Bosque del Apache NWR February 25-26

Chupaderos from Bosque del Apache NWR

My wife and I make a trip to New Mexico every Spring but in the past it has always been during Spring Break, just a few weeks after most of the birds migrate north out of the refuge. But this year was different. Years of hinting and a well timed conference got us to NM in late February right around the time the birds usually leave. I checked the Friends of the Bosque website and the birds seemed to still be there so we drove south from Albuquerque on Friday with fingers crossed.

When we showed up at the bosque we were not disappointed. Thousands of geese still crowded around the edges of the northernmost ponds of the refuge and the cranes were busy in the corn fields preparing for the trip north. Along the loop road ravens and birds of prey soared overhead and tended their nests though they rarely chose to do so within camera range. Almost every pond held at least a few ducks or geese and a young mule deer graced us with his presence for a few moments before we headed back out to the ponds for the evening fly-in where wave after wave of cranes and geese came to the water for the night.

Sandhill Crane 4

We made an unplanned trip back to the bosque the next afternoon only to find that the refuge much changed. A strong wind was blowing out of the south and there was hardly a crane to be found. We briefly saw one small group in flight high above but none in the fields and only a few stragglers remained at the ponds. In the evening when we gathered at the ponds the number of geese was way down from the previous day and the wind was ferocious. Almost as if an alarm had gone off, all of a sudden geese started rising up out of the water in groups of ten and twenty, turning resolutely toward the north. As we drove northward ourselves, thousands of white dots painted the horizon giving us one last lingering glimpse of the winter visitors.

Snow Goose

Publicado el 05 de marzo de 2011 a las 05:38 AM por flapack flapack

Observaciones

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Rascador Moteado (Pipilo maculatus)

Autor

flapack

Fecha

Febrero 25, 2011

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Cuervo Común (Corvus corax)

Autor

flapack

Fecha

Febrero 25, 2011

Descripción

This seems to be an area where the common and Chihuahuan raven overlap. Can anyone say one way or the other with certainty?

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Junco Ojos Negros (Junco hyemalis)

Autor

flapack

Fecha

Febrero 25, 2011

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Ganso Canadiense Mayor (Branta canadensis)

Autor

flapack

Fecha

Febrero 25, 2011

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Pato Cucharón Norteño (Spatula clypeata)

Autor

flapack

Fecha

Febrero 25, 2011

Descripción

Young male, right?

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Pato Pico Anillado (Aythya collaris)

Autor

flapack

Fecha

Febrero 25, 2011

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Pato Norteño (Anas platyrhynchos)

Autor

flapack

Fecha

Febrero 25, 2011

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Aguililla Cola Roja (Buteo jamaicensis)

Autor

flapack

Fecha

Febrero 25, 2011

Descripción

I assume this is a juvenile something or other. It was pretty large though. Red-tailed?

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Venado Bura (Odocoileus hemionus)

Autor

flapack

Fecha

Febrero 25, 2011

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Pato Golondrino (Anas acuta)

Autor

flapack

Fecha

Febrero 25, 2011

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Águila Cabeza Blanca (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)

Autor

flapack

Fecha

Febrero 25, 2011

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Ganso Blanco (Anser caerulescens)

Autor

flapack

Fecha

Febrero 25, 2011

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Chorlo Tildío (Charadrius vociferus)

Autor

flapack

Fecha

Febrero 25, 2011

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Grulla Gris (Antigone canadensis)

Autor

flapack

Fecha

Febrero 25, 2011

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Gorrión Corona Blanca (Zonotrichia leucophrys)

Autor

flapack

Fecha

Febrero 26, 2011

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Cormorán Neotropical (Nannopterum brasilianum)

Autor

flapack

Fecha

Febrero 26, 2011

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Papamoscas Llanero (Sayornis saya)

Autor

flapack

Fecha

Febrero 26, 2011

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Pinzón Mexicano (Haemorhous mexicanus)

Autor

flapack

Fecha

Febrero 26, 2011

Descripción

Am I right in thinking this is Cassin's and not a house finch?

Fotos / Sonidos

Qué

Correcaminos Norteño (Geococcyx californianus)

Autor

flapack

Fecha

Febrero 26, 2011

Descripción

Didn't realize how bright those markings are on these guys.

Fotos / Sonidos

Qué

Ganso Blanco (Anser caerulescens)

Autor

flapack

Fecha

Febrero 26, 2011

Descripción

This young goose let me get pretty close.

Fotos / Sonidos

Qué

Playero Diminuto (Calidris minutilla)

Autor

flapack

Fecha

Febrero 26, 2011

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