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April 2008
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04/02/08
Rosy-Finches Still Flocking
Filed under: General, Birding & Outdoors, NM & SW US, Florida & SE US, Sandia Crest
Posted by: Ken @ 5:58 pm

OOPS! Flag still waving- flocks have not yet departedUpdate on the Rosy-Finches of Sandia Crest, New Mexico.  The flag is waving again– small flocks of  Rosy-Finches are still visiting the feeders at Sandia Crest House. Feeders will be coming down soon.  Please report late sightings in the log at Crest House.

Oops! The Rosies have not departed after all!

We took the flag down a bit too soon– It should still be waving, as it signals that flocks of rosy-finches, though much smaller, were still visiting the feeders at the Crest House on April 2. As Fran Lusso and Dave Weaver report, they will keep the feeders up another week and again try to pinpoint the date that flocks depart. As in past years, we can expect a few stragglers to persist even longer. Their report:

“Hope all is well in your parts - we’ve had the usual Spring winds out here - dust everywhere!

“We were up at the Crest today and left the feeders up.  We’re thinking we’ll leave them up for one more week.  There have been additional sightings and we saw a flock of about 20 today.  Birders are more likely to log in the sightings of the last stragglers if the feeder is still up.  Till next week!”

They also provided an updated copy of the sightings log, which is available at this link.

BTW, I must admit that the one thing I do not miss about New Mexico is the spring winds that stir up the juniper pollen. I never had allergies in my life until my first windy spring in The Land Of Enchantment.



Merganser Update

Yesterday was the first day in over a week that I did not see the group of five  Red-breasted Mergansers on our little Florida lake, Late in the afternoon, only one showed up,  accompanied by a Snowy Egret. It fished near the shore and they appeared to be sharing in a school of fish. When I came out of the house to take this picture, the merganser  became camera-shy and started paddling away. Today no mergansers graced our shores. I finally have photos of all three species of the commensal herons.

Now, get ready for this–

Andreas Kanon of New Jersey (link to his gallery here)
permitted us to exhibit his beautiful photo of an adult male
Red-breasted Merganser, taken at Barnegat Inlet just this past week..
Wow, this one would be so welcome on our little lake– maybe
next year! Thanks, Andreas!

Red-breasted Merganser, Andreas Kanon



Key West Migration Radar

This evening at about 10:30 I captured this 1 hour loop that shows migrants moving north across the Florida Straits from the coast of Cuba. Check BADBIRDZ in the morning, as the action will likely pick up later on.

Key West Radar


May through October,

TUESDAY MORNING GUIDED BIRD WALKS

in the Sandia
Mountains, sponsored by the

U.S. Forest Service and Central New Mexico
Audubon.

Birders meet at 8:00 a.m. (8:30 in May and October)

at the
Sandia Ranger Station, 1176 Highway 337, in Tijeras.


Thursday Birder

and Central NM Audubon Field Trips

Sandia Crest House Sighting Logs (199 - 2008) Table and Spreadsheet of all Banding Results

CORRESPONDENCE: Narrative Banding

and Sighting Reports

ID Tips: the Four Rosy-Finch Races at Sandia Crest

Check Weather, Webcams and Road Conditions Rosy-finch and Nature Center Banding Schedule

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