Quick trip to the Chiricahuas and southwest New Mexico - Day 1

On February 13th I set off for a quick trip to the eastern Cochise county and the border towns of Douglas, AZ/Agua Prieta, SN. I had a temporary vehicle permit for Sonora only set to expire in a few days and needed to close out officially, risking the chance to not be able to re-enter Sonora with a personal vehicle if the deadline was not met. I figured a 10 hour drive just for a DMV-type visit warranted more time spent in the area to the north of Douglas, the fabled Chiricahua mountains. In 2014 I worked extensively throughout the Chiricahuas from May - September, and had spent some recreational time on the eastern slope in February of the same year.

Day 1 (2/13/2015)

I departed from Las Vegas at 0600 with a mostly southern bearing, fueling up in Las Vegas (Gas) and Pecos (Pancho's Burrito) and headed for a rendezvous with the most famous of New Mexico's National Wildlife Refuges; Bosque del Apache NWR, San Antonio, NM. The 'bosque' is famous for Sandhill Cranes and other wintering waterfowl and hosts an annual a birding festival in November (Festival of the Cranes) centered around the fall migration. A variety of habitats and it's location along the Rio Grande make birding in the bosque good year-round, not just during the heavily-visited winter months. A Great-horned Owl being pursued by a Common Raven across I-25 just south of Bernalillo were my first birds of the trip. The owl was near a grain silo, probably a resident taking advantage of inflated rodent populations, I've seen this phenomenon in west Texas at grain silos along State Hwy 287. Arriving in San Antonio, I turned onto NM 1, finding Sandhill Cranes in scattered small groups in agricultural fields along the way. A small group of Snow/Ross's Geese were foraging in an alfalfa field, I didn't' stop to differentiate the two similiar species, thinking I would run into more once on the dirt roads of the bosque, which I did not. Sparrows were around in high numbers, mostly White-crowned and Savanna Sparrows (first of the year for me in NM). Bald Eagles, Loggerhead Shrike, Curve-billed Thrasher were all roadside birds, good for ID at 50 mph. At the first water stop, good dabbling duck mix of Northern Pintails, Gadwalls and Green-winged Teal, but the real highlight was a singing Eastern Meadowlark, less bubbly than Western, with a two-part type of song. Many nearby Western Meadowlarks also gave song comparisons, I don't believe it's possible to say one is prettier than the other, but I think I prefer the Western's more gurgling finish. The BDANWR Visitor Center has a nice feeder and water bubbler setup outside of an observation window. I always lurk around the side of the building, as I try not to bird from the indoors as much as possible (you miss out on many of the good sounds!). Sparrow diversity was really great at the VC, with White-throated, White-crowned, Chipping, and House Sparrows, along with both Spotted and Green-tailed Towhee. The Green-tailed Towhee was very active around the buildings, giving great looks in shifting light of it's iridescent lime green tail and coverts, a more beautiful sparrow does not exist. A Red-tailed Hawk in the tree above the feeders failed to scare away the many Gambel's Quail visiting the water bubbler. Mountain Chickadees were another active passerine flitting and chipping around the parking area.

Green-tailed Towhee, BDANWR, 2/13/2015

Cooper's Hawk, BDANWR, 2/13/2015

The refuge tour road was the next stop, more of a long, often-paused cruise. High duck diversity and low Geese numbers was the theme, with nearly every expected dabbler and diver present. The highlight was great looks at a large group of Cinnamon Teal, probably fresh from the south. Cinnamon Teal drakes are a rich beautiful chestnut color, but uncommon in my home county, so this was a treat watching a whole group associating with Northern Shovelers dabble around the marshes.
Photo. Passerines were few and far between, with Bewick's Wrens, Marsh Wrens, and Brown Creepers abundant in expected habitats. A single Cooper's Hawk flushed from a bosque portion of cottonwood.

A lone Phainopepla was heard from somewhere in the scrub habitats surrounding the marsh boardwalk. Shorebirds were even fewer, with a single pair of Greater Yellowlegs doing a bizarre flight display, where one individual led the other on an indirect, frantic flight over one of the marshes. They appeared to want to land, but perhaps water depth was too deep, for they kept circling around above the water for at least 4 minutes before alighting on the shoreline, vocalizing the entire time, their piercing 'kye kye kye' drowning out the hundreds of ducks in the water. Just before leaving, I got out to road-bird just before the pay-booth, finding my 3rd Phoebe of the day for the trifecta, Eastern (Uncommon), Say's, and Black Phoebe. It always makes me smile to see flycatchers in February. In all I saw 56 species (+4 subspecies) along the loop, not bad for 3.5 hours.

Say's Phoebe, BDANWR, 2/13/2015

Canvasback drake, BDANWR, 2/13/2015

Cinnamon Teal, BDANWR, 2/13/2015

This was a big day for my 2015 New Mexico list, going from 115-132 species, with 79 species in Soccorro in the span of about 4 hours.
Leaving the Bosque behind I continued south on I-25, feeling hungry and looking for a Green-chili cheeseburger screaming my name. I stopped at some place in Hatch with a bbq type name; stucky's or stubbys or tubby's or something of the sort. In any event, the G.C. Cheeseburger was as advertised and excellent, just greasy enough, and perfectly medium rare as ordered. The road from Hatch-Deming and eventually Lordsburg goes through beautiful rolling Chihuahan desert grassland, and in a year such as this with at least average rainfall, has several large playa complexes along route. I cruised through the 'Nutthatch' playa, which harboured some dabblers and many raptors. The playa is named not after a wayward nuthatch that was ever seen at this grassland-playa, but for its geographic location, about halfway between Nutt and Hatch, NM, very clever name for a birding hotspot indeed!

A small group of 3 Sandhill Cranes flew over Hwy 80 heading for Animas as I pulled into the Rodeo Tavern just as twilight overtook a beautiful, lingering sunset over the Chiricahuas. Rodeo Tavern has good beer, and good people, some said good people will even buy you a good beer if you bring a good story! A shrieking Barn Owl was the last bird of the day, heard as I left the Tavern, not much easier birding than that!

Day 1 Total: 480 miles driven, 78 species, 4,400+ individual birds, YTD Birds (All US): 241 species