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. 

 

 

Pigeon Watching

Early in October I read A Pocket Guide to Pigeon Watching, written and illustrated by Rosemary Mosco.. Along with interesting information about Pigeon natural history and behavior is also information about various plumages and patterns we might see in the Rock Pigeons that share our urban spaces. Many of these variations have arisen from their long history as domestic birds, bred for varied and sometimes unusual traits. I was intrigued, and decided to take up her challenge to see if I could "spot them all." This is the basically the Pikachu-like birding challenge that birders take on when we list and try to "see all the birds," applied to a bird that tends to get little attention.

For my Pigeon watching foray, I headed to the northmost fishing pond at Tingley. Though I see them flocks of Rock Pigeons there all the time, it was different to be actually focusing my attention on them. I found it as enjoyable to watch their varied behaviors as any other bird. I was surprised to see how many of the plumage variations discussed in the book at I was able to see in one visit. 

Base Colors 

Blue The most common Rock Pigeon we will see looks much like the wild Rock Pigeons that once inhabited rocky cliffs in Africa, Europe, and Asia. They were well represented in the flock at Tingley  The base color is blue, with blue-gray wings, and a gray-black band. 

Brown In addition to the basic blue, the other two base colors Mosco describes are Ash-Red and Brown. Brown is the rarest body color. Mosco writes "If you see a brown pigeon, consider yourself blessed by the pigeon gods." I guess I am blessed, because I found a fine example of a gray-brown pigeon with chocolate markings. 

Ash-Red  I did not find the Ash-Red variation this month, unless I count the two that I spotted on a Netflix program filmed in Boston. I believe I have seen them before. The Ash-Red coloration is genetically dominant to the Blue base color, yet there are far fewer Ash-Red than Blue. This is something I don't quite understand, but I can't say I have a solid understanding of genetics.

 Plumage Variation: Spread

Another genetic variation is called spread. With spread color plumage, the bird is covered in one color, whether ash-red, blue, or brown (The three base colors.) On this visit, I  encountered one example: A spread blue. 

Plumage Variation: Dilute

A dilute pigeon looks like a regular pigeon with washed-out colors and patterns. I'm fairly certain the pigeon below is a dilute blue. The head looks lighter than other blues I photographed,

Plumage Variation: Piebald

Many of the pigeons I saw fit this variation, with splotches of white color erasing patches of their basic body color. The genetics of this plumage variation are complicated and arise from many possible mutations. 

 

 Wing-Pattern Variations: Bar, Barless, Checkered, T-Square

The barred wing-pattern is the most common and the most like the original wild Rock Pigeon wing pattern. I've shown several examples of this. 

Barless

A barless wing is completely plain, with no bards or checks. I thought I'd found an example in this photo below, but I'm not completely sure: The bars were just hidden in this resting position.  I'm posting anyway, because I think he's beautiful. Male pigeons are slightly larger than females, and tend to puff out their crops more. I thought this one was male.

Checkered Wing Pattern

A checkered wing is covered wtih distinct dark speckles. I saw several examples of this, and a lot of variation in how much speckling there was. Below are examples of a speckled blue and a speckled brown. (Though the brown one looks a little mixed, in that the head is blue-gray. I thought she looked tie-died.)

T-Check Pattern

A T-check wing is heavily marked with dark pigment, with small T-shaped lighter areas at the tip of the feathers. This one was completely new to me, and I thought that I hadn't found one, until I studied this photo more more closely. 

 

Then when I further studied this dilute blue that I originally thought was bandless, I discovered this beauty also sporting a t-check pattern.

For reasons not well-understood, pigeons with either a T-check or checkered pattern do better in urban environments than those with a bar pattern. There were quite a few with checks, not so many with T-checks, at Tingley on this visit. 

Calico??! Some of the Pigeons I saw didn't fit neatly into any of the categories described in Mosco's book, which doesn't purport to be a complete listing of the myriad plumage possibilities. A couple of birds sported a patchwork of grey, white and red, along with piebald and checkered markings.The term  that came to mind for me was "Calico." 

 

Still Seeking:

Recessive Red: This is a darker, all-red Pigeon that comes from a single recessive gene. Because it requires alleles of the red gene to express itself, it might be considered a rarity among pigeons. 

Recessive White: Unlike the Recessive Red, you are much more likely to see a Recessive White from time to time. This is because pigeons are still bred for this trait, for release at events like weddings. (Don't do it!) We did in fact have a white pigeon flyover early in October during our weekly bird survey at the Nature Center. Many white pigeons that we see were likely bred and released at an event. Some, however, may be feral pigeons that happen to carry two alleles for the recessive white plumage. 

Other Odd Traits to Look For

Some traits from purebred show pigeons (of which there is quite a variety) can pop up in feral populations from time to time. These include a head crest, feathered feet, larger eye rings, multi-hued toenails, and fancy eye colors. I haven't seen any of these, but I'll keep looking. You keep your eyes out too, and maybe you'll be lucky enough to see this evidence of the feral pigeon's showbird past. 

(Apologies for my hastily sketched imitations of Mosco's fine cartoon drawings) 

Rosemary Mosco's book reads from a standpoint of using feral Pigeon observation as a jumping-off point for learning about birds. Having enjoyed my closer observations of pigeons this month, I can see how this could be. It is often recommended to begin the bird-learning journey by observing the most familiar and readily observable birds. For a person living in a large city, or near an urban center, the feral Rock Pigeon may well be a good candidate. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

September 2025 Part Two: Colorado Trip Report

 

Joyful Journeys-San Luis Valley, Colorado

In Mid-September, I drove up to the San Luis Valley in Colorado to meet longtime friends from the Boulder area. We met for two nights at Joyful Journeys Hot Springs and Spa. As it turns out, we did the same meet-up exactly a year before, so now we're thinking it's an annual event. The valley sits to the west of the northern part of the Sangre de Cristo range. From the spa, we could look out to see stunning views of the fall aspen in the mountains.

 

As it turns out, this trip fit completely into the relaxed MO of all my travels this year: A fairly short drive as road trips go, then we planted ourselves on the grounds of the spa, no more driving  until it was time to go. Breakfast and dinner was provided, which really makes it my kind of place. Nothing to do but visit, walk around the peaceful grounds, soak in the hot springs, practice Tai Chi, read, and watch the birds and wildlife. Though we stayed comfortably in the lodge, Tipis and Yurts are also available to guests. 

 

 

The grounds have a labyrinth and a meditation tipi, which sit beautifully on the landscape. (I think I'm sounding like an ad here, though not my intention.)

 

We spent a lot of time on our back porch, watching the birds that would pop up in the trees and shrubs. Sometimes we watched them from out the window as various species would pop up in the bushes: Green-Tailed Towhee, Song Sparrow, Northern Flicker, and more.. As I've experienced in all my trips this year, some of the best close-up bird observation can happen this way. 

 

Song Sparrow. They haven't arrived in Albuquerque yet, so it was a treat to see and hear them. 

 

Northen Flicker: At one point, there were four of them together in the tree behind our room. This seems to be the time of year to see them in small family groups. 

The Eurasian Collared-Doves were being very lovey-dovey.

 

Meditation Hill

In addition to the backyard version, we discovered another good place to sit (or stand) and watch birds and wildlife, looking down into the valley from a little circle of cairns and benches called Meditation Hill. From this vantage point, we saw Black-Billed Magpies, Mountain Bluebirds, Horned Larks, a Golden Eagle, and a herd of Pronghorn. Everything was too far away (or too skulky) to get photos, so I did quick sketches of the two stars of the show. 

 Golden Eagle and Pronghorn

 Bird of the Trip: Pine Siskin

Birders often have a ritual of choosing a "bird of the day" on bird outings. It could be the most rare find, or the most unexpected, or just a favorite for personal reasons. Though I just called that far away Golden Eagle a star, the real stars for me are almost always the closest encounters. So here is my Pine Siskin Story. 

A flock of Pine Siskin hung around the near the lodge. We found them in the backyard trees, and all over the grounds. In these photos, they are drinking from a shallow birdbath.

One afternoon as I headed back to the room, I saw a Pine Siskin in a small pine maybe 10 feet from me. To my surprise and delight, the little bird flew down and landed on a sunflower stalk just two feet away from me. I didn't dare move a muscle as the Siskin foraged from bloom to bloom, moving closer to me with each hop. After watching for awhile, I decided to very slowly raise my phone to try to get a photo. Of course that was the end of the moment. But this is the "bird moment" I treasure most from the trip. 

 

That concludes my news from September. I look forward to seeing what October will bring, and hope you also find some joy in your journeys, wherever you are, and whatever you do.