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June - July - August 2004
Vol. 33 No. 3

Many of these stories are published in the Summer 2004 issue of the New Mexico State Audubon Newsletter, Audubon New Mexico.

Table Of Contents (Please let the whole page load before clicking on the links.)

Dateline, Washington, DC – Thursday, April 23, 2004
Look-Alikes: Pinyon Jay & Western Scrub Jay
In Fond Memory
Poem
CNMAS Field Trip Reports

Raymond Van Buskirk
Thursday Birders Group
Thursday Birders Weekend at the Hummingbirds of New Mexico Festival
CNMAS Field Trip Schedule
Welcome & Aloha

Youth Birders Birdathon! Team
Support Birdathon! 2004!
Saturday Nights at Petroglyph National Monument
A Warm & Feathered Welcome . . .
Join Audubon

Dateline, Washington, DC – Thursday, April 23, 2004

Andrew Rominger, Audubon volunteer, field trip leader, CBC compiler, artist, and dedicated environmentalist, was congratulated by President Bush in the White House Rose Garden as he accepted his Environmental Youth Award given by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. There is an excellent article by Carolyn Carlson in the Albuquerque Journal issue of Friday, April 23, 2004.  We’re proud to join in recognizing and congratulating Andrew, and we’re privileged to share his first-person report below.  You’ll know immediately it was written by Andrew, as his humility, character, passion, and humor shine through: 

In an email to the CNMAS Board – March 25, 2004

There’s some good news that I wanted to share with you folks. I was recently notified by the EPA that some of the bird conservation work I’ve been doing was chosen for this year’s ten “Presidential Environmental Youth Awards.” In brief, the project, Birds of a Feather; Working for Avian Conservation, includes the bird survey work with East Mountain Open Space and Talking Talons, the contribution of data to EMOS site management planning and fieldwork in the Magdalena Mountains last summer. Also in there, which I’m very excited about, is the environmental education and bird migration project I did with Stephanie Kasprzak’s fourth graders at Lew Wallace Elementary School last spring and will be doing again this year. Audubon has played an active role, directly and indirectly, in this work, from participating in bird counts to providing grant money for the education projects and helping shape who it is I am as a conservationist and naturalist. I am very appreciative of your encouragement and support.

DC Trip Report, May 1, 2004

Washington was quite the experience! I am finding myself describing it as “outrageous,” “exciting,” “inspiring,” and also, “somewhat overwhelming.” It was hard to conceptualize that this was the Capitol of our country, the place where what happens on the big scale happens. Visiting the House and Senate mirrored my entire experience of the visit; there is an overpowering sense of magnitude in walking through the buildings that embody the governing of the country. The magnitude, the experience in its entirety truly was, and remains to be, an inspiration. I met other young people from all over the country, ranging from elementary students to freshman in college, whose projects included such work as salmon monitoring in the Pacific Northwest, stream stewardship in Georgia, environmental education in Denver, recycling programs in California. I was thrilled by such a demonstration of the ability of these young people to impact their communities, both biotic and human, through their work and through the sharing of their passion for nature and conservation. I am proud to have added bird conservation to such a display. We as a group took the opportunity at hand and encouraged our government to step up further to the challenge of fostering environmental ethics, conservation and restoration. I also found great fulfillment in meeting with the state’s Congressional leaders and presenting them with artwork, as a thanks for the positive contributions they have made to the environment, both on state and national levels.

The trip was definitely fast-paced, and seeing such a congested city was literally a culture shock compared to my former experience. I was definitely glad to get home and find my feet again in the Magdalenas. I came away from DC with a new found drive for environmental service, and also with a sense of hope. What I experienced there led me to conclude that environmental issues have such importance, we must be nonpartisan in our pursuit of their solutions. Creating opponents, creating “fences” to stand on one side of, merely hamper progressive leadership and effective problem-solving. Many fences have been strung across the landscape; they delineate wilderness areas, preserves, ranches and multiple-use public lands. In actuality, lands are interconnected and all people, those who ranch or those who legislate for wilderness, are united by the simple fact of dependency on Earth for survival. The question of, “Which side of the fence are you on?” should no longer be asked; there is no fence. Open mindedness must prevail over polarization if our goals of a sustainable and beneficial human community are to be realized.

I also came away from the visit reflecting on how I had come to this place. Again, as I wrote in March, I realized that Audubon has been an integral part of my growth as a conservationist. It would be amazing if all kids could grow up on Audubon field trips, learning birds, learning the landscape, and finding a sense of respect and devotion for the natural world.

I would like to reiterate my thanks to you all for sharing the joy of Prairie-Chickens booming in the predawn and migrant warblers singing in the springtime canyons, and for supporting the passion of young people.

-Andrew

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Look-Alikes:
Pinyon Jay & Western Scrub Jay

by Art Arenholz
with drawing by Andrew Rominger

In the Oak and Pinyon-Juniper forest, we find two boisterous jays, similar in size and color, but quite different in other ways. Both the Pinyon Jay and the Western Scrub Jay are mostly blue and often noisy, but we can consistently separate them if we carefully observe their appearance and behaviors.

The Scrub Jay is bright blue above, pale gray below, with a gray-brown patch on the back. The tail is quite long with a rounded tip, while the bill is heavy, blunt and of medium length.

In contrast, the Pinyon Jay’s entire body is dull blue. Its tail is short and square-tipped, and its bill is longer and sharper than other jays- it is like a spike. (Both jays have a gray-white throat, so this part of their anatomy is no help to us.)

The Scrub Jay is most often seen alone or in small groups of 2 to 6 birds. Its flight is undulating, often with a long, gliding arc. It nests as isolated pairs, not in cooperative flocks. Its call is harsh, a rapid, rising-in-inflection series of “check-check-check-check.”

On the other hand, the Pinyon Jay travels and nests in large flocks of 20 to 100 birds. They fly in tight, noisy flocks, giving harsh, nasal calls. Often you will hear a flock of Pinyon Jays before you see them. They are sociable in all seasons, foraging, feeding, and nesting in large groups.

So the keys to identifying the less often seen Pinyon Jay are the all-blue body, short tail, long sharp bill and the noisy, often large flocks. The Scrub Jay, which might nest in your neighborhood, is both blue and gray, has a long tail, a medium bill and is usually alone or in a very small flock. Now when you visit the Pinyon-Juniper country, you are ready to identify which jay is which.

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In Fond Memory

We’ve been saddened by the loss of these close friends of Central New Mexico Audubon Society, and extend our sympathy and condolences to the family and friends who have lost their loved ones. These special people will be remembered by us for their generosity, their love of life and nature, and for the examples they gave us in living life and sharing joy.

Wally Finley
Jim Karo
Cindy Clark
Bert Lindsay

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CNMAS Field Trip Reports

compiled by Sei Tokuda

Saturday, March 13: Las Vegas NWR
Sixteen birders were on this trip on a mild spring day. The notable species of birds included two adult Bald Eagles soaring up from their roost tree and about 100 Mountain and Western Bluebirds put into flight by a Red-tailed Hawk. The notables of the 15 waterfowl species seen were Cinnamon Teal, Bufflehead and Common Goldeneye. The total number of species seen for the day was 45.

Saturday-Sunday, April 17-18: Fort Sumner & Milnesand, NM
Sixteen birders led by Christopher Rustay made this trip to see the display of the Lesser Prairie Chickens. At one point there were at least 19 males displaying with only one female visible. It was a great show. The group also birded in Fort Sumner and some went on to other sites. One group saw close to 100 species.

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Congratulations to our very own Raymond Van Buskirk of Jackson Middle School on winning in the Science Fair Junior Division with the project The Rosy Finch Project: Site Fidelity in Rosy Finches?, which was sponsored by Steve and Nancy Cox of Rio Grande Bird Research, Inc.

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Thursday Morning Birding Group

Weekly birding outings every Thursday. Meeting time and location, as well as duration, vary. Call Margaret Wallen at 341-0928 for details of outings. Send an e-mail to Les Hawkins at leshawknm@aol.com to get on the TBer's e-list of scheduled trip announcements.

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Thursday Birders Weekend at the Hummingbirds of New Mexico Festival

July 17-18 at Lake Roberts, Silver City

There will be bird banding each morning from 7 - 10:00AM, programs, educational slide presentation, and guided bird walks.

The Thursday Birders are planning to meet at the festival on Saturday at Lake Roberts. Most will drive to Lake Roberts on Friday, July 16, since Silver City is 238 miles from Albuquerque by driving through Hillsboro and Lake Roberts is another 25 miles from there. People can stay at the Grey Feathers Lodge (505-536-3206, stay@greyfeathers.com), a double room costing $61 with breakfast. Dinner is served there but the dining room closes at 5 or 5:30PM.

Rooms are available at the Lake Roberts Motel (505-536-9393). Two double beds $56, two doubles and a king for $61, and a cabin that has three double beds for $76. There are other options including kitchenettes. You can also try the Lake Roberts Cabins (505-536-9927) or camp at the campgrounds at the lake.

The Spirit Canyon Lodge is already booked for the weekend, but the dining room will be open to visitors and serves until 7 or 8:00PM. The owner said they have a good German chef. Call Margaret Wallen (341-0928) for info about car pooling.

Thanks to Rebecca Gracey for doing all the research for us!

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CNMAS Field Trip Schedule

http://www.newmexicoaudubon.org/cnmas/trips.html

Sunday, July 11: Dragonflies at the Rio Grande Nature Center & Shady Lakes
Meet Dustin Huntington at 9:00AM at the viewing blind at the NE corner of the Rio Grande Nature Center State Park parking lot. This dragonfly tour will start at the Nature Center and then car pool to Shady Lakes in Alameda. Please note that the Nature Center and Shady Lakes charge fees for parking. These sites are great to view a good variety of dragonflies and damselflies. Participants should bring binoculars – close focus is best, but any binocular will improve the view. Nets are not needed. Participants will probably be out until mid-afternoon and a snack is a good idea, along with plenty of water and a hat. Hopefully it will be hot and uncomfortable – that is what dragonflies like best. Call Dustin Huntington at 281-9390  or Beth Hurst-Waitz at 898-8514(h), 243-7029(w) for details.

Saturday, July 31: Bandelier National Monument/Jemez Mountains
This trip will be led by Rebecca Gracey and the target birds will include Hepatic Tanager, Cordilleran Flycatcher, Three-toed Woodpecker and Black Swift – no guarantees, but worth a try. This will be a full day trip. Meet at meet at the Marriott Pyramid at 7:00AM. Bring water, lunch and snacks. Contact Rebecca at 242-3821 for details.

Saturday-Sunday, August 14-15: Fort Sumner & Bitter Lake
The target birds will be passerines in Fort Sumner and shore birds, nesting Mississippi Kites and possible Upland Sandpipers in the Bitter Lake/Roswell areas. We will overnight in Roswell. Meet at 7:00AM at the Four Hills Shopping Center parking lot. Call Sei at 266-2480 for details.

Saturday, August 21: RGNC Summer Wings Festival
A Festival of Flight: Join the Friends of the Rio Grande Nature Center State Park in celebrating New Mexico’s small but spectacular wildlife: hummingbirds, butterflies, dragonflies, and bees – 8:00AM - 4:00PM, 2901 Candelaria NW, 344-7240. Audubon members will be needed to do bird identification during the festival.

Saturday, September 4: Manzanitas Mountain & Quarai National Monument
Karen and Gary Boettcher will lead this trip. Meet at the Four Hills Shopping Center at 8:00AM. The first stop will be at Boettchers in the Manzanita Mountains for coffee and doughnuts and hopefully some mountain birds. Next we’ll bird our way south along the highway with a quick stop at Manzano Pond, then on to Quarai for more birds as we walk among the ruins and along the trails. Target birds: band-tailed pigeon, pygmy nuthatch, great-horned owl, rock wren, blue grosbeak. Bring lunch. The trip will officially end at Quarai after lunch. Contact the Boettchers at 281-6726 or nmkestrel@aol.com for details.

Saturday, September 25: Manzano Mountain HawkWatch
Art Arenholz will lead this trip during one of the peak times for hawks flying south through this site. Dress for conditions at the site, bring water, snacks and lunch. Meet at 8:00AM at the Four Hills Shopping Center parking lot across the street from the Travelodge Motel (SW corner of Central SE and Tramway Blvd). Call Art at 298-1724 for details.

Saturday, October 2: Bosque del Apache NWR
This day trip will be led by Sondra Williamson and is for those who wish to get out of ABQ to do some birding during the Balloon Fiesta. Bring water, snacks, and food for lunch. Meet at 7:00AM at the UNM Department of Physics parking lot on the NE corner of Yale and Lomas Blvd. Call Sondra at 255-7674 for details.

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Welcome & Aloha

Thank you to Celestyn Brozek, who has volunteered to be our new Field Trip Chairman. He will be wonderful, warm, and welcomed by all of us who enjoy the variety and frequency of birding opportunities offered by CNMAS, both to members and to the public at large. As the saying goes, “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush,” and we’ll morph that to say that a day birding in the field is worth – well, it’s priceless in its ability to restore our spirit, reconnect us with Nature, and link us with friends who share our passion.

As Celestyn flies up to his new perch, we say “Aloha” and 10 years’ worth of “Thanks for the memories” to Sei Tokuda. Although Sei says he’s “retired,” we know that he can’t retire from being who he is, which means that he’ll continue to contribute his time, his presence, his organization and contact genius, and his sweet and serene company to all of us, in the field, at our meetings, to our board, to the present landscape, and to the future of conservation. “Aloha, Sei” – it doesn’t mean that we’re saying “Goodbye.” It means we welcome you anew.

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Youth Birders Birdathon! Team

Hello, All! Well, the weekend of April 23-24 was awesome! Nick Pederson, Raymond VanBuskirk, and Ryan Beaulieu started out on Friday night! We birded Bosque and Animas Creek on our way down. We arrived in Clanton Canyon at around 2:00 AM. We slept in the van and woke up in the morning, where we were on our way to Guadalupe Canyon. Excellent birding in Guadalupe! We came across 6 Gray Hawks in all, two of which were in the New Mexico side. Saw two Thick-billed Kingbirds in the Arizona side. And were delighted with many Dusky-capped Flycatchers and a few Brown-crested Flycatchers in both sides of the border. We had two Northern Beardless-Tyrannulets, one in Arizona and one in New Mexico. Raymond also saw a Costa’s Hummingbird that Nick and I missed in the New Mexico side. Also, a beautiful Zone-tailed Hawk calling in a tree about 40 yards in front of us (Arizona side).

We then did a little Arizona birding in Portal, and we were on our way back to Clanton. Once there we managed to find two Arizona Woodpeckers but no Montezuma Quail. Then headed to bed at around 9:00 PM.

We woke up a few hours later at 11:50 to get ready for our Big Day! Got our owls (Whiskered-screech, Western-screech, Elf, Great Horned) and heard Common Poorwill. Then headed to Red Rock where we slept for a few more hours until around 6:00 am where we got many more birds, including Abert’s Towhee and Gila Woodpecker. From there we headed to Silver City where, on our way through the Burro Mountiains, we picked up Townsend’s Warbler, Black-chinned Sparrow, and Lark Bunting.

The area (mountains) of Silver City was our Big Day low. One of the only good birds we picked up from this area was Purple Martin. We managed to miss Greater Pewee and Common Black-Hawk. Then headed to Emory Pass where we only picked up a few for our list.

From Emory we headed to Percha. Our best bird at Percha was Black-and-White Warbler. Then we headed to Bosque del Apache… We ran into a little bit of trouble at Bosque del Apache. We didn’t realize that our gas light had gone on, until we were quite a ways around the refuge. At the same moment, Raymond told us that the number of birds was around 153. We needed many more birds at Bosque, but our engine was running on fumes. We decided, however, to keep going around the refuge. We tried one last time for Black-crowned Night-Heron but no luck…until Raymond (at the last minute) decided to try one last time for a Virginia Rail. Raymond clapped his hands about ten times, which scared up about 15 Black-crowned Night-Herons hiding in the reeds. When we got this bird we drove around the Farm Loop one more time, where we picked our much needed Stilts. Then we decided that Bosque was done so we headed back along Highway 1 toward San Antonio. We added our Savannah Sparrows, Yellow-headed Blackbird, and an unexpected Bonaparte’s Gull. With only a drip of gas left, we pulled into the gas station at San Antonio. The story doesn’t end here. THEY WERE OUT OF GAS, all the pumps were out of order. The lady at the counter in the gas station didn’t help at all. She told us, “Ohh, don’t worry, Socorro is only EIGHT miles from here.” We didn’t know what to do. This had to be the end, there is no way we could pick up Burrowing Owl and Lesser Nighthawk now until… Nick took a bold move, he told us to get in the van because we were going to Socorro. With fingers crossed, we pulled up into the first gas station we could find in Socorro with ZERO gas left. We filled up and were still able to pick up Burrowing Owl at the Socorro intersection and two Lesser Nighthawks at Turtle Bay at the NM Tech Campus. Thousands of bats were flying over the ponds at Turtle Bay (a very amazing sight)! We ended the day at Water Canyon where we picked up Flammulated Owl.

Our way home was very tiring. We could hardly stay awake! In all we had an excellent day with a total 167 species (165 excluding Barn Owl, which only Raymond and I saw; and Bushtit, which Raymond heard) for the Big Day. We had some major misses, but it was still a BIG hit! The entire trip was a blast. We came home with our hair feeling like steel wool and ourselves smelling like a mixture of sweat, dirt, marsh mud, prairie, and coniferous trees. Can’t wait to do it again next year! Thank you to all who contributed to our team, we and Central New Mexico Audubon appreciate the support! If you would like a total trip list, please e-mail Ryan at amdipper2000@aol.com.

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Support Birdathon! 2004!

It’s not too late to send in your pledge, your donation, your gift, your charitable contribution showing your admiration and thanks for these intrepid birders who go far afield in their flights of feathered fancy in search of birds far-flung and fantastic – all to support CNMAS so WE can support education and conservation here in the Land of Birding Enchantment. We will publish our list of contributors in the Fall issue of the Burrowing Owl – we hope we see YOUR name there! Thanks to one and all who have given gifts – both of money and time afield. You’re the best!

Get a form (PDF)

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Saturday Nights At Petroglyph National Monument

Summer Evening Lecture Series

Petroglyph National Monument is getting ready for an exciting summer of special events. Each Saturday evening during June, July and August, free public programs will be presented on the Las Imágenes Visitor Center patio. During June and July, programs will begin at 7:00 pm. In August we will start at 6:30 pm. The gates to the visitor center will open 1/2 hour before the presentation, to give you time to browse the WNPA bookstore. Mark your calendars, and bring your favorite lawn chair, and join us for these very special summer events.

Petroglyph National Monument’s Las Imágenes Visitor Center is located at 4735 Unser Blvd. NW at Western Trail. For more information please contact Cheryl Ford at 505-899-0205 ext. 337. You can also check our web site www.nps.gov/petr for an updated version of our special events as well as detailed information about the monument.

Our special evening programs with New Mexico authors are jointly sponsored with the University of New Mexico Press. Petroglyph National Monument is cooperatively managed by the National Park Service and the City of Albuquerque.

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A Warm & Feathered Welcome . . .

to the 56 people who became new CNMAS Auduboners as a result of your interest in, and support of, our Sixth Annual Birding Academy. What a fantastic turnout! We welcome our new members and thank all of you continuous members who love birding and being involved in Audubon. There’s plenty more you can do to support the chapter – call any of us in the CNMAS Directory if you’d like to learn more about volunteer opportunities. And let us know your sparkling ideas for topics and/or presenters for the upcoming ... Seventh! Annual Birding Academy! Birdwatching – What a wonderful passion!

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