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Shipman's field notes, Jan 2016

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2016-01-03: NM: Socorro County

@BdA: Bosque del Apache NWR
@FMRd: Luis Lopez: Farm-Market Road
@SocCo: Socorro County
@road1: Socorro to Luis Lopez
Route
1200, leave Socorro.
1210, Luis Lopez.
1240, Bosque refuge.
Goose, Blue # @Bosque del Apache NWR
Goose, white Snow # @Bosque del Apache NWR
Goose, Ross' # @Bosque del Apache NWR
Goose, Canada # @Bosque del Apache NWR
Gadwall # @Bosque del Apache NWR
Wigeon, American # @Bosque del Apache NWR
2016-01-03-2241
Mallard # @Bosque del Apache NWR
Shoveler, Northern # @Bosque del Apache NWR
Pintail, Northern # @Bosque del Apache NWR
Canvasback #♂ @Socorro County
2016-01-03-2258
Redhead # @Bosque del Apache NWR
Bufflehead # @Bosque del Apache NWR
Duck, Ruddy # @Bosque del Apache NWR
Grebe, Pied-billed 1 @Bosque del Apache NWR
Eagle, Bald 
1i @Bosque del Apache NWR
1a @Bosque del Apache NWR
2016-01-03-2254
Harrier, Northern 2i @Bosque del Apache NWR
Hawk, Red-tailed 
1i @Luis Lopez: Farm-Market Road
2016-01-03-2220
2a @Bosque del Apache NWR
1u @Bosque del Apache NWR
Hawk, Harlan's 1 @Luis Lopez: Farm-Market Road
Kestrel, American 
2♀ @Luis Lopez: Farm-Market Road
2016-01-03-2231
I wonder why the end of her tail is so frayed.
3u @Luis Lopez: Farm-Market Road
Coot, American # @Bosque del Apache NWR
Crane, Sandhill # @Bosque del Apache NWR
Dove, Mourning # @Bosque del Apache NWR
Phoebe, Black 1 @Bosque del Apache NWR
Phoebe, Say's # @Bosque del Apache NWR
raven sp. # @Bosque del Apache NWR
Crow, American # @Bosque del Apache NWR
Wren, Marsh 1 @Bosque del Apache NWR
Sparrow, Savannah # @Luis Lopez: Farm-Market Road
2016-01-03-22362016-01-03-22342016-01-03-2238
I love that first photo: the crisp detail of the pale pink feet, the attitude in the facial expression.
Sparrow, White-crowned # @Bosque del Apache NWR
Junco, Oregon 1 @Bosque del Apache NWR
Blackbird, Red-winged # @Bosque del Apache NWR
meadowlark sp. # @Socorro to Luis Lopez
2016-01-03-22242016-01-03-2228
Sparrow, House # @Socorro to Luis Lopez

2016-01-06: NM: Socorro: New Mexico Tech

@NMT: Socorro: New Mexico Tech
Raven, Chihuahuan # @Socorro: New Mexico Tech
Warbler, Yellow-rumped # @Socorro: New Mexico Tech
Junco, Oregon # @Socorro: New Mexico Tech

2016-01-09: NM: Socorro County

Notable:  Greater Yellowlegs
@BdA: Bosque del Apache NWR
@FMRd: Luis Lopez: Farm-Market Road
@SocCo: Socorro County
Route
1050, leave Socorro.
1115, Luis Lopez, start Farm-Market Road.
1205, Bosque NWR.
Goose, Canada # @Bosque del Apache NWR
Gadwall # @Bosque del Apache NWR
Wigeon, American # @Bosque del Apache NWR
Mallard # @Bosque del Apache NWR
2016-01-09-2310
Shoveler, Northern # @Bosque del Apache NWR
Pintail, Northern # @Bosque del Apache NWR
Teal, American Green-winged # @Bosque del Apache NWR
Scaup, Lesser 1 @Bosque del Apache NWR
Bufflehead # @Bosque del Apache NWR
2016-01-09-2287
Merganser, Common 
Extreme north end of the Boardwalk pond.
6♂ @Bosque del Apache NWR
Extreme north end of the Boardwalk pond.
2016-01-09-22922016-01-09-2294
1♀ @Bosque del Apache NWR
Extreme north end of the Boardwalk pond.
Duck, Ruddy # @Bosque del Apache NWR
2016-01-09-2317
Grebe, Pied-billed # @Bosque del Apache NWR
Hawk, Red-tailed 
1a @Luis Lopez: Farm-Market Road
2016-01-09-2267
1a @Bosque del Apache NWR
Kestrel, American 
3u @Luis Lopez: Farm-Market Road
1♂ @Luis Lopez: Farm-Market Road
1♀ @Bosque del Apache NWR
1♂ @Bosque del Apache NWR
Coot, American # @Bosque del Apache NWR
2016-01-09-2295
Crane, Sandhill # @Luis Lopez: Farm-Market Road
Killdeer # @Bosque del Apache NWR
Yellowlegs, Greater 3 @Bosque del Apache NWR
2016-01-09-2278
Phoebe, Say's # @Luis Lopez: Farm-Market Road
raven sp. # @Luis Lopez: Farm-Market Road
Wren, Marsh 1 @Bosque del Apache NWR
Kinglet, Ruby-crowned 1 @Bosque del Apache NWR
2016-01-09-23052016-01-09-2303
Sparrow, White-crowned # @Bosque del Apache NWR
2016-01-09-23272016-01-09-23262016-01-09-23192016-01-09-2333
meadowlark sp. # @Luis Lopez: Farm-Market Road

2016-01-16: NM: Socorro County

@BdA: Bosque del Apache NWR
@FMRd: Luis Lopez: Farm-Market Road
@SocCo: Socorro County
Route
1130, leave Socorro.
1140, Luis Lopez, start Farm-Market Road.
1240, Bosque NWR.
1610, leave the refuge.
Goose, Canada # @Bosque del Apache NWR
Gadwall # @Bosque del Apache NWR
Wigeon, American # @Bosque del Apache NWR
Mallard # @Bosque del Apache NWR
2016-01-16-23942016-01-16-2395
Shoveler, Northern # @Bosque del Apache NWR
Pintail, Northern # @Bosque del Apache NWR
Canvasback # @Bosque del Apache NWR
2016-01-16-2425
Redhead # @Bosque del Apache NWR
Bufflehead # @Bosque del Apache NWR
2016-01-16-23562016-01-16-2355
My first photo guru, Ken Gardiner, once got a photo of a Brown Pelican diving almost vertically into the water, only the first inch of its bill in the water. The first photo above doesn't quite have that impact, but I smiled and remembered his work when I first saw it.
Merganser, Hooded 
1♂ @Bosque del Apache NWR
2016-01-16-2357
1♀ @Bosque del Apache NWR
2016-01-16-2359
Merganser, Common 
Far north end of the Boardwalk pond.
4♀ @Bosque del Apache NWR
Far north end of the Boardwalk pond.
2016-01-16-2366
6♂ @Bosque del Apache NWR
Far north end of the Boardwalk pond.
2016-01-16-2376
Duck, Ruddy # @Bosque del Apache NWR
Heron, Great Blue 1 @Bosque del Apache NWR
Harrier, Northern 
3i @Bosque del Apache NWR
2016-01-16-2401
3♀ @Bosque del Apache NWR
Hawk, Red-tailed 
1i @Luis Lopez: Farm-Market Road
2a @Bosque del Apache NWR
2016-01-16-23982016-01-16-2398
Kestrel, American 
5♀ @Luis Lopez: Farm-Market Road
3♂ @Luis Lopez: Farm-Market Road
2♂ @Bosque del Apache NWR
Coot, American # @Bosque del Apache NWR
2016-01-16-2350
Crane, Sandhill # @Luis Lopez: Farm-Market Road
Killdeer 1 @Bosque del Apache NWR
2016-01-16-24232016-01-16-24222016-01-16-2430
Roadrunner, Greater # @Luis Lopez: Farm-Market Road
Woodpecker, Ladder-backed 1♀ @Bosque del Apache NWR
2016-01-16-2361
Phoebe, Say's 
1 @Luis Lopez: Farm-Market Road
1 @Bosque del Apache NWR
2016-01-16-24172016-01-16-24132016-01-16-28072016-01-16-2809
These photos of the same bird at the same time from the same position were taken with two different lenses. Do you think there is any different in sharpness?
raven sp. # @Bosque del Apache NWR
Towhee, Spotted 1 @Bosque del Apache NWR
Headquarters feeder.
2016-01-16-2439
Taken through the window.
Sparrow, Savannah @Luis Lopez: Farm-Market Road
2016-01-16-2449
Sparrow, Song # @Bosque del Apache NWR
2016-01-16-2380
Sparrow, White-crowned 
# @Luis Lopez: Farm-Market Road
# @Bosque del Apache NWR
Junco, Oregon # @Luis Lopez: Farm-Market Road
Pyrrhuloxia 2 @Bosque del Apache NWR
Blackbird, Red-winged # @Bosque del Apache NWR
2016-01-16-2363
meadowlark sp. 1 @Luis Lopez: Farm-Market Road
2016-01-16-2339
Blackbird, Brewer's # @Socorro County
NM-1 south of San Antonio.
2016-01-16-24562016-01-16-24552016-01-16-24522016-01-16-2447
Goldfinch, Lesser # @Luis Lopez: Farm-Market Road
Description: Looking for, and finding, the white blaze at the base of the folded primaries.
Sparrow, House # @Luis Lopez: Farm-Market Road

2016-01-22: NM: Socorro County

Notable:  Ring-necked Pheasant; White-throated Sparrow
@BernWMA: Bernardo WMA
@SocCo: Socorro County
Route
1240, leave Socorro.
1305, Bernardo WMA.
1400, walked the "Trail complex", all half a mile or so.
1510, rolling around the Bernardo loop.
1530, left the refuge.
Pheasant, Ring-necked 1 @Bernardo WMA
Flushed from the right-hand trail.
Description: In flight, saw the rounded body with long streamer tail, size much larger than a quail but distinctly smaller than a turkey.
Vocalizations: Many 'cuck-uck' calls given in flight, a call most familiar to me from a great number of pheasants I used to nearly step on in the Palo Alto Flood Basin.
New location for this bird for me. I've been interested in finding out why this species crashed around twenty years back, but I've had a few sightings at Bosque del Apache NWR recently. The federals don't track it because it's not federally managed. I talked to some at NM Game & Fish last year who said he's unaware of any recent reintroductions in the middle Rio Grande.
Eagle, Bald 1i @Bernardo WMA
2016-01-22-25882016-01-22-2591
Flyover near the trails.
Harrier, Northern 1i @Bernardo WMA
Kestrel, American 1♀ @Bernardo WMA
Crane, Sandhill # @Bernardo WMA
2016-01-22-26102016-01-22-24882016-01-22-25162016-01-22-25602016-01-22-25712016-01-22-26082016-01-22-26152016-01-22-24712016-01-22-24742016-01-22-25462016-01-22-2555
Bernardo may not have the variety of animals or habitats as the Bosque refuge, but they know how to grow corn, and the cranes are numerous and a bit more approachable here.
Flicker, Red-shafted 1 @Bernardo WMA
2016-01-22-26192016-01-22-2622
Phoebe, Say's 1 @Bernardo WMA
Towhee, Spotted 2 @Bernardo WMA
Sparrow, White-throated 1 @Bernardo WMA
Middle trail, immediately south of the raised platform. Scratching in the understory for several minutes.
Description: Yellow “headlights,” white throat framed by black stripes.
2016-01-22-2587
That's right: one White-throated, no White-crowned! The picture isn't diagnostic, but it's all I got.
meadowlark sp. # @Bernardo WMA

2016-01-28: NM: Socorro County

Notable:  Eastern Phoebe
@BdA: Bosque del Apache NWR
@FMRd: Luis Lopez: Farm-Market Road
@JPT: Bosque del Apache: John P. Taylor Trail
@SocCo: Socorro County
@road1: Socorro to Luis Lopez
Route
0950, leave Socorro.
1005, Farm-Market Road.
1140, Bosque del Apache.
1350, afoot at John Taylor Trail.
1510, rolling.
Goose, Blue # @Bosque del Apache NWR
Goose, white Snow # @Bosque del Apache NWR
Goose, Ross' # @Bosque del Apache NWR
Goose, Canada # @Bosque del Apache NWR
Gadwall # @Bosque del Apache NWR
2016-01-28-28562016-01-28-2826
Rendering that tweed-like plumage of the male is always a challenge. This is my new favorite attempt.
Wigeon, American # @Bosque del Apache NWR
Mallard # @Bosque del Apache NWR
Shoveler, Northern # @Bosque del Apache NWR
Pintail, Northern # @Bosque del Apache NWR
Teal, American Green-winged # @Bosque del Apache NWR
Canvasback # @Bosque del Apache NWR
Redhead # @Bosque del Apache NWR
Duck, Ring-necked # @Bosque del Apache NWR
Far north end of the Boardwalk pond.
2016-01-28-2764
Bufflehead @Bosque del Apache NWR
Merganser, Common 
Far north end of the Boardwalk pond.
8♂ @Bosque del Apache NWR
Far north end of the Boardwalk pond.
2016-01-28-2762
10♀ @Bosque del Apache NWR
Far north end of the Boardwalk pond.
Duck, Ruddy # @Bosque del Apache NWR
Grebe, Pied-billed # @Bosque del Apache NWR
Heron, Great Blue 
1 @Luis Lopez: Farm-Market Road
# @Bosque del Apache NWR
Eagle, Bald 
1i @Bosque del Apache NWR
4i @Bosque del Apache: John P. Taylor Trail
2016-01-28-27212016-01-28-27222016-01-28-28182016-01-28-2823
Today was a great opportunity to study both the immature eagles. My working rule is that if the light color on the wing is in the patagium (the meat part), it's a Bald, but if the flight feathers are light, it's a Golden.
Harrier, Northern 1i @Luis Lopez: Farm-Market Road
2016-01-28-27892016-01-28-2806
Hawk, Red-tailed 1a @Luis Lopez: Farm-Market Road
Eagle, Golden 1i @Bosque del Apache NWR
2016-01-28-2816
See the remarks above under Bald Eagle. I have to admit that I miscalled the bird, since I rarely see Goldens on the refuge. I was corrected by a visitor with heavy hawk-count experience, and the photo shows she was clearly correct.
Kestrel, American 
3♂ @Luis Lopez: Farm-Market Road
3♀ @Luis Lopez: Farm-Market Road
Breeding: Copulating in January. Seems early.
2016-01-28-26442016-01-28-26452016-01-28-26462016-01-28-26472016-01-28-26372016-01-28-26502016-01-28-26282016-01-28-26612016-01-28-2626
1♀ @Bosque del Apache: John P. Taylor Trail
Coot, American # @Bosque del Apache NWR
Killdeer 1 @Bosque del Apache NWR
2016-01-28-28402016-01-28-28312016-01-28-28362016-01-28-28392016-01-28-2832
Collared-Dove, Eurasian # @Luis Lopez: Farm-Market Road
Roadrunner, Greater 
1 @Luis Lopez: Farm-Market Road
1 @Bosque del Apache NWR
2016-01-28-2858
Phoebe, Eastern 1 @Bosque del Apache NWR
At the south end of the South Loop, just past the closed gate for the South Seasonal Road, over the flooded unit north of the road.
2016-01-28-27822016-01-28-27842016-01-28-27762016-01-28-2780
Phoebe, Say's # @Bosque del Apache NWR
Shrike, Loggerhead 1 @Luis Lopez: Farm-Market Road
raven sp. # @Socorro to Luis Lopez
Crow, American 
# @Luis Lopez: Farm-Market Road
# @Bosque del Apache: John P. Taylor Trail
Raven, Chihuahuan # @Luis Lopez: Farm-Market Road
Vocalizations: 'Rack' call.
Wren, Marsh 1 @Bosque del Apache NWR
2016-01-28-2748
This bird has been fairly reliable this winter, in the cattails just south of the Dabbler Deck. Like every other individual of the species I've known, it lives by the rule “Never give a photographer an even break.” Any shot, even like this one with all the obstructing vegetation, is a small victory.
Starling, European # @Socorro to Luis Lopez
Towhee, Canyon 2 @Bosque del Apache NWR
2016-01-28-27072016-01-28-27162016-01-28-26952016-01-28-2690
The refuge docents who work in the ticket booth put out suet and other feed, so it was easy to get a shot of these birds; they are quite tame.
Sparrow, Song # @Bosque del Apache NWR
2016-01-28-27372016-01-28-27262016-01-28-27302016-01-28-2750
Sparrow, White-crowned 
# @Luis Lopez: Farm-Market Road
# @Bosque del Apache NWR
Junco, Oregon # @Luis Lopez: Farm-Market Road
Pyrrhuloxia 1 @Bosque del Apache NWR
Not too bad considering I was shooting through the window at the east end of the visitor center.
Blackbird, Red-winged # @Luis Lopez: Farm-Market Road
Meadowlark, Western # @Luis Lopez: Farm-Market Road
2016-01-28-26712016-01-28-2671a2016-01-28-26662016-01-28-2667
My Web-sized crops (1024 x 960) don't really do justice to the sharpness of the originals. The second image shows just the head from the first image. Note the individual feather hairs in the tiny feathers over the eardrum.
Grackle, Great-tailed # @Luis Lopez: Farm-Market Road
Finch, House # @Bosque del Apache NWR
Sparrow, House # @Bosque del Apache NWR
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Last updated: 2016-03-08 23:41 MST