Early Fall at Thompson Ridge Above Jemez

The sun was just peeking over the cliffs as the caravan of Thursday Birders wound our way through the Jemez Valley. The cottonwoods, just starting to turn yellow, shone in stark contrast against the rust-colored hills.
We turned off of NM 4 and headed up F.R. 106, a dirt road that wound up through [...]

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Early Fall at Las Vegas National Wildlife Refuge

Lark Sparrows kept popping up from the grasses along the fence line, perching momentarily on a wire and then dropping back down again as the caravan of 11 Thursday Birders drove along NM 281 on our way into the Las Vegas National Wildlife Refuge. Interspersed was an occasional meadowlark.
“Look at that kingbird,” Sarah [...]

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Late Summer – Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Reserve

I stop and take a deep breath. The air, heavy with the smells of a foggy Southern California morning, is a pungent mixture of dew-dampened dry weeds and fresh leaves of willows and cottonwoods. There is stillness in the air, broken occasionally by the call note of one of the Song Sparrows foraging [...]

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Late Summer Shorebirds at Belen Marsh

The morning was cool and overcast as the 18 Thursday Birders headed towards Belen. It started to sprinkle as we passed Los Lunas and we were afraid our morning might be ruined. Miraculously, as we glided onto Don Felipe Rd., the drops began to dissipate. Since we wouldn’t be looking into the [...]

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