David McDonald Photography
Friendswood Texas
December 20, 2010
Bulletin #128 – Sandia Crest NM other birds
Thank you to all who sent me responses to last weeks bulletin on the finches at Sandia Peak NM. As I assumed, these birds are not well known to most birders and certainly not known among non-birders. I received more responses than for any other bulletin, so I wasn't able to reply to everyone individually as I like to try to do.
I was asked for further info on the area, so here is the unofficial web site for Sandia Crest Rosy-Finches. This site tells you when the Rosies are present by the waving flag in the upper right corner. There is also a mile-by-mile guide to spots on the way to the summit where different birds can be found. I didn't find it particularly helpful, as it is historical information. The best web site is the New Mexico bird alert. It is up to date.
Also, they catch and band the rosy-finches on Sundays at the crest lodge from 9:30am to 1pm. You have an opportunity to see the birds in hand and have the experts show you the plumage differences etc.
There were other birds on the mountain that I found. The first is the Juniper Titmouse (Baelophus ridgewayi). This plain gray bird with a crest is found in juniper forests in the interior southwest. Formerly it was known as Plain Titmouse, but the populations were split into coastal Oak Titmouse and this one in the interior. The sexes are similar.
I found him at the base of the mountain and brought him into photo range by tape.
His cousin on top of the mountain is appropriately called Mountain Chickadee (Poecile gambeli). He was coming to the feeder at the lodge. This typical chickadee has a black cap and bib, but is IDed by the additional white line through the eye.
The Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis) is a member of the sparrow family. Sibley list 6 color variations. This is the 4th I have seen a photographed, the Gray-headed form. This one is all gray except for white belly and reddish patch on the back.
The White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis) was also frequenting the feeder at the lodge. I captured him in the typical head down on the tree trunk pose.
Next is the beautiful Steller's Jay (Cyanocitta stelleri). This crested jay has gray head, back and breast, with blue wings, belly and tail. These birds in the interior have white on the face and around the eye. He was also seen at the feeder at the summit lodge. Here are 2 photos with the second, a close-up of the facial pattern.
Finally, there were several Common Ravens (Corvus corax) who were riding the thermals up the mountain. They passed close to the lodge at eye level. One can really see the wedge-shaped tail of the raven.
The only mammal I found was the beautiful Abert's Squirrel (Sciurus aberti). This is a large squirrel with 12" body and 9" tail. It has tassels on its ears and is also known as Tassel-eared Squirrel. It is gray bodied with brown on the back and black belly. The tail is white underneath and gray on top. As most squirrels, it was at the feeder as in the second photo. The bird banders were not impressed as they kept going into the traps and scaring off the rosy-finches.
All comments and suggestions are welcomed and appreciated.
Happy birding and photography,
David McDonald
email: davidkmcd@comcast.net
photos copyright 2010 David McDonald
To have these trip reports sent to your email, please email me at the above address and ask for subscribe.
David McDonald Photography
Friendswood Texas
December 12, 2010
Bulletin #127 – Sandia Crest NM finches
The Houston Texas area is a great location for birds, as with migrations and wintering northern birds, we can see at least 60% or more of all the birds in North America.
However, one family that we are deficient in is the finches. There are 16 species in North America, but only 5 occur here regularly. These are the Purple and House Finches of genus Carpodacus and American and Lesser Goldfinches and Pine Siskin, all in the genus Carduelis.
The other finches are almost mythical as they are so hard to find. Their preferred habitats are the arctic tundra, boreal forests and high mountain peaks. These include the Redpolls, Crossbills, Rosy-Finches and Pine and Evening Grosbeaks.
In 2010, I made trips to Duluth MN, Alaska and then last weekend to Sandia Crest outside Albuquerque NM and have been able to finally find all of these birds.
The 3 species of Rosy-Finch were once all combined, but then they were resplit. The Brown-capped Rosy-Finch summers high in the Rockies in Colorado. The Black Rosy-Finch summers at elevation in Wyoming and Montana. The Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch summers in the mountains of southern Alaska, but we didn't look for it in Alaska as it is too high in the mountains. Fortunately, in winter they come south, but stay in the mountains. All 3 species can be seen at the lodge at the top of Sandia Crest (10,700' elevation) where they have feeders out for them.
In all the 3 species, the males have pink rumps, pink on the wings and varying amounts of pink on the bellies. The females are always duller.
The Black Rosy-Finch (Leucosticte atrata) is the easiest to ID. The body is black with a gray crown patch. The bills in winter are yellow, but turn black in breeding plumage. Here are the male and female.
The Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch (Leucosticte tephrocotis) has a cinnamon brown body with the gray crown patch. There is a black forehead, but the black doesn't extend beyond the top of the head. Here are the male and female.
The last one is the Brown-capped Rosy-Finch (Leucosticte australis). It also has a brown body, but not cinnamon brown. It has either a dark cap or a gray cap with dark brown all through it. These 2 brown bodied birds can be confusing to ID sometimes. Here are the male and female.
The other finch was the Red Crossbill (Loxia curvirostra). Both species of crossbill use their peculiar beaks to pry open cones on fir and pine trees to get at the seeds inside. They travel in small flocks and are highly nomadic as they cover wide areas looking for unopened cones. I found a flock just below the top of the mountain at the 10,000' level and was able to get some great photos as they came down to the edge of the road to eat some grit for their crops. A crossbill is IDed by the beak, and the Red Crossbill doesn't have any white wing bars. The males are red and the females yellow olive. They both have darker wings than the body color. Here is a male in a spruce tree.
And here is one on the road 15 feet from me as I stood still and let the flock walk towards me.
This 1st year male has red and yellow, but notice the two wing bars. Both Sibley and National Geographic field guides show this rare variant with the narrow wing bars. I was fortunate to get a photo of this unusual plumage. I didn't know that it had the wing bars until I developed the photos at home.
The female is yellow to olive colored.
This is likely a 1st year female as there is only a small amount of yellow on the head and chest. Notice how she hangs upside down to get at the cones.
There is a wide variation in bill sizes in the Red Crossbill and this seems to depend on which tree and cones are utilized. There are 9 subspecies recognized by bill size and the voices are also different. So there is some discussion that perhaps there may be 9 separate species involved. Sibley discusses this on his web site among possible splits. But he thinks it would be highly unlikely to carve 1 species into 9 others as the work involved in DNA, voice recording and potential hybrids where ranges overlap would make a daunting task.
For people like me, who have trouble with altitude, there is a medication that can be taken before you leave to prevent the altitude sickness. I live at sea level on the Gulf Coast, and used to get very light-headed and nauseated when I went to Colorado, especially Aspen at over 8000 feet. It would take me 2-3 days to adjust, and I ruined half my vacation. Now with premedication, I was able to leave Houston at sea-level, fly to Albuquerque in 2 hours and drive another hour to the top of the mountain (10,700 feet) without a problem.
For those who don't know about this, the drug is Diamox. It comes in Diamox Sequels 500mg to be taken once daily starting 2 days before leaving and continuing for several days. As I was just there for the weekend, I took one each day. This is a prescription medication, but your family doctor should be able to write you a prescription for it.
All comments and suggestions are welcomed and appreciated.
Happy birding and photography,
David McDonald
email: davidkmcd@comcast.net
photos copyright 2010 David McDonald
To have these trip reports sent to your email, please email me at the above address and ask for subscribe.
