snowberry Clearwing (Hemaris diffinis)

In a nearby pine, Rebecca heard the call of a Red-faced Warbler, always a treat to see and usually present at this location in the spring.  We managed to get a few good looks at it, although it was pretty high up and doing its warbler thing of rapidly moving from one spot to another.

Red-faced Warbler

Throughout the trip, we’d see a few Hoary Commas, although most were just passing through and rarely stopped long enough for a photograph.

Hoary Comma (Polygonia gracilis)

The next morning, we headed off toward Springerville AZ, where nearby Green’s Peak Road is well-known as a good butterfly spot in the summer.  With this weird spring weather (it snowed there last week!) there wasn’t much action, but could be great for butterflies in a couple of months.  Along the way, we stopped at Luna Lake just outside Alpine AZ where we’d gotten some great looks at Nokomis Fritillary last Fall.  Again, not much butterfly action going on, but there were quite a few ducks and other waterbirds out on the lake, including about a dozen Eared Grebes in their summer plumage who came quite close to shore and didn’t seem bothered at all by our presence, quite unusual in my experience of seeing most grebes at some distance.

Eared Grebe

On Green’s Peak Road, a Ferruginous Hawk was perched on the ground rather than up on its usual power pole, taking off as we stopped to watch.

Ferruginous Hawk

With not much going on butterfly-wise and the wind starting to pick up, we headed back to Springerville, stopping at Becker Lake along the way for a picnic lunch.  After lunch, we took a short hike along the lake to check out a couple of large nests in some of the few trees around.  Turned out to be raven nests, but we did spot a couple of Bald Eagles in a distant tree and a large flock of Yellow-headed Blackbirds, who apparently took offense at a flyover by a Black-crowned Night-Heron that flushed from the reeds.

Yellow-headed Blackbirds and Black-crowned Night-Heron

A Yellow-rumped Warbler also posed nicely for a picture that afternoon, and the picture turned out surprisingly well considering that my camera dial had been inadvertently switched to manual exposure and no telling what those settings were.

Yellow-rumped Warbler

The next morning, the wind continued to build as we headed for home but we stopped for a look at the La Ventana natural arch in the BLM’s El Malpais National Conservation Area near Grants NM. No butterflies there, either, but a large flock of pinyon jays sailed by, a few swifts were flying about and there were unquestionably fabulous landscapes to view.

La Ventana

Owl Status Update

After seeing that nearly-fledged Great Horned Owl nesting in a saguaro cactus near Tucson last week, it seemed a good idea to check on progress for the four nests here in Albuquerque. On Friday, I checked out things for the one near Pueblo Montano and the one near the Alameda Bridge. Mom was still sitting alertly on the nests at both, but no evidence of anybody hatched yet. The following Monday, it was downtown to check on the one at Rio Grande Valley State Park and the one further south near Tingley Beach. Things didn’t look good at the first one, which has apparently been abandoned sometime since my last visit on March 24. But at Tingley I’m thinking things are about to start happening. Mom was sitting on the nest as usual,

Great Horned Owl – female

but this time I spotted Dad hanging out in a tree close to the nest,

Great Horned Owl – male

leading me to think maybe they’ve got little ones to protect now. Will definitely have to visit again sometime next week and see if I can spot them. That nest is pretty high up in the tree, so it may be awhile before anybody can verify what’s happening. Also good to see that day was the return of the Green Heron that hangs out in the Tingley Ponds all summer.

Green Heron

As long as I was in the area last Friday, I thought I’d try to find a Burrowing Owl my friend Steve had told me about earlier this month. Although the area it had been seen in was quite large and the bird could’ve been just about anywhere in all that good habitat, luckily I spotted it pretty quickly in a narrow arroyo close to where I’d parked.

Burrowing Owl – Black Arroyo

That got me thinking it’d be a good idea to check out an area we’d seen some last year near the intersection of Richland Hills and Paseo del Norte. It didn’t take long there, either, to spot a pair close to where they’d been before.

Burrowing Owl – Richland Hills

There may have been more, but knowing these to be a little sensitive to people I left before I scared them off and without looking around much more.

The Audubon Thursday Birder trip to Corrales last week spotted a good number of species on a remarkably nice day. Lots of goldfinches, some Cedar Waxwings, an unusual Gray Flycatcher on its migration to the moutains, both Eastern and Western Bluebirds, a Cooper’s Hawk, and a pair of Belted Kingfishers were among the 40+ species that day.

Belted Kingfisher

Saturday it was off to Embudito and a couple of spots in the east mountains to see if any more butterflies have started flying. After wondering why we hadn’t heard any Cactus Wrens on the walk into Embudito one started calling from a nearby cholla, so it looks like they’re still around and hopefully will start nesting again soon. In all of the pictures I took of this guy, you can see a couple of cholla spines sticking in its back.  I’ve always wondered how they manage to spend so much time on those cactus without getting poked, but guess it’s inevitable.

Cactus Wren

Only a couple of butterflies around there, with it being so dry and nothing quite in bloom yet, but we did track down a Sandia Hairstreak.

Sandia Hairstreak (Callophrys mcfarlandi)

Things got better butterfly-wise in Hondo Canyon and on the Bill Spring trail near the Doc Long Picnic Area. Not quite as many Hoary Commas and none of the Satyr Commas or California Tortoiseshells seen a couple of weeks ago, but still plenty of Mourning Cloaks, a couple of Spring Whites and Rocky Mountain Duskwings, a Thicket Hairstreak, and a good number of Southwestern Orangetips.

Southwestern Orangetip (Anthocharis thoosa)

Lots of wind the last few days and now a cold front blowing in, but hopefully we’ll catch a break in the coming week with warmer temperatures and less of that wind.

First Spring Roadtrip

Highlight of the past week was a long weekend road trip to Tucson in search of a few butterflies, including our primary target species, the Arizona Hairstreak (Erota quaderna).  Luckily the weather was with us the whole time with bright sunny days, only reverting to windy dust storms (par for the course for the New Mexico spring) and back to winter cold and even a little bit of rain and snow after getting back home.  At least that’s over now and the days ahead are looking pretty good.  As usual, road trips  are cause for taking lots of pictures and this trip was no exception so this posting may run a little long this week.

Our first stop was a place called Granite Gap way in the southeast corner of New Mexico south of Road Forks (about as remote as you can get in the state).  Much drier this spring than last, there were few poppies to be seen and only a few patches of some bright yellow flowers that fortunately harbored nine species of butterflies, including the first of a large number of Golden-headed Scallopwings we’d see on the trip.

Golden-headed Scallopwing (Staphylus ceos)

A Ruby-crowned Kinglet was working its way through some low bushes near the flowers and let me get this interesting picture that just about made it out of the frame before I got it.

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Then it was on to Tucson to check out a few spots we’d been to last year and a couple of new ones. Arriving in mid-afternoon, we drove up into the Santa Catalina Mountains on the road to Mt. Lemmon stopping at several spots we’d visited last year.  Although we didn’t see too many butterflies on a bit of a breezy day, there were quite a few Pipevine Swallowtails around (as there would be everywhere that week)

Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor)

and we got a great look at what was a new species for me, the Desert Marble.

Desert Marble (Euchloe lotta )

We also had a couple of species of hummingbirds zipping around, including several Broad-billed Hummingbirds such as this guy whose colors just beamed when the sun would catch him just right.

Broad-billed Hummingbird (male)

On the way into one of our favorite spots, Peppersauce Canyon,  (after a quick stop at the Pima Canyon trailhead a little too early in the day for butterflies) I spotted a rather large snake doing some cool sidewinder moves down the road.

Snake

And on the way back, there was another one making its way across the gravel road so I pulled over to take a picture, but the pickup truck behind me just speeded up to pass and ran right over the snake, which got tossed several feet up into the air.  You’d think it would be curtains for that snake, but it slithered off apparently none the worse for wear.  There must’ve been just enough give between the gravel and the tire and flexibility on the snake’s part to survive that, but you know that had to hurt.

Peppersauce was great for butterflies and we spotted 17 species during the afternoon there, including at least 40 individual Sagebrush Checkerspots.

Sagebrush Checkerspot (Chlosyne acastus)

Rather attractive from the top, they’re pretty amazing underneath, too.

Sagebrush Checkerspot (Chlosyne acastus)

I was a little surprised to see an American Snout that day, since we’ve only seen them at home in the fall, but apparently they can be seen all year in the south and fly spring to fall further north.

American Snout (Libytheana carinenta)

A couple other good ‘bugs’ there were the Southwestern Orangetip

Southwestern Orangetip (Anthocharis thoosa)

and ‘Siva’ Juniper Hairstreak.

‘Siva’ Juniper Hairstreak (Callophrys gryneus)

On the way back to town we decided to stop at Catalina State Park, which at first didn’t look too promising for butterflies with all the mowed grass picnic areas.  Deciding to walk the short birding trail into the canyon, we ran into a couple of guys who told us about a spot a bit up the trail that had a little water and mentioned they’d seen a few butterflies there.  A fairly small riparian area, it did have nice green grasses and obviously damp mud that proved a magnet for butterflies.  In the time we spent there, we saw 16 species, the second highest number of any of the places we visited and definitely worth a return visit in the future.  A special one for us, which we’d only seen once before last year in the Gila National Forest was the Common Streaky-Skipper, of which we’d see six individuals that day and several more in the next two days.

Common Streaky-Skipper (Celotes nessus)

On the way back to the car, Rebecca recognized the call of a Verdin, a bird I’ve only seen a few times in the past, and which would eventually show itself and provide a good photo opp.

Verdin

Acting on a tip from one of the local experts, Mary Klinkel, the next morning we headed for Madera Canyon, which she says ‘is just fabulous for butterflies right now’ and where about a dozen of those Arizona Hairstreaks had been seen recently.  She got that right, as we’d get our highest daily total of 22 species there that day, including several pretty special ones.

We checked out a couple of areas along the road up Madera Canyon to spot a few species, including a popular blooming chokecherry tree and some flowering rosemary at the Santa Rita Lodge.  Among the butterflies we saw were several Texan Crescents (of which we’d seen earlier in the trip),

Texan Crescent (Anthanassa texana)

and two species of our first metalmarks of the season, including at least a dozen Zela Metalmarks.

Zela Metalmark (Emesis zela)

Parking at the picnic area at the end of the road, we weren’t too successful at first, but did spot two Arizona Hairstreaks rather quickly flitting around some oak trees.  We didn’t get good looks at either of them, but since we’d seen a couple, we spent quite awhile working the oaks along a trail looking for them without much luck.

After taking a break for lunch, we took a quick look at the oaks again and then decided to look along the creek that ran down through the picnic area.  Right at the edge of the road before heading down to the creek, we spent some time watching a Painted Redstart busily trying to cure that itch as it flew down to the water for some vigorous bathing then up to a tree to fluff its feathers and take care of some mites or whatever was causing the problem, before flying down for another bath.  Comical to watch, every now and then it would take a break and pose for a picture.

Painted Redstart

Getting back to that creek – whoa, this should’ve been where we started!  As soon as we got down there, we spotted an Arizona Hairstreak in the damp leaves near the creek, and as time went on, we’d see at least five individuals and get close enough for some pretty good pictures of them.

Arizona Hairstreak (Erora quaderna)

With that turquoise color and those golden highlights, I’m surprised Arizona chose the Two-tailed Swallowtail as their State Butterfly over this incredible species.  I’d been wanting to see this species ever since first seeing it in the field guide, and it surely didn’t disappoint.

Speaking of State Butterflies, this is New Mexico’s, the Sandia Hairstreak I got a nice picture of earlier this week.

Sandia Hairstreak (Callophrys mcfarlandi)

But wait, there’s more!  The creek also had a very patient Sleepy Orange that allowed an even closer approach with my macro lens,

Sleepy Orange (Abaeis nicippe)

and several Short-tailed Skippers posing nicely in the sun.

Short-tailed Skipper (Zestusa dorus)

There were even a variety of lizards poking around in the creek, including this Collared Lizard peeking at us over a rock.

Collared Lizard

All in all, a successful road trip with a total of 39 species over four days.  On the way home, it was pretty much ‘pedal to the metal’, but we did stop in at Spring Canyon and Rockhound State Parks and despite it being pretty dry and the wind starting to blow managed to see seven butterfly species, including this Great Purple Hairstreak, one of my favorites and my first of the season.

Great Purple Hairstreak (Atlides halesus)

Of course, my week wouldn’t be complete without seeing another Great Horned Owl, and in the same isolated saguaro where one nested last year just north of Tucson, sure enough we spotted the female with a nearly full-grown owlet.

Great Horned Owl

They must’ve gotten started weeks earlier than the ones I’m watching in Albuquerque, but it’s got me thinking it’s time to go check our nests again and see if any little ones have popped up yet.

Spring Birds and Butterflies

Spring really got underway this past week with sightings of some good birds and more species of butterflies than I’ve been seeing in the past few weeks.   I got out last Sunday to check on progress with two of the four Great Horned Owl nests and did get better pictures of both.  Busy with other things early in the week, it wasn’t until Wednesday that I was able to get out and check on the other two nests.  This time, I did get a little better picture of the one nesting near the Alameda Bridge and see she had her eye on me the whole time.

Great Horned Owl – Alameda OS

No owlets at any of the nests just yet and it’ll probably be a few more weeks before that happens.  A couple of other good birds that morning included this pair of Wood Ducks floating in an acequia,

Wood Ducks

and a Red-tailed Hawk that flew off as I approached.

Red-tailed Hawk

I’ve noticed several of the Wood Ducks hanging out in the trees lately, which I imagine means they are also getting ready to start nesting.

This week the Audubon Thursday Birders visited the Los Poblanos Open Space, which was a little slow for birding since the fields have all recently been plowed limiting the availability of decent habitat.  Nonetheless, we tallied a good number of birds (it’s always good to end the day with more bird species than participants).  A pair of Greater Roadrunners posed nicely for us in the community garden area and seemed undisturbed by our presence as they foraged about.

Greater Roadrunner

I also like this picture of a Northern Flicker perched high enough in a tree to not appear threatened by us.

Northern Flicker

Friday and Saturday were focused on checking several sites in the Sandias for butterflies.  After getting off to a late and pretty slow start this year, this weekend we’re starting to see quite a few more species and had several rather incredible moments out there.  On Friday, we decided to take a look in Las Huertas Canyon at the north end of the Sandias, which has water all year-round and turned up some good butterflies last summer.

Shortly after entering the canyon, a fruit tree full of blooms caught our attention with some bees and  lots of those Litocala moths that are everywhere at this time of year flying around.  Looking a little closer, we spotted our first Thicket Hairstreak of the season,

Thicket Hairstreak (Callophrys spinetorum)

and had a couple of Mourning Cloaks (of the more than 20 we’d see that morning) stop by to nectar.

Mourning Cloak (Nymphalis antiopa)

That was the only tree we’d see blooming, but further up the canyon, we stopped whenever we spotted willows which are just coming into bloom.  These have also been good lately for attracting all those moths as well as a few butterflies.  Two really good ones to see this early in the season were a Hoary Comma, of which we’d see four individuals that morning,

Hoary Comma (Polygonia gracilis)

and a Rocky Mountain Duskywing.

Rocky Mountain Duskywing (Erynnis telemachus)

On the way back after lunch, we decided to take a quick look in Embudito Canyon on the dry western side of the Sandias, where we’d been seeing Sandia Hairstreaks and a few other species since about mid-March.  The Southwestern Orangetip should be flying about now, and sure enough we started seeing them there and in a couple of other locations over the next several days.  The gooseberry plants that will attract them soon are starting to leaf out but haven’t yet started blooming, so spotting one usually involves looking for a single tiny white butterfly among all the dark moths, since they rarely seem to land or when they do, they just vanish in the brush.  I did finally luck out and get a picture of one this morning, a nice male that stopped for a few seconds on a low cedar.

Southwestern Orangetip (Anthocharis thoosa)

Having had such a great day at Las Huertas, the next day we decided to check out Hondo Canyon, Sulphur Canyon, and Doc Long Picnic Area, all on the east side of the Sandias.  We’d been to Doc Long a couple of weeks ago, but there was still a bit of snow around and it was a little chilly for anything other than the overwintering Mourning Cloaks that are usually the first to start flying in the spring.  It was probably a little too early in the day at Hondo, but we did spot our first Spring White of the season there.

Sulphur Canyon surprised us with several Mourning Cloaks and a couple of Hoary Commas all clustering on a small grouping of trees.  Usually, we see these species individually either sailing up and down the canyon or perched on the side of a tree or the ground.  Seeing so many at once is quite unusual for me, but was just a taste of what we’d find later that morning.

In a favorite spot from last summer at Bill Spring just up the trail from the Doc Long Picnic Area, we’d come upon another small stand of trees, which I’m pretty sure is Box Elder (Acer negundo), that once again had a large number (10-15) of Mourning Cloaks resting on the bark.  There may have been a bit of sap on these trees that was attracting all the butterflies to them.  Not only Mourning Cloaks, we’d also see several Hoary Commas, a California Tortoiseshell,

California Tortoiseshell (Nymphalis californica)

and a Satyr Comma.

Satyr Comma (Polygonia satyrus)

Both the Tortoiseshell and that Satyr Comma are pretty unusual for us to see around here.  We only saw the Tortoiseshell twice last year in mid-summer and have never seen a Satyr Comma in the Sandias before.

At the spring, it was a treat to see that the little bit of water there is still attracting various birds, including Red-breasted Nuthatches which we’d seen bathing and drinking here all last summer.

Red-breasted Nuthatch

It truly is wonderful to be able to get out there for these natural moments as the seasons change from one to the next.

The Owls of Spring

With the official start of spring arriving last Wednesday, it was a treat that day to find my fourth Great Horned Owl nest of the year, the first this year that I hadn’t heard about from other friends.  Even better, I had tracked down my third nest last Saturday after some of us had been wondering why they seemed to be absent entirely in February and getting started a bit later than usual.  Here’s a Google Earth image where I’ve highlighted roughly the location of each of the nests in the order I’ve seen them.  So far, they have all been along about 10 miles of the Rio Grande between Tingley Ponds and Alameda Boulevard, two on the east side and two on the west.

2013 Owl Nests

I can’t be more specific about where they actually are to limit disturbing the nesting birds.  Assuming we’ve been spotting the nests when nesting first began, the eggs should hatch in a little more than a month and the little ones seen hanging out for another month or so.  Here’s a picture of #3, nesting in Rio Grande Valley State Park right in the heart of downtown.

Great Horned Owl – RGV State Park

Just like the first two I’d found over the last several weeks, the directions were a little confusing and I found myself wandering all over the area looking for the nest.  After spotting 4 porcupines and as many unoccupied old hawk nests, just as I was about to give up on the search and turned around for one last look back, there it was.

While I was searching for that nest, the most unusual commotion broke out between two male Western Bluebirds fighting over a female.  The female stood patiently by while the two males were just beating each other up, flying up to a tree and then back to the ground where it looked like a death match was in progress.

Western Bluebirds

They kept at it so long, there was even time to take a short 10-second video of the action that I posted on YouTube.  Eventually the two of them broke it off and the whole bunch flew off.

A few days later, the Audubon Thursday Birders were off to the Durand Open Space in the South Valley for a few good birds before the winds started picking up.  Only picture I got that day was this nicely posed Eastern Bluebird.

Eastern Bluebird

Although you wouldn’t know it was Spring by the weather here on Wednesday, I decided to wander down to the Alameda Open Space and see what birds might be about and after looking at that map of owl nests, wondered if maybe there’d be another nest somewhere in the area.  Pretty quiet for birds that morning, especially north of the Alameda Bridge, but I did spot a Franklin’s Gull showing its rosy plumage.  An unusual sighting around here, there was a single individual in a rather large flock of the more common Ring-billed Gull.  Too far away for a good picture, I did get a couple that at least document the sighting.  There was also a female Wood Duck spotted up in a cottonwood tree.

Female Wood Duck

Having seen so few birds north of the bridge, I headed south and first spotted a Bewick’s Wren sitting on the fence at the entrance and several times a Belted Kingfisher that seemed to be patrolling the ditch.

Belted Kingfisher

Walking down the trail in the woods, a loud raucous calling of some bird I didn’t recognize got my attention.  Following the sound, it seems several domestic guineafowl were engaged in some kind of altercation in a yard across the way.

Domestic Guineafowl

Heading further south, and once again having about given up on ever finding a nesting Great Horned Owl, sure enough, just as I turned around to head back to the car, there one was way up in a leafy cottonwood!

Great Horned Owl – Alameda

Most satisfying to finally find one on my own and good to see the number of nesting pairs is about what we’ve seen in previous years.  On my way back to the car, it was fun running into a small busload of students from the Bosque School who were out checking on their environmental research project, and whose teacher seemed thrilled to hear about the nest.

Not a real good week for butterflies with the temperatures a little too cold and the winds picking up (ahh, Spring in New Mexico), but a quick trip to Embudito yesterday resulted in seeing at least six Sandia Hairstreaks (Callophrys mcfarlandi), the NM State butterfly that I’d seen for the first time this year a little more than a week ago.  Can’t wait for the temperatures to warm up, the winds to die down, the butterflies to start flying in earnest, and those owls to hatch.

On Track to Spring

With last week’s success at finally locating a nesting Great Horned Owl near the Rio Grande at Pueblo Montano, it was starting to look like Spring is finally on the way.  Officially beginning next Wednesday, this year it appeared that the birds and butterflies were a couple of weeks behind schedule, but I’m pleased to report this week that things seem to be getting back on track.  On Monday, I was out checking a few other possiblities for owl nests without any success, but did get a nice look at a Red-tailed Hawk perched high up in a tree in Corrales.

Red-tailed Hawk

We’ve been seeing a surprising variety of hawks this year, but these guys with their dark heads and strongly-marked “belly bands” have been quite numerous and easy to identify.  Knowing that abandoned hawk nests are used by Great Horned Owls, searching for those nests before the trees leaf out is an easy way to locate them.  In this area, it’s mostly Cooper’s Hawk nests that are used, since the Red-tailed Hawks will soon head to northern Canada to breed.  Following a general description provided by a friend, the next day I spotted my second Great Horned Owl nest near Tingley Ponds a little south of where I’d looked last week.

Great Horned Owl

Way up in a cottonwood tree but right next to the trail, this one was much easier to spot than the one last week and the nest looks more typical of those I’ve seen in past years.

At this time of year, Tingley Ponds are also great for a variety of ducks most of whom will soon head north in migration.  While they’re still around, they provide great photographic opportunities and I’m always glad when the surrounding water reflections work out.  Here are three of the ones from that day, first the male Common Goldeneye that is a little unusual to see here but has been around for several months now.

Common Goldeneye (male)

Huge numbers of Northern Shovelers have been present this year on just about any open water area.

Northern Shoveler (male)

And the flashiest of our local ducks, this shot of a male Wood Duck captures all of its most incredible colors.

Wood Duck (male)

The Audubon Thursday Birders headed down to Bosque del Apache this week on the first really warm and sunny day we’ve had this year.  A great day for birds, getting 73 species over the course of the day in our caravan of 12 vehicles.  Interestingly, several of the 43 species we’d seen on a scouting trip the week before when the weather wasn’t quite as cooperative weren’t seen this week despite all the eyes that were looking.  One of the new ones this week was a female Pyrrhuloxia that gave us quite good looks right at the Visitor Center.

Pyrrhuloxia (female)

A close cousin of the Northern Cardinal familiar to those back East, this is always a good bird to see, and is at about the northern limit of its range.  It was a good day for several species of shorebirds as well, including Killdeer, Greater Yellowlegs, Dunlin, a couple of sandpipers, and this well-disguised Wilson’s Snipe, hiding there in the lower right-hand corner of this picture.

Wilson’s Snipe

Good to know they are real, after all those years of gullible Boy Scouts being sent out on their generally unsuccessful “snipe hunts”.

At the end of our trip, a friend who rode with Rebecca and I that day gave her a dozen fresh eggs from her organic farm.  Such a fabulous range of colors from pastel greens and blues to shades of pink and brown, I just had to take a picture before seeing how they tasted (fabulous, as one might expect).

Fresh Farm Eggs

In other good Spring news, the butterflies have started appearing as the weather begins to warm up.  For a couple of weeks now, we’ve been seeing a few Mourning Cloaks about.  These are one of the few butterfly species that over-winter in the leaf litter on the ground.

Mourning Cloak (Nymphalis antiopa)

The one I’ve been looking for, however, is the tiny thumbnail-sized Sandia Hairstreak.  The New Mexico State butterfly, last year we’d seen them as early as March 5, but despite several attempts this year, it wasn’t until March 13 this year that we finally saw one in a rather dependable spot in Embudito Canyon.

Sandia Hairstreak (Callophrys mcfarlandii)

Wikipedia says this butterfly is relatively rare, has a limited range, and was first identified in 1959 in the foothills of the Sandia Mountains.  It uses Texas Beargrass (Nolina texana) as its host plant and it seems prefers the larger plants usually near some protective scrub oak.  Returning on Friday, I spotted two individuals, so the annual emergence of these guys is off and running.  A friend I met along the trail mentioned seeing some other type of butterfly further up the canyon, so I headed there to see what I could see.  Several Mourning Cloaks and a few of what will turn out shortly to be a huge number of Litocala moths in the willow trees that line the upper canyon were present, but I also got a quick look at another butterfly and snapped its pictures.  Upon returning home, it turns out to be a California Tortoiseshell!

California Tortoiseshell (Nymphalis californica)

Most unusual, but apparently also a species that over-winters, we’d only seen this species twice last year in mid-summer near Doc Long Picnic Area on the back side of the Sandias.  This guy brings my species count for Embudito to 47, which seems pretty amazing to me – I’m betting this year I can get that count to 50 if I just get out there and keep looking.  Pretty cool when you consider my British friends tell me there are only 56 species overall in Britain.

With butterflies starting to emerge and the spring bird migration about to begin, the next few weeks should be pretty exciting.

Harbingers of Spring

The weather this past week has been up and down, ranging from cold, cloudy, and snowy to sunny and warm.  The Audubon Thursday Birder trip to Embudo Canyon a week ago was cold and windy, so there weren’t many birds out, but this week’s trip to the Rio Grande Nature Center was unseasonably warm and just a perfect day before the cold wind, clouds, and a bit more snow dropped by for the weekend.  Spring is on its way, however, with our first sightings of several Mourning Cloak (Nymphalis antiopa) butterflies and a report of  an Arizona Sister (Adelpha eulalia) in the east mountains this week.

Last Saturday, the weather was amazingly good and perfect for the continuing quest to find out where the Great Horned Owls might be nesting this year.  No luck finding any at either Tingley Ponds or the Rio Grande Nature Center, but a few other species made the day well worth it.  We spotted several Great Blue Herons at Tingley high up in a tree near the river, and although two of them quickly flew off, one remained totally undisturbed and looked down at me with its most fearsome predator face.

Great Blue Heron

Close to where the heron perched was a porcupine, the only one of which I’ve seen in the last few years that wasn’t just sound asleep in a tree but actively munching on some berries.

Porcupine

It was so busy eating that I took a short video of the guy.  There was even a Bald Eagle perched on a snag across the river that morning, although it’s getting pretty late in the year to be seeing them around here.

Bald Eagle

On the fishing ponds were quite a few ducks, and a few turtles even appeared for the first time this season.

Red-eared Slider

Among the ducks was this nice male Ring-necked Duck,

Ring-necked Duck

a male Northern Pintail,

Northern Pintail

and an immature Pied-billed Grebe.

Pied-billed Grebe

Tuesday, the hunt for nesting Great Horned Owls continued with a trip across the river to the Pueblo Montano Open Space and the bosque near the Open Space Visitor Center.  Again, no luck on the owls and surprisingly few birds and no more than one or two porcupines.  A Red-tailed Hawk, however, made a close fly-by and several Cooper’s Hawks were calling in both of those areas.

Red-tailed Hawk

Quite a few good birds were spotted during the Audubon Thursday Birder trip to the Rio Grande Nature Center, including a Great Blue Heron on one of the ponds, a Ring-necked Pheasant out on the edge of a field, three kinds of woodpeckers, and lots of different ducks.  An unusual sighting on the Candelaria Pond was one of the Mute Swans that have been reported lately that was finally determined as probably not a wild bird.

Mute Swan

While checking out the ponds, a Canada Goose flew over quite close and the picture came out pretty well for having to react so quickly to grab the shot.

Canada Goose

The fabulous Thursday weather flipped back to winter on Friday, but didn’t deter my friend, Rebecca, and I from heading down to Bosque del Apache NWR to do some scouting for the trip she’s leading there this coming week.  Despite the weather, we managed to see 43 species of birds and even scared up a large Great Horned Owl right where the guest register said one had been spotted.  Oddly, it had been sitting near the ground in a stand of low trees and there was no evidence of a nest and it quickly took off and disappeared before I could get a picture.  Good to know, however, that the owls haven’t completely vanished from the scene.  The most cool thing we saw on the Marsh Overlook Trail was a beehive in the cliff face which I’d first mistaken for some kind of cactus until looking more closely.

Beehive at Bosque del Apache NWR

I’ve mentioned several times recently of my hunt for nesting Great Horned Owls around town.  Last year, we’d begun seeing nesting pairs by early February and eventually watched successful breeding in four different locations and had seen owls in a couple of other spots.  So it’s been a little surprising this year not to have seen any of them anywhere yet this year.  Acting on a tip from a fellow Thursday Birder last week, this morning I was out searching in earnest in an area down by the Rio Grande I’d seen Cooper’s Hawks nesting before, but never any owls. I had almost given up after spotting only a few empty abandoned hawk nests and three porcupines, when FINALLY, looking back at the area I’d been searching there one was!

Great Horned Owl

Will definitely be revisiting that one again as time passes and making some repeat visits to places we’ve seen them in years past.  Now that there’s one confirmed nest, maybe others are just getting a late start this year.