Life, food, events, and community in Albuquerque, NM

Urban Treasures

Debbie S. posted a sighting of a Yellow Warbler on the group's Comment Wall, but apparently one cannot add an image on that page. So I'm posting her photo which she emailed to me, and hope to start a discussion where we can post about unexpected "treasure" birds we find in our Duke City urbanscape.

Click the thumbnail for a larger version.

Debby said, "I wish he were sharper, but the camera focused on the most obvious features (the leaves) despite my being able to center the little yellow guy in the box of the camera viewer window (little TV screen since my glasses and the old-fashion viewfinder dislike each other). The other pictures I got are about the same focus (soft...) but of him looking in different directions. This was taken [on] Yale SE, just north of the cemetery which attracts a lot of birds and other wildlife."

What treasures have you found?

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Permalink Reply by cc on June 1, 2009 at 2:46pm: Thanks so much Debby and Bill - it is beautiful.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by NM High School Sports News on June 1, 2009 at 8:58pm: Here is a picture of my Rose-breasted grosbeak that visited my feeder in early May. It hung out from Sat thru Monday and that was it. Not the greatest picture, hope you can see the bird.
Ron
New Mexico High School Sports News; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Bosque Bill on June 2, 2009 at 7:54am: That is very cool. I hope you don't mind, Ron, but I cropped and 'shopped your photo so the average web user can see the coloration better, by reducing contrast and increasing brightness. (If you object, message me and I'll remove the photo.)

Click for larger view:; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by cc on June 2, 2009 at 10:35am: Oh this is so neat. Great picture!
Beauty Bird!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by NM High School Sports News on June 2, 2009 at 11:06pm: Not a problem at all. I nearly feel down when I looked out and saw that on my cylinder. I have talked to alot of people who have had this bird at their feeder here in ABQ, but to finally get one myself, even for a few days was fantastic.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Debby S on June 2, 2009 at 8:50am: Thanks for posting my picture! I tried posting a new, different one here, but it didn't work :( I tried accessing my Flickr account but that didn't work, either, so I created a new one and put two new Bird pictures on it at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/39015754@N02/

I have them saved in a larger format as well. I tell my camera to take the largest pictures possible, then save that original in case I ever want to make a poster.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Debby S on August 10, 2009 at 3:23pm: Sunday, August 10, mid morning, I was standing outside my front door and saw a largish bird swoop into a tree nearby. I was startled, thinking it something new and I should go get my camera. The bird proceeded then to zip over across the street into a bigger tree. As I ran for my camera I reviewed the .5-second sighting and the most prominent feature: a spread brownish tale with black bars -- a hawk! Either a Sharp Shin or a Cooper's. What's more, to confirm it wasn't a pigeon, the little birds who were in the first tree all screamed in panic and flew away as fast as possible. They seem to fly away from pigeons (and larger doves) only if the pigeon is about to bumble into or land on them. I didn't see the hawk again, but if he/she is smart he/she will stick around because there are plenty of birds for a bird of prey to eat downtown. I did actually see a hawk eating a pigeon about ten years ago, on a driveway area in the confines of my apartment complex. We watched it until it got disgusted with having an audience and flew away.

I'll keep watching for them -- they'll give the kingbirds a bit of competition in the competitive flying contests :) Kingbirds will scream at and chase crows, but I suspect they will be more circumspect with hawks (and hopefully out-maneuver any of them).; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Bosque Bill on August 10, 2009 at 3:30pm: We have many more Cooper's Hawks than Sharpies, so that would be my supposition.

Did you know that all birds have unique songs, but most all birds share a few common calls. The two most frequently used translate to "Danger from Above" or "haaawwwk!!!" and "Danger from the Ground" or "caaaat!!!" or in NM "roadruuuunnner!!!"; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by cc on August 10, 2009 at 3:38pm: I did not know that!
Amazing things to learn here on Bosque Birding -
thanks, Debby and Bill.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by cc on August 10, 2009 at 3:37pm: When hiking at Sandia Mtn Natural History Center 3 springs ago, I saw a hawk with striped tail with an Abert's squirrel fly through the ponderosas above the trail. Abert squirrel activity on that day was high. And that meeting/sighting was my first with Cooper's Hawk. I have since learned that they have shorter wing span and longer tail and that that serves them in their favored habitat - woodlands. So, downtown qualifies as a woodland!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Debby S on August 11, 2009 at 11:41am: A mystery bird. A coworker said she was "at the end of 528" up in the northern part of town, sitting waiting for something to be done. Influenced by me :) she found herself birdwatching and saw an odd bird that "Birds of New Mexico Field Guide" does not seem to have. She said they were about the same size as a robin and had long, skinny legs. They were gray except for just under the wings -- but plainly visible -- was yellow, it had "a yellow stripe" (but not a Kingbird). The birds also had large tails. People told her these birds come from the river. I asked her if they were swooping around, as though catching insects, but she said "it was just sitting there looking at me... others like it would come and go, but one just sat there looking at me; even when it left, the same one seemed to return to watch me." She even remarked about this behavior to friends. They apparently made no noise, or she can remember no song.

Any ideas what this bird might be? It sounds intelligent/curious (watching her), and with a big tail perhaps able to maneuvery better than most (insect catcher?), and if it has longer legs than she is used to seeing, maybe it wades in shallow water, too, but I may be imagining too much.; ▶ Reply to This