2 days in Albuquerque - Tuesday 1st March

We'd heard a lot from a number of sources that when in New Mexico, you must visit Santa Fe. Well, we were disappointed. OK, it's a city built of houses that clearly have to conform to a look and feel (think fake adobe housing in various shades of sand or sandstone) and yes it has trails and lots of artists, but it's a city still and sprawling at that. We headed for the Audubon reserve for a mooch around there.

Lots of common birds were frequenting the feeders including Red-winged Blackbird, American Robin, Dark-eyed Junco and House Finch. Also present Pine Siskins:



Spotted Towhees:




Though these weren't on the feeders. Also a Dusky Flycatcher, if I'm correct, with this species it is migrating very early:






And Bushtits:



It was very cold again first thing and the trails were somewhat ice-laden, so we couldn't really explore much of the area. Also, frustratingly, once back in the car, we had excellent views of Western Scrub Jays, a Curve-billed Thrasher and a new species for us, Canyon Towhee, but the camera was locked in the boot as we re moving between locations. We parked-up and tried to relocate the birds but to no avail. Back to Plan B, brunch. We stopped at a gas station, filled-up and asked for advice on where to eat. The best place for breakfast in town apparently, is Harry's Roadhouse, so we went there. The food was indeed very good, the coffee fantastic and the pricing the best we'd encountered thus far. A fab feed of reliably vegetarian food and thoroughly pleasing after the bitterly cold morning.

So back then to Albuquerque and a quick visit to the Nature Centre again, before heading off. I photographed a Lesser Scaup drake:




And the Cackling Geese:



How these are still treated as Canada Geese is beyond me, they are so obviously different!

Last stop before the main flight home was Dallas Forth Worth, where we got to watch the sunset and some lucky people on their way home too:



We both really enjoyed the trip and would recommend New Mexico generally and Albuquerque specifically as a place to visit to bird or otherwise.

2 days in Albuquerque - PM Monday 28 February

Our last destination on Monday was the Rio Grande Nature Centre in Albuquerque itself. This is where last Spring I photographed a Greater Roadrunner. Suffice to say, despite a lengthy walk around, we didn't find one. And I quote: 'you promised me a Roadrunner'!

We did locate a Hooded Merganser, a funky looking duck:



We stopped a local and asked where we might best locate said Roadrunner. He said 'well, there's one that lives around the car park'. So we dutifully headed back to the car park, and guess what, as we approached the car, I spotted a Greater Roadrunner foraging in the central reservation:

FANTASTIC bird! Properly made the day, splendid to watch. As we left and headed back to our hotel we passed another not thirty yards away. It's remarkable how an encounter like this can affect you. We showed the bird to a number of other visitors, including locals who'd never seen one. A shared and very positive natural experience and one I hope is repeated. Everything was going really well until the photo deletion disaster, but all's well that ends well!

2 days in Albuquerque - lunchtime Monday 28 February

From Bosque Del Apache we drove back to Albuquerque and up to Scania Ridge (following Linda Chittum's suggestion - thank you Linda), a promising birding spot at the top of the mountain overlooking Albuquerque:



The ridge was virtually deserted apart from a few hardy tourists and sightseers, mostly locals. The cafe was, however, open so for $2 each for some rough coffee and passable tea, you get to sit outside and watch the feeders. Which is exactly what we'd hoped for!

Loads of birds gathered together in one spot, included White-bellied Nuthatch:



Steller's Jay:



Mountain Chickadee:



Dark-eyed Junco:

And for me the stars of the show, Rosy Finches, first Grey-capped Rosy-Finches (again I don't believe these to be the same species as those we saw on St Paul Island, in May 2010, as they've been too separate for too long):

And Black Rosy-Finches:

It would appear Helen managed to capture your correspondent unawares whilst snapping away at the birds:

The view from the top really is stunning and well worth a visit, as it's a surprisingly short drive from downtown Albuquerque:

Still, not done yet, one more place to visit back in the city itself...

2 days in Albuquerque - AM Monday 28 February

First up a big thank you to Paul Shippam for giving the advice and indeed the means to recover my pictures having had a disaster using the ZoomBrowser software. I will never again delete a memory card before having completed the processing, thank you Paul!

So, my desire to visit Bosque Del Apache - a place that has captured my imagination for the last few years since starting birding in the USA - became realised.

Monday morning we set our alarm for 4am and left the hotel at 5:30am. What few geese remained were already up in the air when we arrived a little after 6:00am, some 20 minutes before twilight. You can see how beautiful the place looks in the dawn light:



The geese may have gone but the Sandhill Cranes were still there. I filmed a large roost to pick up their distinctive calls whilst they stirred in the pre-dawn glow:



We moved on from the ponds to explore the farm loop and were delighted to see some of the Cranes had taken to the air:



More and more were flying so we headed towards what looked like a spot close to where they might pass for some more photos:







We were right:



They landed in a field on the refuge, allowing reasonable close-ups, though the fact that refuges are used for bird hunting in the USA meant they were twitchy:



So they don't tend to hang around for long:



Beautiful and graceful birds, though, and an absolute treat!

As well as the Sandhill Cranes we did encounter a number of other birds around the Bosque, including White-crowned Sparrow:



Western Meadowlarks:





You can hear them singing here, accompanied by the occasional Red-winged Blackbird:

Say's Phoebe:

An adult and juvenile Ross's Goose:

Said Red-winged Blackbirds:

Northern Harriers:

A new species, Ladder-backed Woodpecker, pecking the reeds!

Killdeer:

Cackling Geese:

A Bobcat eating something:

And on the road out of the Bosque, another new species, American Pipit (at last!):

Bosque Del Apache is fabulous and well worth a visit. You could easily spend a week getting to know it and the birds, we sadly had a single morning. We drove back to Socorro, picked up an early lunch and headed back to Albuquerque.