Almost as soon as I got back from an Arrey-Derry survey, I was off by myself to Armenderis. No one needed the survey camera that day, so I got to take it along and play around with some photography. I got a few more county birds that day. a Sora (NM bird # 246 and Socorro bird #129) called just after dawn from the huge expanse of reeds near the site. A Hairy Woodpecker (#130) perched across the diversion ditch for a few minutes. On the way out of the site, I spotted a Swamp Sparrow (NM bird # 247 and Socorro #131) and a pair of Western Bluebirds (Socorro #131).
Western Bluebirds and some ducks
First, the artistic images so this doesn’t get too boring.
Gateway to Ted Turner's Armendaris Ranch
The inpenetrable gate lock near Fort Craig (unless you know the secret)
Now, some birds. Song Sparrow:
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Bushtits. One male showed very dark auriculars. This trait is most common in the Mexican subspecies of Bushtit, but can occur in all populations.
A Double-crested and Neotropic Cormorant flew up the ditch together, offering a nice comparison. The two differ in size but more importantly in shape. The latter has a longer tail, almost as long as the neck.
Pink-sided Dark-eyed Juncos
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
American Goldfinch
Red-tailed Hawk
I only did a survey in the morning, but I stopped by Bosque del Apache and San Antonio on the way home.
Snow Geese, mostly. Can you find the Ross's Geese?
Here!
And here.
Loggerhead Shrike in San Antonio
Brewer's Blackbird
The Yellow-throated Warbler found the previous week was still in San Antonio in its favorite tree. Despite these better pictures, I’m still uncertain whether it was the yellow-lored long-billed southeastern subspecies or the white-lored shorter-billed western subspecies (which can also often show some yellow in the lores).
This Eurasian Collared-Dove shared the same tree
