December 2025: Looks Like We Made It

 

So I made it through an entire year without dropping this monthly blog post project. Many months, I felt like my life was just not generating enough "content" and that I may not be able to come up with a good post for the month. I tried to relax about the idea of generating content, because that was the last thing I wanted to focus on, My main aspiration was to experience and appreciate whatever arises. The experiences always came through. As 2025 ends, I want to let you all know that I don't expect to continue with the monthly blog post framework next year. Not as a commitment at least. I appreciate all of you who have followed me and expressed your enjoyment of my posts. If and when I do post, I will still send out and email for those on my list.

Birds In Winter

Many birds in winter go into a less colorful non-breeding plumage, as is the case with these American Goldfinches. They arrived in the area in force at the beginning of December, and have continued throughout the month at the Candelaria Nature Preserve. We seldom get to see them in their bring yellow breeding plumage in Albuquerque. They breed further north. 

Speaking of breeding plumage, the Neotropic Cormorant to the left in this photo from Tingley Beach doesn't seem to know that it is winter.The white feathers streaming behind his bill are associated with breeding plumage. According to Sibleys, Neotropic Cormorant adults are in breeding plumage only April-May, and lack these white feathers the rest of the year. 

 

Here's a bird that is not seen too often here in the winter. When I do see a Northern Mockingbird in Albuquerque in December, it is usually a single wanderer, like this one that I came across by the river early in the month. 

I show this photo mostly to show an interesting behavior of small songbirds. They will often perch close to a large predator that goes for larger prey. Presumably this protects them from the raptors that prey on them, including Cooper's and Sharp-Shinned Hawks. Here we see a flock of House Finches lined up to the left of a Red-Tailed Hawk.

 

Rosy-Finches at the Sandia Crest

Now here's an iconic winter bird in my area. They can only be found in the winter at elevations over 10,000 feet. Hence, the Crest is the only suitable habitat for them in Bernalillo County. I went up to the Crest with Dar and Mike to see them mid-December. I was surprised that such a large flock was hanging around, given the mild winter. But where else would they go? Birds who thrive in cold weather are in a tough position as the climate warms, and habitat at the colder end of the scale diminishes. Happily, we got to watch a large flock circling, then landing in trees near the feeder area. And we got to see all three Rosy-Finch species: Black, Gray-crowned, and Brown-capped. One of each species is featured below. 

 

 

 

A Walk on Christmas Day

Walking with friends in the Bosque on December 25th, I didn't have my binoculars or camera. But there is always plenty of natural wonder available to observe if we're paying attention. Susan found this beautiful fallen branch cluster. We propped it up in a stump and I was able to get this composition with my cell phone camera. 

 

We also came across some discarded parts from a Crow, including these feathers. There was lots of coyote scat nearby, and we concluded it was likely a coyote that left these feathers behind.  

Sandia Christmas Bird Count

The Christmas Bird Count has a long history, beginning in the year 1900, and now happens all over the world this time of year. I usually end up participating in one of them. This year I did the south end of the Sandia count with my friend Patty. We had a great day of birding on December 26, with a count of 31 species. 

 

Townsend's Solitaires called from virtually every area we visited. 

  

Northern Flickers were also everywhere.

We got to watch this sweet Abert's squirrel eating nuts close by at Carlito Springs. 

Our "birds of the day" were Sapsuckers, two Red-naped Sapsuckers at the Sandia Ranger Station, and a female Williamson's Sapsucker making a sweet purring sound in Hondo Canyon. 

December 31: Ending the Year with a Bang

At the very end of our last Candelaria Nature Preserve survey of the year, on New Year's Eve Day, we found this Merlin (prairie subspecies). We had to work hard to get a good view and ID on this small falcon. Merlins are always an unexpected treat, and it seemed like the perfect way to end the birding year. 

 

 

 Finishing with a  Few Portraits

I was glad to rekindle a little motivation for sketching again. At our Sketcher's group holiday party, we took turns posing for quick five minute sketches. It is such a fun group activity, and it was encouraging to see what I could do with just five minutes to capture a sense of the person and their pose. Not all of them worked, but here is a compilation of several that I liked. 

 Reminded how much I like portrait drawing, I visited the fantastic exhibit at the Albuquerque Museum, Modern Art and Politics in Germany 1910-1945, twice last week to sketch portraits from some of my favorite paintings. I decided to use a limited palette of colored pencils to dip my toes again into color. I liked this approach, and think I'll continue it for awhile. If you haven't seen the exhibit and you live in Albuquerque, it closes on January 4. Well worth the visit. 

 

Happy New Year!

Whatever 2026 may bring, I hope you find the time to do what you love, and make time for beauty and wonder.  

November 2025: This, That, and the Other

 

November is the New October

A month after autumn's usual arrival, the golden fall leaves arrived in all their glory. Their color lasted well into the month.. This is a story to show not tell, so:

Burn Area in the South Valley Bosque-November 7

 

 

 

 

 

Tingley Bosque November 23: Still Glowing Golden 

  

River Update 

In early November, there was another influx of water on the Rio Grande. As before, with this influx, there was also an DOC (dissolved organic compounds) on the river. I'm beginning to make an association between DOC and an influx of rainwater, possibly from the north. Or there could be another explanation that I don't know about. Water levels have seemed more stable this month, and at the end of the month, the river was still running fairly high. Perhaps this is due to less water going out for irrigation in November. 

 

 Pigeon Update 

Early in November, one of my bird survey cohorts found a vagrant Eurasian Wigeon associating with American Wigeons in the main pond at the Albuquerque zoo. A few show up here every winter. I didn't find the rare Wigeon, but found something that made me just as happy. Up on the "cliffs" of the Asian Elephant Exhibit, a flock of pigeons seemed to be remembering their ancestral cliff habitat. Among them was a beautiful example of a Red base color Rock Pigeon, one of the plumage varieties that I missed in my October Pigeon watching. 

If you haven't seen this episode of Nature on PBS, I highly recommend it: The Pigeon Hustle.

 

Here's a pigeon hustle I've never observed before: A flock of Rock Pigeons at the Tingley fishing ponds eating berries on a New Mexico Olive.

 

 Dipping on the Dipper

Early in the month, an American Dipper showed up at the waterfall in the Albuquerque Biopark Japanese Gardens. The Dipper is a bird of mountain streams, so when one shows up in Albuquerque in late fall or winter, it is always by a source of rushing water, and is always a treat. 

The morning I went out to the Biopark in hopes of seeing this delightful bobbing bird, the American dipper was nowhere to be found. It was found that morning by one of our local intrepid rare bird finders: Now at an outfall on the Clear Ditch just west of the Biopark.

The American Dipper stayed in this area for about a week, and many seekers got to see her bobbing on the edge of the outfall. I've sorry to say I'm not one of them. I hate to admit how many times I walked out that way without finding her (It seemed as good a November quest as any). Though I wanted my story to end in success, I'm telling it anyway, because these experiences are as much a part of birding as the successes. Here are some videos I took of another American Dipper that visited Albuquerque 3 years ago, several miles further north on the same ditch. 

 

Montane Irruptions?

Speaking of mountain species in Albuquerque, the Brown Creeper is a bird that breeds in the Sandias and occasionally shows up in the valley in non-breeding season. This year is a banner year for them in the Rio Grande Valley. SInce mid-October I've been hearing and occasionally seeing them almost every time I go out. Not sure if this would be considered a Montane irruption or not, which is when birds from higher elevations show up in high number in the lowlands, usually due to changes in food supply. 

(Full disclosure: I haven't managed to get any photos of a Brown Creeper this month, so this is a photo from a few years back in the South Valley Bosque.) 

Woodhouse's Scrub-Jays have also been in the Valley this month in higher than usual concentrations. They are birds of the foothills, a slightly higher elevation than the Rio Grande Valley.

Wild Kingdom at the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge

At the end of the month, I did an overnight trip to the Bosque del Apache Wildlife Refuge, about 90 miles south of Albuquerque. Having recently heard yet another dismaying report on the decrease in bird populations, the Bosque del Apache is a good antidote. The overall numbers seem to be down there, too: Still, it is a place where one can expect to see an abundance of birds, for now at least. Future Drought and NM Migratory Patterns. The Vermilion Flycatcher and Loggerhead Shrike pictured below were my favorite birds of the trip--both seen at close range walking along the edge of the Wetland Roost on Highway 1.

Here's my "Wild Kingdom" story. I was at the Flight Deck-photographing the thousands of Snow Geese gathered in the shallow water. I had just taken this photograph. when some of the Geese took flight as one, returning shortly after to the water. 

Knowing this is often a sign of a predator nearby, I scanned the flocked geese. There she was--a coyote entering the shallow waters at the edge of the flock. Suddenly, she ran right into the middle of the gathering, as geese took to the air in waves. The coyote turned around and ran back of the water, carrying a goose in her mouth. No stealth was needed to succeed in her hunt: It was just a matter of picking off one of the slowest birds. No photos, as I was too astonished to even think about my camera.

Here's another Wild Kingdom story. I watched as a 1st year Northern Harrier flew into the geese gathered at the water's edge, landing without a single flare of alarm from the geese. I figure that the geese know they are too large to be prey for this raptor. After sitting a few minutes, the Harrier flew into the shallow water and landed in the midst of a ring of white feathers. The Harrier appeared to be feeding on something there, most likely from the remains of a Snow Goose that had been killed by a predator. So this is what had drawn the Harrier to the Snow Geese--though too large to hunt, the carrion was just right. 

Wildness meets civilization: A herd of Javelina cross a road with humans approaching from either side. 

 Bye til next month. If you want some more bird photos, check out my album of November birds on Flickr. November 2025 Birds

   

October25: Welcoming Fall Changes

  

Not so long ago, the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta (starting the first weekend of October) was reliably accompanied by the height of brilliant fall color. The past few years the cottonwoods haven't even begun to turn by fiesta. Thank goodness, the gold arrived before the month ended.  Along with fall color and the scent of chile roasting, I also associate October with the return of many bird species who spend their winters here. I'll be featuring some of them in this post.

But, before we go there, a diversion: To a much-ignored and non-native bird that shares our city all year long. 

Early in the month, I read a book called The Pocket Guide to Pigeon Watching, written and illustrated by Rosemary Mosco. Inspired by this book, I spent some time observing feral Rock Pigeons, trying to find the varied plumages and features described in her book. I report on this in detail in a 2nd post that immediately follows this one. You can check it out here.

Waterfowl 

In October, many of the ducks and other waterfowl that winter in the Albuquerque area start to arrive. The photos below are from the ponds and Tingley and the Rio Grande Nature Center. Their numbers are still small, and I don't remember whether or not that is typical for October. Here are some of the waterfowl I was able to photograph.

Redhead Male-Nature Center

Gadwall Males-Nature Center

RIng-Necked Ducks, 1) two males, 2) male/female pair-Tingley

American Wigeon, 1) female, 2) male-Tingley

  

 

Cackling Goose: A separate species from the Canada Geese, with smaller rounder heads and a round bill. They have just started the trickle in in small numbers. The Canada Geese (2nd photo) have been here in small numbers all summer, but large flocks come down from the north for the winter, a process that has already begun. 

 

 

Pied-Billed Grebe and American Coot: These two waterbirds, according Sibley's maps, are found throughout New Mexico all year. But they don't seem to breed in the Albuquerque area. So they too, I consider to be fall returnees. 1st photo is of a Pied-Billed Grebe. 2nd photo is an American Coot, which I just had to post because you so seldom get to see their amazing feet. 

 

 

Valles Caldera

Mid-October I joined a friend for a day trip to Valles Caldera. Would you believe that I forgot my camara? So I didn't get to photograph the abundant and beautiful Mountain Bluebirds there. The Aspen were past-peak, but still gorgeous, and I was able to get some landscape photos with my phone. 

Elena Gallegos

I went to Elena Gallegos Open Space on October 20th after I saw my photos from this date two years ago, showing  the nature blind area brimming with birds, and the trees bright gold. I wanted to see how this year compared. The deciduous trees were at their peak of color, as I'd hoped. There wasn't much bird activity at the blind this time, but I was happy to see Western Bluebirds everywhere on the grounds, along with a few Townsend's Solitaires. Both of these birds are in the Thrush family, and you can see the similarity in their shape. 

 1) Western Bluebird pair 2) Townsend's Solitaire 3) Dark-Eyed Junco, Pink-SIded 

The Pink-Sided subspecies of Dark-Eyed Junco is another returning winter bird. The Grey-Headed subspecies of Dark-Eyed Junco is here in the higher elevations during breeding season. 

 

More Winter Returnees: A Big Welcome Back to:

1) Cedar Waxwings  2) White- Crowned Sparrow 3) Hermit Thrush 

 

The Hermit Thrush is being shown to participants on the Rio Grande Nature Center bird walk at the banding station, just before being released. Hermit Thrushes breed in the Sandias and are in the Rio Grande Valley only during winter.

The Stars of the Winter Show

Of course, the biggest welcome has to go to the Sandhill Cranes, The first calls of the Sandhill Cranes flying overhead makes our hearts soar every autumn, without fail.