Author: David Gorsline

New Mexico circuit: 8

It’s high time to wrap up the New Mexico trip reports.

Two trips to Randall Davey Audubon Center, just outside Santa Fe, turned up flocks of Common Ravens loudly kettling in the updrafts from the ridge, often in pairs. At times the birds swooped so low that I could hear wingbeats. Pretty cool.

I followed the loop trail just to where the ponderosa pines started to come in, at about 7425 feet. So I only got one observation, from a distance, and only good enough to ID to subsection. (I still remember the strawberry-scented pinebark from a visit to Rocky Mountain National Park a couple decades ago.)

Nice photos of Mountain Chickadee (Poecile gambeli) and Pygmy Nuthatch (Sitta pygmaea). More Rubber Rabbitbrush; I can understand why there was an effort to tap the plant for rubber—it’s all over the place.

Persistence pays: on my second visit I located Juniper Titmouse (Baeolophus ridgwayi) (honoring Robert Ridgway), another lifer for the trip.

better than the birdingDripping Springs Natural Area, in the mountains east of Las Cruces, is a BLM property. When the birds don’t cooperate, take pictures of the landscape, eh? This is a view of the Organ Mountains from La Cueva picnic area.

I spotted a second butterfly species for the trip (it was February, so I was impressed): a trio of Sleepy Oranges (Abaeis nicippe) on Woolly Locoweed (Astragalus mollissimus). And a few snaps of Fishhook Barrel Cactus (Ferocactus wislizeni).

Thank you to all the local iNat folks concurring with and correcting my IDs! I ratcheted my lifetime ratio of species to observations back up to 1:2. (Just in time for EDRR season.)

Seven new birds for my list, bringing my ABA Area total to 440. Plus one for next time: at White Sands, a Sagebrush Sparrow (Artemisiospiza nevadensis) with photographs good enough for an observation, but I can’t say that I saw the bird well enough to count it for my list. My list, my hike, my rules.

Tax relief may never come/But it don’t worry me

At least 47 hasn’t promoted Incitatus to consul. Yet.

Leader from this week’s Economist: President Trump’s mindless tariffs will cause economic havoc (gift link).

There is no reason why his extra tariffs should eliminate the [current account] deficit. Insisting on balanced trade with every trading partner individually is bonkers—like suggesting that Texas would be richer if it insisted on balanced trade with each of the other 49 states,* or asking a company to ensure that each of its suppliers is also a customer.

*and the District—Ed.

New Mexico circuit: 6

Continuing to bounce around the state, let’s go to White Sands National Park next.

not snowI did the short walk on the Playa Trail, and then across the road I did the longer Dune Life Nature Trail (pic). I spotted a Southern Checkered White (Pontia protodice) (I was so surprised to find a butterfly in February that my first thought was that it must be a moth) and what turned out to be Sagebrush Sparrow (Artemisiospiza nevadensis). The sparrow would have been a lifer, but I can’t really say that I saw enough of it to make my own identification. So we’ll get it next time.

Much sand in my boots (sorry, cleaning staff!).

Also in the central-to-south part of the state is Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge.

I was too late in the season to find the cranes. The loop road is generously wide, a good thing with cars stopping at random to look at critters. 70 degrees and sun, but some cooling breezes off the impoundments. I found my first ever real live for-sure Coyote (Canis latrans). The birding highlight was seeing a small group of geese out of the water, drifting into the grass. Snow Goose (Chen caerulescens) AND Ross’s Goose (Chen rossii) side by side! C. rossii is REALLY much smaller.

At the park: 151

An update on our nest boxes:

Another short report. Two new clutches; still only the one (box #4) incubating, but it’s possible that boxes #6, #1, and #67 will be incubating by next Sunday.

I will bring some kit to refresh the painted number on box #1.

We have a discrepancy in report for the species in box #1. Hopefully we can sort that out next Sunday….

In April, we’ll go to a fortnightly cycle. When we meet this coming Sunday, we’ll decide which Sundays to work in April. giving consideration to holidays and other events.

Thanks thanks!

New Mexico circuit: 5

follow the cairnsAbout a hour and a half east of Santa Fe is Rio Mora National Wildlife Refuge and Conservation Area (look sharp for the tiny sign for County Road 016-Loma Parda County Road, which leads to the parking area). The Juniper Trail is easy to follow across the grassland, marked by cairns; the cairns are a bit of a challenge to find when the trail follows the rocky cliff edge overlooking the Mora River.

I found twittery groups of Bushtit (Psaltriparus minimus), a better observation of Woodhouse’s Scrub Jay (Aphelocoma woodhouseii), and Mountain Bluebird (Sialia currucoides). And a first (for me) observation identified by scar only: Pronghorn (Antilocapra americana).

Plug the memory hole

Boosting signal: two articles (The Conversation, Yale Environment 360) on the efforts to archive federal government websites and databases, in order to keep them online, accessible, and useful. One initiative, with Eric Nost in its leadership, is Public Environmental Data Partners.

See also GovWayback, which leverages the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine, and End of Term Web Archive, which takes snapshots at the end of administrations.

(Meta: I don’t know what of my categories to tag this post with. This isn’t a post that I’d ever imagined I’d need to write.)

New Mexico circuit: 4

Here and there:

yellow and redI simply had to stop for this Googie sign on the I-25 business loop of Socorro. No time to drop in for a quick meal, alas.

paradecaughtThe Museum of International Folk art in Santa Fe’s Girard Collection includes hundreds, probably thousands, of small figurines. Every human type is on display, including mine.

Mariawaiting for the busMaria, my rental Ford Edge, and I stopped at Embudo Creek on the way back from Taos, in a fruitless attempt to find American Dipper. At left, the guardrails for the bridge over the creek are visible to the right. At least I could catch the bus there.

New Mexico circuit: 3

(You may have gathered that these trip reports are not in chronological order.)

The NPS’s driving directions to Chaco Culture National Historical Park read, in part, “13 miles (21 km) of rough dirt road (CR 7950). The 4.5 miles (7 km) before entering the park are very rough.” (Empasis added) “Very rough” means almost constant washboard conditions, 1 to 2 on my 5-point impassibility scale, mercifully little in the way of ruts, rocks, or potholes. This is not a place to drop in for a casual visit.

just thereBut O, it’s worth the drive. As the gravel road gives way to pavement within the park boundary, you’re confronted with Fajada Butte.

The centerpiece of the park is the (reconstructed) remains of Pueblo Bonito, a ginormous complex of what once comprised 600 rooms and 40 kivas, according to the NPS brochure. It’s so vast that trying to capture it in a photo or two seemed futile. So I snapped a Rock Wren (Salpinctes obsoletus) instead.

windows and supportsHungo Pavi is of a much smaller scale. I was taken by the rhythm of small windows and openings for the roof supports.

no cornersCasa Rinconada is a large kiva, roofless but otherwise restored to grandeur.

Turning Maria back to base, I abruptly stopped for a small herd of Wapiti (Cervus canadensis).

The next day, I visited another unit that is managed with CHCU. Aztec Ruins National Monument is much more accessible by vehicle, and more interactive, if you will. A walking path takes you through the fully rebuilt Great Kiva, as well as a series of rooms—it’s not a walk for the claustrophobic.

On the grounds just outside the monument, Gunnison’s Prairie Dogs (Cynomys gunnisoni) were keeping an eye on things.

And then on to Navajo Dam State Park, for a stop that wasn’t too fruitful, before moving on to Santa Fe. But I did find a second species of ground squirrel, Rock Squirrel (Otospermophilus variegatus) and a life bird, Woodhouse’s Scrub Jay (Aphelocoma woodhouseii).