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

Posted on March 5, 2011 05:38 AM by flapack flapack

Observations

Photos / Sounds

What

Spotted Towhee (Pipilo maculatus)

Observer

flapack

Date

February 25, 2011

Photos / Sounds

What

Common Raven (Corvus corax)

Observer

flapack

Date

February 25, 2011

Description

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

Photos / Sounds

What

Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis)

Observer

flapack

Date

February 25, 2011

Photos / Sounds

What

Canada Goose (Branta canadensis)

Observer

flapack

Date

February 25, 2011

Photos / Sounds

What

Northern Shoveler (Spatula clypeata)

Observer

flapack

Date

February 25, 2011

Description

Young male, right?

Photos / Sounds

What

Ring-necked Duck (Aythya collaris)

Observer

flapack

Date

February 25, 2011

Photos / Sounds

What

Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)

Observer

flapack

Date

February 25, 2011

Photos / Sounds

What

Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis)

Observer

flapack

Date

February 25, 2011

Description

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

Photos / Sounds

What

Mule Deer (Odocoileus hemionus)

Observer

flapack

Date

February 25, 2011

Photos / Sounds

What

Northern Pintail (Anas acuta)

Observer

flapack

Date

February 25, 2011

Photos / Sounds

What

Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)

Observer

flapack

Date

February 25, 2011

Photos / Sounds

What

Snow Goose (Anser caerulescens)

Observer

flapack

Date

February 25, 2011

Photos / Sounds

What

Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus)

Observer

flapack

Date

February 25, 2011

Photos / Sounds

What

Sandhill Crane (Antigone canadensis)

Observer

flapack

Date

February 25, 2011

Photos / Sounds

What

White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys)

Observer

flapack

Date

February 26, 2011

Photos / Sounds

What

Neotropic Cormorant (Nannopterum brasilianum)

Observer

flapack

Date

February 26, 2011

Photos / Sounds

What

Say's Phoebe (Sayornis saya)

Observer

flapack

Date

February 26, 2011

Photos / Sounds

What

House Finch (Haemorhous mexicanus)

Observer

flapack

Date

February 26, 2011

Description

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

Photos / Sounds

What

Greater Roadrunner (Geococcyx californianus)

Observer

flapack

Date

February 26, 2011

Description

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

Photos / Sounds

What

Snow Goose (Anser caerulescens)

Observer

flapack

Date

February 26, 2011

Description

This young goose let me get pretty close.

Photos / Sounds

What

Least Sandpiper (Calidris minutilla)

Observer

flapack

Date

February 26, 2011

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