AUDUBON THURSDAY BIRDERS SCHEDULE - Spring 2014

[Rosyfinch]

AUDUBON THURSDAY BIRDERS SCHEDULE
 SPRING 2014

TO CHECK FOR POSSIBLE TRIP CANCELLATIONS, visit the Audubon web site: www.newmexicoaudubon.org/cnmas. Click on TRIPS, then go to THURSDAY BIRDERS.
       
MARCH 6
Walk in the Corrales bosque with Lannois Neely: 505-890-7881. [e-mail]. Meet at 8:50 a.m. for a 9:00 departure from the shopping area north of Alameda Road/NM 528 and east of NM 448/Coors/Corrales Road. The parking area is across Alameda Boulevard from McDonald’s on the south. People should park away from the businesses there. The group will carpool from there to different areas in the bosque. Lunch afterwards at Village Pizza in Corrales.  

MARCH 13
Tour Bernardo Wildlife Management Area with Judy Liddell: 505-271-0912, [e-mail]. Meet at 7:50 a.m. for an 8:00 departure from the parking lot behind the Hawthorne Suites located at Gibson and University. The refuge is 50 miles south of Albuquerque on I-25. Take the exit to US 60, go under the overpass and get on the east frontage road and drive north 0.5 miles to the entrance on the east. Bring lunch. For those not driving the shared gas expense is $5 at five cents per mile. The trip will end by  mid afternoon.  

MARCH 20
Visit the Open Space Visitor Center with Rebecca Gracey: 505-242-3821, [e-mail]. Meet at 8:30 a.m. in the center’s parking lot. Turn east from Coors Boulevard on Bosque Meadows Road, between Montano Road on the south and Paseo del Norte on the north. It will be an easy 1.5 mile walk. Brunch afterwards at nearby Hannah and Nate’s Market Café, 6521 Riverside Plaza Lane.

March 27:
Visit the Rio Grande Nature Center State Park with Lefty Arnold: 505-514-9398, [e-mail]. Meet at 8:29 a.m. by the parking lot blind. There is a $3 parking fee if you do not have a State Parks Pass or Friends of the RGNC Pass. Both passes may be purchased insdie the Visitor Center after 10:00 a.m. The one-mile walk will end before noon.

APRIL 3
Hike in the Elena Gallegos Open Space with Leah Henzler: 505-293-0191. [e-mail]. Turn east on Simm’s Park Road from Tramway Boulevard between San Rafael Avenue on the north and Spain Road on the south. There are many parking areas there, so after paying the $1 parking fee, drive counter-clockwise around the entry station and drive north toward the Kiwanis Group Reservation Area. Use the parking lot for Cottonwood Trail. This is an easy 1.5 mile walk that will end before noon.

APRIL 10
Walk in the Durand Open Space in the South Valley with Becky Purvis: 505-877-2517, [e-mail].  Meet at 8:30 a.m. in the open space parking lot at 4736 Isleta SW. From I-25, exit on Rio Bravo, drive west on Rio Bravo and turn south onto Isleta Boulevard. Drive two miles to the property on the east. The walk will be about one mile in length and will end before noon.

APRIL 17
Visit the Shady Lakes Fishing Ponds with Maurice Mackey: 505-897-0415, [e-mail]. Meet at the ponds at 8:30 a.m. The ponds are north of Alameda Boulevard, just beyond the location where north 2nd and 4th streets become one road, that being NM 313 to Bernarillo. There will be an easy one mile walk around the property with the walk ending before noon.

APRIL 24
Drive to Manzano Pond and Quarai National Monument with Bonnie Long: 505-379-1985, [e-mail]. Meet at 7:50 a.m. for an 8:00 departure from the west side of the Four Hills Shopping Village on Central Avenue between Juan Tabo and Tramway Boulevard or at 8:50 a.m. at the junction of NM 337 and NM 55. Bring lunch. The trip will end in the early afternoon. For those not driving the shared gas expense is $5 at five cents per mile.

MAY 1
Travel to the Belen Marsh in Belen, NM, and the Whitfield Wildlife Conservation Area with Linda Heinze: 505-565-1441, [e-mail].  Meet at 7:50 a.m. for an 8:00 departure from the parking lot behind the Hawthorne Suites on Gibson and University or 8:30 at the Belen Marsh. To reach the marsh, take the first Belen exit from I-25, Exit 195, drive east one mile, turn south, and park behind the Taco Bell.  Then the group will visit the Whitfield Wildlife Conservation Area on NM 47. The group will have lunch in Los Lunas at Teofilo’s on Main/NM 6 near the intersection with NM 314.  For those not driving, the shared gas expense is $3.50 at five cents per mile.

MAY 8 & 9
The Thursday Birder Birdathon with Bonnie Long: 505-379-1985, [e-mail] and Judy Liddell: 505-271-0912, [e-mail].
This event is a fundraiser for Central NM Audubon and Audubon NM, as well as 24 hours of birding fun. The Birdathon will commence at 10:00 a.m. at Bonnie Long’s home in the SE mountains and include stops at Manzano Pond and Quarai National Monument off Hwy 55, and end at Bosque del Apache NWR the evening of the first day. The group will overnight in Scorro and begin at 6:00 a.m. the next day at the Macy Center in Socorro, then Box and Water Canyons of Hwy 60 west of Socorro before ending at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, May 9th. To confirm participation and receive a deatiled itinerary, conact Bonnie Long or Judy Liddell.
 
MAY 15
Hike in Otero Canyon with Barbara Hussey: 505-385-1165, [e-mail].  Meet at 7:50 a.m. for an 8:00 departure from the Sandia Ranger Station on NM 337 in Tijeras.
The group will carpool from there to the canyon, a few miles south on NM 337. It will be an easy 1.5 mile walk ending before noon.  

MAY 22
Drive to the White Lakes Playa north of Clines Corners, and west to Stanley, NM, with Rebecca Gracey: 505-242-3821, [e-mail], in search of Mountain Plover and Long-billed Curlew. Meet at 6:50 a.m. for a 7:00 departure from the  west side of the Four Hills Shopping Village on Central Avenue between Juan Tabo and Tramway. Bring lunch. The trip should end in the early afternoon. For those not driving the shared gas expense is $6.50 at five cents per mile.  

MAY 29
Hike Embudito Canyon with Joe Schelling: 505-797-9018, [e-mail].  
Meet at 8:00 a.m. in the trailhead parking lot. To reach the canyon, drive east on Montgomery past Tramway, then turn left on Glenwood Hills. Continue 0.4 of a mile,  turn right on Trailhead Road, and drive to the parking lot. This is an easy 1.5 mile walk  ending before noon.  

ADDITIONAL SPRING BIRDING OPPORTUNITIES:
There will not be a PRAIRIE CHICKEN FESTIVAL in Milnesand, NM, due to drought conditions.  There are hopes to resume the festival in 2015 if there are good rains.

May through October, TUESDAY MORNING GUIDED BIRD WALKS in the Sandia Mountains sponsored by the U.S. Forest Service. Birders meet at 8:00 a.m. at the Sandia Ranger Station, 1176 Highway 337, in Tijeras, N.M.

Saturday and Sunday BIRD WALKS at the Rio Grande Nature Center State Park beinining at 8:30 a.m.  There is a parking fee of $3 without a Friends of the Rio Grande Nature Center Pass or a State Parks Pass.  Both may be purchased after 10:00 a.m. in the Visitor Center.

CENTRAL N.M. AUDUBON SOCIETY has occasional weekend field trips. These are found on the Central Audubon web site www.newmexicoaudubon.org/cnmas. The trips are also listed in the CNMAS publication, The Burrowing Owl.

THURSDAY BIRDER TRIP REPORTS
Judy Liddell’s blog: http://windandsong.wordpress.com   
Joe Schelling’s blog: http://joeschelling.wordpress.com and photo website:  
 http://www.sandianet.com 
Lou Feltz’s photographs: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lvfeltz 
Phil Trine’s photographs: http://www.flickr.com/photos/thbirds
NM Rare Bird Alert http://www.nmbirds.org       
Rare Bird Alerts for all states http://www.birdingonthe.net 
To report NM rare birds, contact Matt Baumann at [e-mail], 264-1052.
Wildlife Rescue for injured birds, located at the Nature Center: 505- 344-2500

To find where reported bird species have been sighted, go to http://www.ebird.org. Click on ‘Explore Data’, then ‘Range and Point Maps’ or ‘Hotspot Explorer’, and type in the species name and general location. To get a listing of birds reported in a given location, after clicking on ‘View and Explore Data’, choose ‘Bar Charts’, and select the location.