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| The girls perched on the center console to stand through the sunroof and look at the northern visitor. |
We packed the van and set off on our Winter 2017-2018 road-trip after the girls finished school on Wednesday, December 20th, 2017. We could have taken the most direct route but, with the support of two little girls, we stopped for a Snowy Owl
It is often easier to look at birds from a car as many species are not disturbed by a vehicle, yet would flush if a person were to be walking, and the warmth of the car on a winter evening is tough to give up.
We drove through the night, switching among the three drivers so that we were able to spend the morning at Sandia Crest near Albuquerque, New Mexico. Initially I planned to bird around Yuma Arizona, San Diego California, and wherever else we stopped. Fortunately, I overheard others talking about Rosy Finches and this location during a Burrough's Audubon Society Field Trip and after a short conversation with my wife, we rearranged our schedule to give us the opportunity to see these high altitudes and northern birds.
You are able to drive to Sandia Crest, which was a necessary condition for us to visit given the cold morning temperatures and the strong winds. I am not sure how if or when the Sandia Crest House is open, it was closed the day we arrived but fortunately, the feeders had been maintained and a mixed flock of birds were below eating.
As Grandpa and the kids took in the scenery, I quickly realized my lack of knowledge regarding the individual species and attempted to sort through the flock with hopes of being able to find each of the three different Rosy Finch species. I seriously struggled to keep them separate in the field, but after taking a few photos felt comfortable that most of the flock were Black Rosy-Finches, a few were Gray-crowned Rosy-Finches, and that there were either a handful of first winter birds (which I had expected to be tough to ID based on my readings) or Brown-capped Rosy-Finches.
We drove through the night, switching among the three drivers so that we were able to spend the morning at Sandia Crest near Albuquerque, New Mexico. Initially I planned to bird around Yuma Arizona, San Diego California, and wherever else we stopped. Fortunately, I overheard others talking about Rosy Finches and this location during a Burrough's Audubon Society Field Trip and after a short conversation with my wife, we rearranged our schedule to give us the opportunity to see these high altitudes and northern birds.
You are able to drive to Sandia Crest, which was a necessary condition for us to visit given the cold morning temperatures and the strong winds. I am not sure how if or when the Sandia Crest House is open, it was closed the day we arrived but fortunately, the feeders had been maintained and a mixed flock of birds were below eating.
As Grandpa and the kids took in the scenery, I quickly realized my lack of knowledge regarding the individual species and attempted to sort through the flock with hopes of being able to find each of the three different Rosy Finch species. I seriously struggled to keep them separate in the field, but after taking a few photos felt comfortable that most of the flock were Black Rosy-Finches, a few were Gray-crowned Rosy-Finches, and that there were either a handful of first winter birds (which I had expected to be tough to ID based on my readings) or Brown-capped Rosy-Finches.
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| Please correct me if I am wrong and help educate me to what I should be looking at. Top (Left to Right): Brown-capped Rosy Finch and Gray-crowned Rosy Finch. Bottom: Gray-crowned Rosy Finch (Hepburn’s subspecies) and Black Rosy Finch   |
Taking photos for half an hour left almost everyone frozen, but we took a couple of quick panoramic photos with the phones and packed up to head down the road.
We made our to Flagstaff that night, approximately 1160 miles from where we started just over 24 hours before. Fortunately we spent a couple of days in central Arizona before heading on, but those birds are for the next post. Here are two other species that we saw at Sandia Crest.
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| (Left to Right): Mountain Chickadee and Steller's Jay |
We just got back from there, but it was too early for the finches in October. Saw lots of other neat species in the mountains, though, including Acorn Woodpecker, Red Naped Sapsucker, Pygmy Nuthatch, Solitaires, Evening Grosbeak, and Spotted & Canyon Towhees. A great trip!
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