PEACHFRONT SPEAKS

new mexico bird list, nov. 14-21, 2004

2004-11-24 - 10:44 a.m.

© 2004 by Roger Williams

While we came for the spectacle of the huge numbers of cranes and geese, we did add an astonishing new life bird -- the Red Crossbill. I've also added the White-Crowned Sparrow to my life list, not because I haven't seen it before, but because for whatever reason it got left off my list and I didn't realize it until now. Perhaps the first time I noticed the White-Crowned Sparrow was years ago, hiking in the Grand Canyon, when I got separated from the other people and came across a singing bird. A nice memory from before the days of keeping an official list.

I've never seen a Crossbill before, and at first I kept getting these tantalizing glimpses that left me totally confused. There was a streaky bird who kept flitting behind a branch. There were the yellow bottoms of some other birds very high up. Then, close but still heavily shadowed in a pine, was a red-rumped bird with its face buried deep in its pine cone prize. The picture didn't snap into focus until a cooperative female came out and posed for us in the open. Even then, for a brief moment, I wondered if I was looking at a mutant with a freakishly deformed beak. Then I finally realized what we had -- young birds (the streaky guys), females (the yellow-rumped ones), and the gloriously colored red males who kept their beaks sneakily busy so I wouldn't see the odd crossbills right away.

The Greater Roadrunner was a surprisingly elusive bird. Indeed, it was the last species to be added to the list on the last tour of the last day.

© 2004 by Roger Williams

1. Pied-billed Grebe
2. Eared Grebe
3. Western Grebe
4. Clark's Grebe
5. American White Pelican
6. Double-crested Cormorant
7. Neotropic Cormorant
8. Great Blue Heron
9. Great Egret
10. Black-crowned Night-Heron
11. Greater White-fronted Goose
12. Snow Goose
13. Ross's Goose
14. Canada Goose
15. American Wigeon
16. Gadwall
17. Mallard
18. Northern Pintail
19. Northern Shoveler
20. Redhead
21. Ring-necked Duck
22. Common Merganser -- 1 female at Elephant Butte
23. Osprey -- 1 at Elephant Butte
24. Bald Eagle -- 2, one adult, at Bosque
25. Northern Harrier -- many!
26. Sharp-shinned Hawk
27. Cooper's Hawk
28. Red-tailed Hawk -- light, rufous, and Harlan's morph all seen well
29. Ferruginous Hawk
30. American Kestrel -- many!
31. Gambel's Quail
32. Ring-necked Pheasant
33. Sandhill Crane -- count increased from 7,400 to 11,000-plus during our visit
34. American Coot
35. Killdeer -- heard only
36. Greater Yellowlegs
37. Ring-billed Gull
38. American Herring Gull -- 1 at Elephant Butte
39. Rock Dove
40. Mourning Dove
41. White-winged Dove
42. Greater Roadrunner
43. Belted Kingfisher
44. Acorn Woodpecker -- 1 at Water Canyon
45. Red-naped Sapsucker
46. Ladder-backed Woodpecker -- pair at Elephant Butte
47. Northern Flicker -- Red-shafted
48. Black Phoebe
49. Say's Phoebe
50. Ruby-crowned Kinglet
51. Rock Wren
52. Northern Mockingbird
53. Curve-billed Thrasher -- Elephant Butte area
54. Western Bluebird
55. Townsend's Solitaire -- 1 at Water Canyon
56. White-breasted Nuthatch -- Water Canyon
57. Loggerhead Shrike -- Elephant Butte
58. American Crow
59. Chihuahuan Raven
60. Common Raven -- 1 calling at Water Canyon
61. European Starling
62. Yellow-rumped Warbler -- Audubon's
63. Spotted Towhee
64. Canyon Towhee -- Sandia Mountains
65. Chipping Sparrow
66. Black-throated Sparrow -- 1 at Elephant Butte
67. White-crowned Sparrow -- many
68. White-throated Sparrow -- tan type at Bosque Visitor Center feeder
69. Dark-eyed Junco -- both Gray-Headed and Oregon subspecies
70. Pyrrhuloxia -- Elephant Butte
71. Red-winged Blackbird
72. Yellow-headed Blackbird
73. Brewer's Blackbird
74. Common Grackle -- 1 at Bosque
75. House Finch -- 1 at Sandia
76. Red Crossbill -- Gila National Forest, Emory Pass, family group
77. Pine Siskin -- many, Water Canyon
78. Lesser Goldfinch
79. American Goldfinch
80. House Sparrow

© 2004 by Roger Williams

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