April 2025: Spring Migration and Other Special Events

 April is that very special time where the birds that breed in the area begin to arrive, and birds migrating further north stop to rest on their journey.

Rio Grande Nature Center

This is a time when the weekly bird survey at the Rio Grande Nature Center wetlands gets especially fun. After a winter of pretty predicable sightings of the birds who spend the cold months near the bosque in Albuquerque, we get to track the new arrivals as they come in, as well as the ones just passing through. Many of these are predictable and expected. For instance, we look forward to seeing when the Swainson's Hawks who nest at the nature center will first show themselves, and to our first Lucy's Warbler and Western Kingbird. Others are more unexpected, which makes things especially exciting. 

Early April 

I wanted to share the cool birds I saw  at the Nature Center in April, but many of my photos  just weren't that good, with branches and other things obscuring their view, something I could take care of with illustrations. I started with some quick and loose smaller sketches. 

One early April morning, we had not one, but two Peregrine Falcons on the survey. The one illustrated here appears to be a 1st year bird, with immature feather patterns on the chest, and mature coloration/pattern on the head. A Red-Tailed Hawk also soared overhead. 

That same morning we were happy to find a Yellow-Headed Blackbird male with a flock of Red-Winged Blackbirds. Walking the ditch west of the Nature Center afterwards, we found a Wilson's Snipe at the edge of the water. 

Flycatching in the Clear Ditch

For maybe a week in early April, a  female Vermilion Flycatcher was hanging out on and near the Nature Center grounds, seen most often fly-catching from the clear ditch just west of the Nature Center. This is a bird that breeds in southern New Mexico, and is considered rare here, though they've been showing up more and more during migration. I walked along the ditch a few times without finding the Vermilion Flycatcher (pictured center), but there was plenty of flycatching activity, between the Say's Phoebe's, the Black Phoebes, and the Yellow-Rumped Warblers.

A couple of  times, I was caught off-guard by a streaked brown bird sallying out to catch midges in the air. I had a few double-takes before figuring out that it was a female Red-Winged Blackbird! Something I've never seen before, for sure. Several Blackbird females were foraging and drinking at the edge of the water, but I guess with the air full of midges, one or two of them decided to try something different. (No photo or draawing of the blackbirds by the water, so this tree full of Red-WInged Blackbird females from Los Poblanos will stand in for illustrative purposes.

Shortly after people quit seeing the female Vermilion Flycatcher, this spectacular male appeared in the field right off Veranda St, east of the Nature Center. He was seen for only two days, and as far as I know right now, boy and girl Vermilion never connected.

Speaking of southern vagrants, this female Phainopepl
a is sti
ll hanging around eating berries in the Nature Center Garden. Last Wednesday I saw her in the Russian Olives over the visitor center pond. Today, the bird survey group found her by the parking lot pond. It's a curious thing that she is still hanging out so far north, for more than a month now. She should be down at her breeding grounds by now. At least she plenty to eat in the Nature Center trees.

 Many birds that wintered with us are still hanging around, but not for long, like this beauty of a White-Throated Sparrow.

 

Wrens at Embudito

Last month I reported on two visits to an area where Canyon Wrens seemed to be nest building. I visited again in mid-April, sitting awhile by the rocks where the nest building had been observed. After 15 minutes, I heard Canyon Wren song. Shortly after, one landed below the crevice where I first saw Canyon Wren activity. The wren foraged along a horizontal crevice, then went up a vertical crack. Then she or he surprised me by coming to the rock surface right in front of me, circling the rock and coming within a few yards. What was going on? A male guarding his territory perimeter? He took off, and thereafter I heard Canyon Wren song coming from further down the Canyon. A friend lives near Embudito  reported she's only been seeing and hearing the Canyon Wrens more towards the base of the canyon. What we see of the lives of birds are just snapshots: We rarely get the whole story. But we love to try!

Outside the Canyon at Embudito, a Cactus Wren was bringing nest materials to add to their nest in the Cholla. He would stop to sing just above the nest before heading out for more, which is when I caught this photo. In the same area, this gorgeous Black-Throated Sparrow was singing. 

Round About Town as Migration Takes Off

At My Neighborhood Golf Course 

I spent a lot of time birding the UNM North Golf Course during the early days of the pandemic,
connecting with several neighborhood birders. I rarely go there anymore, but was enticed out by my neighborhood birding buddies one day in mid-April.  Three Sage Thrashers were in the scrub area west of the golf course. A male Indigo Bunting was moving between the law school building and the green.

 Near a Cooper's Hawk nest on the golf course, I was surprised to find three Cooper's Hawk fledglings, flying quite awkwardly around the area. (This seems early to me for Cooper's Hawks). A parent brought what looked like it might be the leg of a chicken, and this lucky fledgling got control of it. 

 

Los Poblanos Open Space

It's always a good day when I get to see a Merlin. This one was in a tree with an American Kestrel, which offered a good size/shape comparison, which offered a good size/shape comparison, The Merlin is a small falcon, slightly larger than an American Kestrel.  

At Tingley Open Space:

The very unexpected sight of a Loggerhead Shrike in a tree by the river!  Only in migration would you see them in this habitat.

 

And Back at the Nature Center

 A Great Egret was hanging out near a Snowy Egret, giving a good perspective on the enormous difference in their size. Wood Ducks are here all year, but this pair was too pretty not to include them here.  

Welcome back to our Summer Nesting Birds, newly arrived from their wintering grounds: A tree full of Brown-Headed Cowbirds at Los Poblanos (guard your nests, birdies!), Western Kingbird at Los Poblanos, Summer Tanager male and Ash-throated Flycatcher in Corrales.

A Couple of Sketches That Aren't About Birds

My Sketchers group had a lovely morning at Los Poblanos Ranch, where I did these two sketches. (OK-there is a bird in the first sketch. There wasn't meant to be, but the peacock moved in after I started drawing and insisted on having his display included. 

The Last Word

I'll give the last "word" (or bark) to this Roadrunner (likely female) who was barking away on the east side of the river, in a call and response with a male calling back with his mournful dove-like song. Unfortunately, the sound of the response wasn't captured in the video.

 

March 2025: The Month in Birds

March is, of course, the month of Spring's arrival, and the activity I got to observe in the bird world this month made that clear. 

Dancing Cranes

On the Wetlands Survey at the Rio Grande Nature Center on March 5th, we watched four cranes cross in front of us into a field. At first it looked like they were about to take off, but no. They were lifting, spreading their wings, and coming back down: It was a dance. Because Sandhill Cranes don't breed in Albuquerque, we don't get to see their courtship behaviors often, but this is the time when they heading north to their breeding grounds, so I guess they were getting ready.

More 'Springing' at Tingley

The next day, March 7, I went for a walk at Tingley Open Space. I passed a pond where Northern Shovelers were doing their circular dabbling in the water for food. But whereas just a month earlier, they were dabbling all together in a large mixed group, now instead there were several pairs spread across the pond, circling only with their mate. This is best captured in video, and I was fortunate to have captured a group dabble in late January for comparison with the paired dabbling. First video is from January, the second one from March. 

Right after videoing the Shovelers, I ran into Raymond and Lee, who pointed out some Cinnamon Teal at the other end of the pond. They are coming through in migration this time of year. I was happy to spend the rest of the morning birding with them, because I rarely get the opportunity to hang out with Raymond and benefit from his breadth of bird knowledge. We headed to the main fishing pond, where a Double-Crested Cormorant in breeding plumage was perched at the top of the trees where the Neotropic Cormorants were nesting.

The smaller Neotropic Cormorants nest in the area, and they have had a nesting roost at in the middle of the TIngley Fishing Ponds for a few years at least. Many were already sitting on their nests, their partners feeding them. The Double-Crested Cormorant would not be nesting here (they nest further north). I was curious as to whether they start nesting later than the Neotropics, since this one is obviously not yet at his summer territory. Raymond thought that this was probably an unmated bird. In the group photos, you can see the larger cormorant at the top not associated with a nest. That is the Double-Crested Cormorant.

 

 

 

 

 Canyon Wrens-Embudito Canyon

On  March 11, I walked with a friend up the wash in Embudito Canyon. Shortly after we left the wash for the rocky part of the trail, we began to hear Canyon Wrens singing and calling. We found two of them moving in and out of a crevice in the canyon wall. One would stop periodically to sing from the top of a triangular rock, bobbing up and down like a Rock Wren. Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera, but here is the crevice, with the rock perch in front.

I came back with another birding friend on March 28. I wanted to check and see what the Canyon Wrens might be up to. Sure enough, we began to hear Canyon Wren song as we approached the crevice, and found one perched on the same triangular rock. This time, however, the pair headed further north. One perched on a rock, bobbing and singing, before they disappeared behind the rocks.

 

With the wrens gone, we studied the crevice. There was something that looked like a nest that I don't think was there on the first visit. But would they really nest in such an exposed area at the edge of a crevice?

This was all we observed on this day, but my friend went back to the area the next day and sat watching for more than an hour. The wrens were busy on the other side of the canyon for most of her observation. After about 50 minutes, they moved near the entrance to the crevice, but now they were repeatedly flying up into an overhang near the top of the cliff. We wondered if Canyon Wrens are a species that work on multiple nests before they settle into one.

Birthday Gifts-March 21

Walking in the Tingley bosque on the morning of my birthday, I was gifted with several "firsts." First of the year Turkey Vulture and Snowy Egret, which are pretty typical to see for the first time as spring arrives. In the shallow water where the south pond overflows, I identified my first Swamp Sparrow on my own (always in the past I've been with another birder who IDd it first. No picture unfortunately.

By the fishing pond, I heard an unfamiliar sweet peeping sound, and looked around for the songbird that was producing it. I quickly found the singer, and this was no song bird! This was the first time I'd heard an Osprey's call, at least to know that's what it was. Listen to this short video to hear what a fierce Osprey sounds like.

Phainopepla at the Nature Center-March 22

My birthday weekend good fortune continued on March 22. A Phainopepla female had been found in the garden area at the Rio Grande Nature Center. These birds nest in Southern New Mexico, always in areas with lots of mistletoe. One or two appear in the Albuquerque area in migration every year, and usually do not stay long. I had often thought that the Nature Center garden would be a good place for them, with all the mistletoe in the trees. This was my opportunity to see one of these beautiful song birds in my own area for the first time, and would be new for my Bernalillo County list. 

It took over an hour for me to find the bird on this first visit, just minutes before I needed to head out for a class. Many birders had gathered to look when someone waved us all over. I got only one semi-decent photo of the bird. It was a little easier to get photos of the birders. First rare bird "party" I've attended in awhile. It reminded me of pandemic times, when it felt so celebratory to have an incidental "mass" gathering with all the birders who showed up for a rare bird sighting.

 

The bird has continued to hang out in the same area and is still there as of this writing. I've been able to see it two more times, with much closer and better views. On my third visit on April 1, I heard her calling before I saw her and got an audio recording. I also got a video of her moving around in a tree. Here is a link to my audio recording on eBird: Phainopepla Call (Recording)

Observing this bird, I got an answer to something I had wondered about. I had heard Phainopepla are only found near mistletoe, to the point that I thought that mistletoe berries are the only food they eat. However, I saw this bird foraging berries from other trees. I looked up more information.  Cornell's All About Birds website reports that Phainopepla have digestive tracts that are specialized for eating mistletoe fruit, which is their main diet, but they also eat a variety of other berries. For instance, she was foraging on these, which per iNaturalist, may be hackberries.

The Last Word

As we head out of March into April, where migration will soon be in full swing, I will leave you with a few more photos of the birds of March. See you next month!

(Adjacent) Western Bluebird male, on the Candelaria Nature Preserve.

(Below) Black-Crowned Night Heron-Tingley Ponds.

(Adjacent) Cactus Wren singing at Embudito.

(Below) Black-throated Sparrow and Crissal Thrasher at the Sevilleta Refuge. 

 

March 2025 Sketching

In March I continued with daily-ish sketching: Mostly pencil sketches of something right in front of me, and a few from photos, including a few done with colored pencil. I'll just proceed to showcase the sketches, with commentary on the process where I'm so inspired.

Colored Pencil Sketches

I was inspired to pull out the colored pencils by some colorful birds that I photographed on a visit to the Albuquerque Biopark Zoo. These first two (Sun Conures and a reclining Flamingo) I did with watercolor pencil. I'm also including here a photo of the Sun Conures so you can see just how sweet they were, possibly the happiest creatures in the zoo because they had each other. 

 

Next, I tried my Caran d'Ache colored pencils on the flamingos, mostly because I like the range of pinks that I have with them better than the watercolor pencil choices. I consider this mostly a background fail: I started with some failed dark tree silhouettes in the background and everything seemed to go bad to worse as I tried to save it (there's no getting rid of the dark markings once they are there). In the end, I do kind of like it, but miss how the flamingos looked with a light background. I thought I might do them over, but that so far hasn't happened.

Graphite Pencil Sketches

Here are a few of my favorites from my (almost daily) drawings. I continued to eschew seeking out a great subject in favor of just drawing something in front of me. This led to to a few assemblages of objects in whatever room I was in. 

Perhaps my favorite is of this curio cabinet at my friend Astri's house:  

Then there is my cat, Lolly, always a ready subject, if not so good about sitting still. 

And more than once I used my coffee break time to draw, with several resulting sketches of coffee house interiors.  This is my favorite of that "genre."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'll finish off with a few from a great outdoors.  I chose the car as a subject precisely because if was a subject I wouldn't tend to gravitate towards. When I realized the driver was in the car, it challenged me to lay down the lines quickly before she drove off. Fortunately, she lingered awhile. Subjects from top to bottom: Tingley Open Space parking lot, Tree in Los Poblanos Open Space Pollinator Garden, and exterior of the Albuquerque Museum

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Hope you enjoyed this little exhibit. (Sorry for the wonky layout--I don't seem to know how to control how it shows on the page). I'll be back shortly with bird stories and photos from the past month.