Around the Pond

Duck Ecology was another class my husband and I took during the Festival of the Cranes. This class was held at New Mexico Tech, a very nice campus in the heart of Socorro, about 18 miles north of the Bosque del Apache. Our presenter was John Vradenburg who is a full-time employee at the Bosque, the Land Management Research and Demonstration Senior Biologist. His presentation pointed out how the Bosque's habitat relates to all the duck species that visit the refuge. He showed us the migration patterns of these birds as well as their breeding strategies and how the refuge is an integral part of their lives.

After class was over, we visited the pond just outside of the classroom, where there are always many ducks and geese, including hybrids, hanging around waiting for a "handout." They are so used to humans feeding them. But that is one thing I refuse to do since they are supposed to be "wild." I was surprised to see this beautiful ring-necked duck in the pond. We usually see these birds only at the Bosque.

And then I took several photos of my favorite duck that lives on this pond, the American Wigeon. Their whistles as I call it are so unique. Typically I think of "ducks" in general as "quackers." But this species "whistles!" I'm not positive, but I think in the photo above we are looking at a female. Notice the brighter green of the plumage on the wigeon behind this bird. But then it could also have been the lighting, the way its head was turned (or not) toward the sun.

And then I saw something that broke my heart. Notice this mallard. It does not look good. A closer look reveals that there is a pin, a push-pin, in its chest. Now, how did it get there? It's obvious this duck wasn't going to live much longer. It seemed to be swimming along as if nothing was wrong, yet it was so pale.

Upon further observance, I saw some movement and heard twittering going on in the bushes next to the pond. I had to see what all the noise was about. And I found a few song birds there. Below is a titmouse trying to hide. I can't ID the other bird below it (possibly a red-winged blackbird).

And then I found out who was doing the singing - a few white crowned sparrows. It's amazing how close to the water these birds get.

One bird I usually see, but did not see this time, is the killdeer. They are usually around the pond in large numbers, but I don't remember seeing any that day and hour.

Time for some fledgling and nestling photos

June 1st was a banner day for birding. Heidi and I not only visited Shoreline in Mountain View, but we also visited Palo Alto Baylands. And the best part about visiting on the first of June was the number of "baby" birds that were roaming around. Here are a few of the photos I took of the "youngsters" at the Baylands.

Above is a fairly young American Avocet walking around on its own. Mama or Papa was probably watching closely. I think the parent was no more than twenty feet away. Below is another American Avocet with its chick in the mudflats. I would assume the chick was in no danger. Can you imagine how muddy this little one was? I'm glad it wasn't one of my own!

This babe is a black-necked stilt. Again, a parent wasn't too far off.

And here is another parent with its chick. This one didn't really look like it was ready yet to go into the water. These little chicks are so fluffy, and they don't stay that way for long. I'm glad we got to see these little offspring. That was quite a treat.

And here are a couple of cliff swallow nestlings. I'm sure by now they are no longer nestlings or fledglings. I'm fairly certain they are flying around with their folks all over the Baylands.

And, of course, we had to get at least one photo of a mother mallard and her darling little ducklings. This mama had nine ducklings following her.

I have more photos to post from this outing, although these were the only "baby" photos I had. Hopefully, I will post the next set of photos sooner than it took me to post this one!

Friday workshops and Bosque del Apache - part 2

Friday's workshops were held at New Mexico Tech in Socorro. Most of the workshops are usually held there every year. The first workshop of the day was another type of photography session presented by John Shipman. This gentleman believes in "portability," yet believes in getting fairly good quality photos for documentation purposes. John does not believe in carrying extras, such as tripods, adapters, and spotting scopes. He'd rather carry a 500mm lens, yet still be able to get into tight spots without having to set up a tripod. So he has managed to rig up something to his camera that is similar to one carrying a rifle or shotgun. In other words, he is able to rest the rig which the camera is attached to on his shoulder, giving him stability much like a tripod. Very interesting presentation, and his photos were very nice.

Our afternoon session was learning about New Mexico's native Americans - when they arrived, how they may have arrived, and where and how they lived. Most of the native Americans in New Mexico were Puebloans. There were some Apaches and Navajos, but they arrived later, after the Pueblo tribes arrived. The Puebloans were hunter/gatherers. The Apaches and Navajos were known to raid the homes and fields of the Puebloans. The ancient ones who lived near the Bosque del Apache were known as Piro people.

Below are photos I took on Friday while touring the refuge, following the first workshop and before attending the second workshop of the day. Note: New Mexico Tech is located in Socorro about a twenty minute drive (on Interstate 25) north of Bosque del Apache. Although we had to allow ourselves time for lunch as well as for the drive each way, we still managed to get in a brief view of the refuge before having to attend the afternoon workshop. You may want to click on the photos to see a larger image.

Both photos above and below are of sand hill cranes and snow geese out in the field eating. You can also see crows flying around in the photo below.

Located in another area of the refuge I found these mallards, two males and one female.

Here is another field where there were just sand hill cranes feeding.

Here is a close-up of some of the cranes feeding in the same field.

And here is a flock of snow geese flying over.

My New Mexico Vacation

This year I chose to spend 10 wonderful days in the state of New Mexico. My husband and I chose to stay overnight in Albuquerque from Friday, Nov 14 through Monday, Nov 17 while touring ABQ, Santa Fe and Taos. We didn't have to attend the Festival of the Cranes in Socorro and the Bosque del Apache until Wednesday morning (Nov 19).

We flew into ABQ Friday (14th) around noon. So first things first - we had to go to one of our favorite restaurants, Perea's, located on Central Avenue (old Rte 66). My husband loves getting Carne Adovada here; I ordered a taco salad. This restaurant is family run and is open during the week for breakfast and lunch. They serve some of the best tasting New Mexican dishes in Albuquerque. I don't necessarily have any favorite dishes at this restaurant, but I have never been disappointed in either their breakfasts or lunches. I highly recommend this place should one visit Albuquerque.

After filling our tummies with such good food we decided to look around Old Town window shopping. I've been wanting to get a southwestern style wall clock to put above our mantel in our year-old remodeled family room. My second choice was to choose a southwestern style painting. Unfortunately, nothing seemed to catch my attention. So after visiting Old Town we chose to check in to our motel room and unpack. After unpacking we still had a couple hours of daylight so we went to visit the Rio Grande Nature Center. I've never been there before, not even when we lived in ABQ. So this was definitely a new place to visit. It's more of an open space preserve. Below is the sign located right near the concrete blind. You can click on any/all photos to see a larger image.

This is Sandia Peak from the Nature Center. As mentioned earlier, we visited the center late in the afternoon. So as the sun was getting lower in the western sky, this mountain has a tendency to show what is known as alpenglow. Sandia is the Spanish term meaning watermelon. I think the Spaniards named this mountain for its shape and for its coloring at sunset. There was much to see and so little time. So my husband and I visited the center on Saturday afternnon, too. So some of these photos were taken on Saturday; others taken on Friday. As I walked along one of the riparian trails I saw and heard a few small birds, but could not get any decent photos. Below is an attempt at getting a couple of house finches as they perched on the bush.

The next several photos are the ducks I encountered, mostly on the pond, and others in the overflow channel. Again, some photos were taken Friday and others taken on Saturday. Below are a few mallards on the pond. And the photo was taken from the concrete blind.
This photo isn't best quality, but at least I can document that I also saw some Northern Shovelers on the pond.
Another pond dweller I can document was this Canvasback. (lifer!)
Here is another lifer for me, and the only photo I could get of this ring-necked duck. Don't you like his "crew cut" hairstyle? I'm not absolutely positive of its ID, but I could not find another duck in my field guide with that two-tone bill.

Other pond dwellers were American coots. Here's one swimming along next to a male mallard, and that's a northern shoveler in the foreground looking for something nutritious to consume.

Here is another shot of a couple northern shovelers behind a coot. This nature center seems to host several species of ducks during this time of year.

And here is another lifer, and one of my best photos! This male and female pair of wood ducks were found in the overflow channel. You really need to click on this photo to see a larger image. These are such beautiful ducks, and just look at that gorgeous reflection in the water. Not only is the male attractive, but I find the female attractive, too. I love that eyering of hers.

And last but certainly not least, I kept hearing sand hill cranes while I was walking along the trail heading for the Rio Grande River. But I didn't see any until I finally got to the edge of the river. Apparently, some sand hill cranes will winter here at this nature center. If only I would have known this and was interested in birding while I lived in Albuquerque. Oh well.

I certainly want to revisit this place when I return next year.

Another visit to Palo Alto Baylands - part 2

As mentioned in my previous post, this little trip to the Palo Alto Baylands took place in early October. The previous post showed all the scenic landscape in the area and around the Bay Area. This post is strictly the photos I have of the birds Red and I saw. Red will be posting her photos very soon, and you will want to visit her blog since she has better quality photos.

Typical of what one would see at the Baylands, especially around the Duck Pond, are Canada Geese, mallards, even hybrid mallards, and lots of coots and gulls. Above is my one shot of the all too "common" Canada Goose. Below are some hybrid geese found near the snowy egrets. If you look closely you can also see a male mallard in this hybrid geese photo.

(Don't forget to click on the images)
This shot of the male mallard and American coot was also taken at the Duck Pond. This area is well visited and many of these birds are looking for a handout from the clueless folks who visit. There are signs posted all over asking people to not feed the animals, but nobody pays attention to the signs.

This pair of male mallards was taken along the trail, away from the Duck Pond. I so love seeing their bright green heads and dark curly "tails."

I felt like this snowy egret was sitting there posing for me.

Farther down the trail Red and I saw several different water birds. This photo has a mixture of American Avocets in their winter plumage and marbled godwits.

All marbled godwits here except for the one American Avocet. This was taken just about twenty feet away from the previous photo.

And then we saw Northern Shovelers, and I think the other birds are western sandpipers. If any experts out there can tell me differently, I would welcome the correction.

Here's another shot of Northern shovelers found on the opposite side of the trail.

Here are a couple of long-billed curlews offset by more American Avocets.

I would certainly say we had a very varied birdy experience for being there for just a few hours. Along with the beautiful sunsets and alpenglow of the hills around the Bay and seeing a good variety of bird species we "done good!"

Birding Festival - part 1

My apologies for not posting sooner. This has been a very busy week, plus I am trying to read three books at the same time, keep up with reading my birding magazines, keep up with a daily two-hour podcast (Issues, etc), and finding time to spend with the kittens, much less the other pets in our household. I know, whine, whine, whine. But something's gotta give. I have also been disappointed in the quality of my photos. So I am going to ask that you visit Red's blog; she has better quality photos she has posted.

Our first event on Friday was a full day's trip to various places in the Monterey-Watsonville area. Our first stop was Zmudowski State Beach. And it's obvious this was a place where we should have seen mostly shorebirds, but could also see other birds farther out to sea as well as other birds to be seen and/or heard on the dunes.

When we parked our cars in the lot we had a 1/4-mile walk to get to the beach. Between the parking lot and the beach and all around us was agricultural land. Below is a photo I took of some farm workers out in the field for the day.

[Don't forget to click on the photos to see a larger view.]

Once we arrived at the beach we could look all around us and see quite a variety of birds. Looking back toward the dunes I was watching this great egret while others were looking farther north or south or even west (out toward the ocean).

Looking north one could see the beautiful mountains in the distance and we could see a variety of shorebirds out in the lagoon in the foreground. The birds I could ID out here were mostly double-crested cormorants and gulls (for lack of properly identifying them). There is even a male mallard on the sandbar, too. Other folks chose to walk around the dunes and look for other species. In the distance I could hear a California quail calling from the dunes. Only a few folks in our group got the opportunity to see the quail.

As for sea birds we could have seen Sooty or Pink-footed Shearwaters, or Ashy or Black Storm-Petrels. But anything we saw flying out and about beyond a few hundred yards was quite difficult to identify. Even some of the good birders were finding it difficult to determine what was out there. Meanwhile, closer to us within our eyesight we saw many brown pelicans among the many gulls.
Once everyone felt they saw all they wanted to see at and around the beach the group headed for the next stop, Moon Glow Dairy.

Birding at Shoreline Lake in Mountain View

Back in early December, Sunday the 2nd to be exact, my birding buddy and I met at Palo Alto Baylands. I had not been there since June and I wanted to see what birds were there this time of year. Unfortunately, this was an extremely windy day which made it difficult and almost impossible to see many birds. So my friend suggested we could try Shoreline in Mountain View. So that's where we went. Wind was quite strong there, too. But there were a couple of spots around the lake where we could find a little protection standing next to some trees and tall shrubs. Below is a photo of Mount Hamilton in the distance from Shoreline Lake. I can't remember what birds were on the lake and flying around in this picture, but I thought this was a good shot as an overview of the area.

Here in a marshy area is a fairly good shot of a male mallard.
This photo shows a Clark's grebe and a surf scoter. I'm not positive about the grebe being a Clark's. The color of its bill says it's a Clark's, but the black on the top of its head seems to be below the eye, which would identify it as a Western grebe. But for now I'll call it a Clark's grebe. Seeing surf scoters on the lake was quite exciting. I had never seen one before - lifer! I can't seem to ID those other "ducks" in the background. You can click on any of the pix to get a larger view.
Here is another lifer - a common goldeneye. Isn't he a beauty? Take note of the choppy waters.
And here is a cutie-"pie." A pied-billed grebe. I think they are some of the cutest of all waterfowl. I think my favorite is the American Wigeon, and the pied-billed grebe is second.
Here is another shot of the pied-billed grebe with (I think) a lesser scaup in the background.
And here is one that is difficult (for me) to identify. The quality of the photo isn't very good, but looking in my guide it seems to look like a ruddy duck, yet its bill has the look of a norther shoveler. Maybe someone can help me identify this one.
Here is another shot of the surf scoter. Is that a female surf scoter next to the male?
Anyway, even though the wind was strong and it more or less shortened our birding time, I think we still had a fruitful afternoon. Other birds we saw were black-crowned night herons and snowy egrets back in the marsh. And we also saw a couple of double-crested cormorants and a few American coots.