The Last Bird Count

Total Birds Identified – 169

During our one-year Birding Odyssey we criss-crossed back and forth across the beautiful San Luis Valley – from the arid Valley floor to pinon-juniper habitats to higher mountainous areas. We drove across highways, county roads and U.S. Forest Service trails. We hiked countless trails in all kinds of weather. We even mucked through a flooded cow pasture wearing knee-high irrigation boots. We tromped through the snow, we swatted mosquitoes during the summer and we caught our breath as we crested mountainsides covered with golden aspen. We got up at the crack of dawn and we stayed out on the trail until the sun dropped behind the San Juan Mountains. We returned to favorite birding areas many times during the year and we explored areas we had never before visited. By the time our one-year Odyssey was completed on December 31, 2012 we had recorded 169 species of birds. Some we had seen before, others were new birds on our life list and a few are considered rare sightings in the Valley.

Below is our San Luis Valley Birding Odyssey list.  When we saw a particular species only once or twice we noted the location.  That doesn’t mean it is an unusual bird for the Valley, just that we had only one opportunity during the year to observe and record it. The highlight of our Birding Odyssey was on July 19, 2012 when we identified and photographed a black phoebe perched on a willow along the Rio Grande . Each and every bird we saw, however, brought us joy and excitement and even a little regret that we are unable to join these exquisite creatures in flight.

Greater White-fronted Goose – Home Lake

Snow Goose

Ross’ Goose – Alamosa Riverwood Pond

Cackling Goose

Canada Goose

Gadwall

American Widgeon

Mallard

Blue-winged Teal

Cinnamon Teal

Northern Shoveler

Northern Pintail

Green-winged Teal

Canvasback

Redhead

Ring-necked Duck

Lesser Scaup

Bufflehead

Common Goldeneye

Common Merganser

Ruddy Duck

Dusky Grouse – Rock Creek

Pied-billed Grebe

Eared Grebe – Smith Reservoir, Monte Vista National Wildlife Refuge

Western Grebe

Clark’s Grebe

American White Pelican

Double-crested Cormorant – Home Lake

American Bittern

Great Blue Heron

Snowy Egret

Black-crowned Night Heron

White-faced Ibis

Turkey Vulture

Osprey – Big Meadow Reservoir, Alamosa National Wildlife Refuge

Bald Eagle

Northern Harrier

Cooper’s Hawk – John James Canyon

Swainson’s Hawk

Red-tailed Hawk

Ferruginous Hawk – Alamosa County Road 104

Rough-legged Hawk

Golden Eagle

American Kestrel

Merlin - Alamosa

Peregrine Falcon

Prairie Falcon

Sora - LaSauses

American Coot

Sandhill Crane

Snowy Plover – Blanca Wetlands

Killdeer

Black-necked Stilt – Johnson Lake at Russell Lakes State Wildlife Area

American Avocet

Spotted Sandpiper

Greater Yellowlegs

Willet – Home Lake

Lesser Yellowlegs

Western Sandpiper

Baird’s Sandpiper – Alamosa Ranch

Long-billed Dowitcher – flooded farm field east of Splashland, Home Lake

Wilson’s Snipe

Wilson’s Phalarope

Franklin’s Gull

Bonaparte’s Gull

Ring-billed Gull

California Gull

Black Tern – Alamosa National Wildlife Refuge

Forster’s Tern – Russell Lakes State Wildlife Area

Rock Pigeon

Eurasian Collared Dove

White-winged Dove – Medano-Zapata Ranch

Mourning Dove

Great Horned Owl

Burrowing Owl – Colorado Highway 15 south of Monte Vista

Common Nighthawk

Black Swift – Zapata Falls

White-throated Swift – South River Road

Black-chinned Hummingbird – Underwood feeder

Calliope Hummingbird – Underwood feeder

Broad-tailed Hummingbird

Rufous Hummingbird

Belted Kingfisher

Lewis’ Woodpecker – Keen’s Grove in Rio Grande County

Downy Woodpecker

Hairy Woodpecker

American Three-Toed Woodpecker – Big Meadow Reservoir

Northern Flicker

Western Wood Pewee

Willow Flycatcher – Conejos River near LaSauses

Cordilleran Flycatcher – trail to Zapata Lake

Black Phoebe – Rio Grande State Wildlife Area

Say’s Phoebe – San Luis Lakes, Fort Garland

Western Kingbird

Eastern Kingbird – Alamosa National Wildlife Refuge

Loggerhead Shrike

Plumbeous Vireo

Warbling Vireo

Steller’s Jay

Western Scrub Jay

Pinyon Jay

Clark’s Nutcracker

Black-billed Magpie

American Crow

Common Raven

Horned Lark

Tree Swallow

Violet-green Swallow

Northern Rough-winged Swallow

Bank Swallow

Cliff Swallow

Barn Swallow

Black-capped Chickadee

Mountain Chickadee

Bushtit – Zapata Lake Trail

Red-breasted Nuthatch – Great Sand Dunes National Park

White-breasted Nuthatch

Rock Wren – John James Canyon

House Wren

Marsh Wren

Ruby-crowned Kinglet – Big Meadow Reservoir

Western Bluebird

Mountain Bluebird

Townsend’s Solitaire

Hermit Thrush

American Robin

Northern Mockingbird

Sage Thrasher – San Luis Lakes

European Starling

American Pipit

Cedar Waxwing – Rio Grande River near Adams State University

Orange-crowned Warbler

Yellow Warbler

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Common Yellowthroat – LaSauses

Wilson’s Warbler

Western Tanager

Green-tailed Towhee – Monte Vista National Wildlife Refuge

Spotted Towhee

American Tree Sparrow

Chipping Sparrow

Brewer’s Sparrow

Vesper Sparrow – Costilla County

Lark Sparrow – Alamosa National Wildlife Refuge

Black-throated Sparrow – John James Canyon

Sage Sparrow

Savannah Sparrow – Cumbres Pass area

Song Sparrow

Lincoln Sparrow – Cumbres Pass area

White-crowned Sparrow

Dark-eyed Junco

Black-headed Grosbeak

Blue Grosbreak – Pike’s Stockade

Lazuli Bunting – Pike’s Stockade

Red-winged Blackbird

Western Meadowlark

Yellow-headed Blackbird

Brewer’s Blackbird

Common Grackle

Great-tailed Grackle

Bullock’s Oriole – Monte Vista National Wildlife Refuge

Brown-headed Cowbird - Alamosa

Pine Grosbeak – Summitville Road

Cassin’s Finch

House Finch

Pine Siskin

Lesser Goldfinch – Monte Vista National Wildlife Refuge

American Goldfinch

House Sparrow

12.27.12 Odyssey End

Our last field trip in our San Luis Valley Birdwatching Odyssey was along the dry Chicago Ditch at the Alamosa NWR. 

At the Refuge we saw song sparrows in the brown grasses and a raptor in a distant tree. A waddling porcupine amused us by sliding backwards down a steep, snowy slope in its haste to return to its grassy den along the irrigation ditch. In the distance we heard the yipping and howling of a family of coyotes.

The Refuge is a fitting place to end our Odyssey. It is at the Refuge where Diane and I started first started birdwatching thirty years ago and it was at the Refuge where we hatched a plan to return to the Valley and once again make it our home.  

Like Ulysses we heard the siren’s songs-- the crane’s call, geese’s glee.  And we once ran across a one-eyed farm dog that was as mean as heck.

Like the Hero we returned home at Odyssey’s end. Our Odyssey was not as harrowing as the Hero’s. To us it was a grand experience and we loved every minute of it.

Field Notes 10.11.12

We found ourselves in that nether time before the fall migration, before the big flocks had started moving around. We found ourselves at the Alamosa National Wildlife Refuge. The flat but varied terrain along the Rio Grande is a great place for this kind of birdwatching.  During the two-mile hike you pass stands of willows and wetlands. There are abundant spots for shorebirds on the banks of the low-running Rio Grande. You hike through large open areas where the big sky reveals several species of raptors.

In this nether time when birds moving around the Valley are few and far between it is still possible to see some good birds. At the Refuge today Diane and I saw an osprey scouting for fish in the river. Near a field in the dry grasses we saw a vesper sparrow, sitting so still we could see its chestnut wing patches and white eye rings.

We glimpsed some ducks, hard to identify in the late afternoon sun. They flew up and down the river, some taking to the Chicago Ditch.

A family of sandhill cranes flew overhead--Mother, Father and Child.

Field Notes 6.22.12 Volunteering

 We love birdwatching and being out in nature, whether on a high mountain pass or under a tree in our backyard.  We also want to do all we can to protect birds and the natural world. One way we have chosen to help is by volunteering with the Friends of the San Luis Valley National Wildlife Refuges.  At the Alamosa National Wildlife Refuge, Diane and I work as docents at the visitor center. This is just a great thing to do. Not only do we get to introduce people to the refuge, we get to talk with birders from around the country and the world. We also get plenty of time to look at the vast amounts of birds that use the refuge.

On this particular early morning we saw a Wilson’s snipe up high on a power pole as we arrived at the refuge. This was an unusual place to see a snipe as they are usually near the ground. Throughout the morning we saw white-faced ibises and red-winged blackbirds. A colony of cliff swallows make the visitor center patio their home and it is just thrilling to watch them flying in and out of their mud-dobbed nests. We saw robins eating yellow berries from a bush, an eastern kingbird on a post and hawks flying in the distance.

A couple from New Mexico came into the visitor center and said they had seen a black tern when they had visited the refuge two weeks ago and were hoping to see it again on the trip back home. After our shift at the visitor center we drove the auto loop and we also saw the black tern swooping over the marshes as well as coots, mallards and cinnamon teals -- all with fussy little babies nearby. We also saw yellow-headed blackbirds and meadowlarks.  We heard the gurgling calls of an American bittern and the winnowing of a Wilson’s snipe.

Please come and see us at the national wildlife refuges here in the San Luis Valley. We have great birding year around and there are surprises everywhere.