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1 ER 91 Birdwatching in West Texas and South New Mexico

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1 ER 91 Birdwatching in West Texas and South New Mexico 1 ER 91 Birdwatching in west Texas and south New Mexico I made this trip as part of a family-visit with my wife to my in-laws who live in west El Paso. Most of the time we spent in El Paso. The Lower Franklin Mountains were visited several times by feet. Three times hikes were made in the mountains themselves. The Rio Grande Valley was visited several times by bike. The other areas mentioned in this report were visited by car. The weather was sunny most of the time, cool in the mornings, about 20 degrees in the afternoon. No rain of significance occured during our stay. Reptiles weren't seen properly, except for a few lizards in Hueco Tanks. Short description of the visited areas : El Paso area : El Paso (1147 m) is the american part of the border-city El Paso/Ciudad Juarez. It is the biggest bordertown in the world, with about three million people. El Paso (750.000 people) is divided in an eastern and a western part by the Franklin Mountains. The mountains are a declared State Park. Many small trails enter the mountains but are not always easy to follow. The most spectacular trail goes up to the top of South Franklin Mountain (2063 m). Most of the birdobservations are of the western part and of the western slopes of the Franklin Mountains. Most of the area is very dry with lots of cacti, small bushes, yucca's and the spiny ocotillo. In the residential areas of the Rio Grande Valley are big forested gardens, especially around the El Paso Country Club. Some mountain birds can be seen here in winter. In this area are some canals with an occasional reedbed, which is good for icterids. The rio Grande is very shallow here with many sandbanks in novemeber/december. The river and other waterbodies are bordered by tamarisk bushes. The residential areas on the lower slopes of the Franklin Mountains are quite new, especially the Redd Road area. The Coronado Country Club area is older with many medium sized pinetrees. Next to these residential areas are the lower slopes of the Franklin Mountains where many desert birds can be seen. Waterbirds were seen almost exclusively in a few lakes in the rio Grande valley. The Redd Road lakes and the Bet Lake were visited several times. The White Spar Park lake and the Sunland Park Racetrack lake were visited twice. The 11th of december was spent in the Canutillo - La Union area, an agricultural area just north of El Paso in the Rio Grande Valley. Abbreviations used in the species list : ( LFM = Lower Franklin Mountains (24-11/26-11/27-11/29-11/30-11/3-12/13-12), FM = Franklin Mountains (25-11/29-11/6-12/13-12), LRR = lakes Redd Road (25-11/27-11/1-12/4-12/6-12/8-12/11-12), CCC = Coronado Country Club (5-12), SP = Sunland Park area (4-12/8-12), WSP = White Spar Lake (8-12/11-12), RGV = Rio Grande Valley, EPCC = El Paso Country Club area (25-11/27-11/1-12/1-12/4-12/8-12), RG = Rio Grande, CF = Canutillo - La Union Fields (11-12). White Sands area : desert area with big sanddunes covering extensive areas, spectacular landscape, few birds. Hueco Tanks area : granite rocks in flat area with some small lakes and pools. Ciudad Juarez : fourth Mexican city. Most birds were seen in the Parque Chimizal bordering the Rio Grande. This park is characterised by trees and lawns. Very few bushes and shrubs are present. This park has only a few birds. Indian Cliff Ranch : this is a ranch a few miles north of the I10 exit to Fabens, east of El Paso. The ranch is actually a restaurant with some animals kept around it for fun. There are two small lakes nearby. A feeder in front of the restaurant attracts many birds and even coyotes. Guadalupe Mountains National Park : this is a beuatiful mountaineous area. The visitor centre along the road is at 1745 m. Here are some bushes, small trees and grassy areas. From here start many trails into the mountains. One of them goes to the top of Guadalupe Peak (2668 m), the highest point in Texas. Another access trail starts at the parking lot of the McKittrick canyon. We had cool and cloudy weather and even some rain in the afternoon. We didn't penetrate this area deeply. Rio Grande Valley : once we drove up to La Mesilla and watched some birds there and in the fields around La Mesa. One can find here Pecon tree orchards, old cotton fields and alfalfa fields. Lincoln National Forest : Big forested area in southern southeast New Mexico. We visited Cloudcroft (2670 m) and High Rolls (2060 m). Just before Cloudcroft north of the road is the Osha trail (4 km), which gives a good impression of the pine-tree/douglas-fir forest. Part of the trail was covered with snow when we were there. The area around High Rolls is dominated by low Oak/Juniper shrubland with some pines and meadows. Caballo Lake State Park : big artificial lake. There are two picknick areas : one along the Rio Grande and one at the lakeshore. Silver City : small town at 1800 m. I checked this town for birds for two hours in the early morning. Just outside town is a shrubzone where some interesting birds were seen like Hutton's vireo and Bridled titmouse. Gila National Forest : big forested area in southwest New Mexico. We drove from Silver City to Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument (about 70 km of curves) and visited Lake Roberts on the way back. Most of the area is covered by pine-trees. At the junction of Road 35 and the road to lake Roberts is a birdfeeder near a house. Many birds were seen here. Lake Roberts was good for many species of waterbirds. Leasburg Dam State Park area : this is a small area around a small dam in the Rio Grande. Together with a picknick area along the Rio Grande are some short trails. Nearby fort Selden was visited too. 5 miles north of Leasburg Dam is an interesting lake along the raod, west of the Rio Grande. 2 3 4 5 List of mammals : - Grey Fox, Urocyon cinereoargenteus ; 3 ex - 2 ex, Hueco Tanks - 1 ex, Caballo Lake State park - 1 ex dead along road 54 (26-11) - Coyote, Canis latrans ; 1 ex, Indian Cliff Range, near feeder, (1 dead along road 54) - Rock Squirrel, Citellus variegatus ; 11 ex - 3 ex (2), El Paso area, Franklin Mountains SP (29-11/6-12) - 1 ex, El Paso area, Lakes Redd Road (6-12) - 7 ex, Caballo Lake State Park - Red Squirrel, Tamiasciurus hudsonicus ; 5 ex, Lincoln National Forest - Muskrat, Ondatra zibethica ; 1 ex, El Paso area, Montoya drain - Blacktail Jackrabbit, Lepus californicus ; 15 ex - 9 ex (3), El Paso area, Lower Franklin Mountains - 3 ex, El Paso area, Canutillo - La Union Fields (11-12) - 3 ex, Leasburg Dam State Park - Desert Cottontail, Sylvilagus auduboni ; 10 ex - 3 ex (2), El Paso area, Lower Franklin Mountains (29-11/8-12) - 1 ex, Indian Cliff Ranch - 6 ex, Leasburg Dam State Park - Mule Deer, Odocoileus hemionus : 6 ex - 2 ex, El Paso area, Lower Franklin Mountains, 27-11, female and young - 2 ex, El Paso area, Franklin Mountains SP (13-12), adults - 2 ex, Lincoln National Forest, High Rolls, male and female Number of species : 145 Observer : Frank van Groen Number of visits : 12 Nic. de Roeverstraat 20 Number of visitdays : 26 1093 KK Amsterdam Period : 24-11-00 / 13-12-00 Tel : 020 - 7762160 Visits - El Paso area : 24-11-00 / 13-12-00 , 14 Day(s) - White Sands area : 26-11-00 / 7-12-00 , 2 Day(s) - Hueco Tanks area : 28-11-00 / 28-11-00 , 1 Day(s) - Ciudad Juarez : 30-11-00 / 30-11-00 , 1 Day(s) - Indian Cliff Ranch : 1-12-00 / 1-12-00 , 1 Day(s) - Guadalupe Mountains NP : 2-12-00 / 2-12-00 , 1 Day(s) - Rio Grande Valley : 3-12-00 / 3-12-00 , 1 Day(s) - Lincoln National Forest : 7-12-00 / 7-12-00 , 1 Day(s) - Caballo Lake State Park : 9-12-00 / 9-12-00 , 1 Day(s) - Gila National Forest : 10-12-00 / 10-12-00 , 1 Day(s) - Silver City : 10-12-00 / 10-12-00 , 1 Day(s) - Leasburg Dam SP area : 12-12-00 / 12-12-00 , 1 Day(s) Species List Numbers between brackets refer to day totals - Pied-billed Grebe , Podilymbus podiceps : 63 ex 45 ex , (14, 11, 7) , El Paso area Bet Lake (7,6,7,5), WSP (9,11) , 27-11-00 3 ex , Caballo Lake State Park , 9-12-00 15 ex , Gila National Forest , Lake Roberts , 10-12-00 - Red-necked Grebe , Podiceps grisegena : 1 ex 1 ex , Caballo Lake State Park , 9-12-00 - Black-necked Grebe , Podiceps nigricollis : 38 ex 28 ex , (17, 11) , El Paso area , SP Racetrack Lake , 4-12-00 10 ex , Gila National Forest , Lake Roberts , 10-12-00 - Western Grebe , Aechmophorus occidentalis : 252 ex 1 ex , Indian Cliff Ranch , 1-12-00 250 ex , Caballo Lake State Park , 9-12-00 1 ex , Gila National Forest , Lake Roberts , 10-12-00 - Clark's Grebe , Aechmophorus clarkii : 250 ex 250 ex , Caballo Lake State Park more or less evenly mixed with Western Grebe , 9-12-00 - American White Pelican , Pelecanus erythrorhynchus : 3 ex 3 ex , Caballo Lake State Park , 9-12-00 - Double-crested Cormorant , Phalacrocorax auritus : 6 ex 6 ex , Caballo Lake State Park , 9-12-00 - Great Blue Heron , Ardea herodias : 15 ex 9 ex , (3) , El Paso area RG, Bet Lake,WSP - 1 , 25-11-00 3 ex , Caballo Lake State Park , 9-12-00 6 3 ex , Leasburg Dam SP area , 12-12-00 - Great White Egret , Egretta alba : 7 ex 6 ex , (2) , El Paso area , Rio Grande Valley , 25-11-00 1 ex , Leasburg Dam SP area , Lake A , 12-12-00 - Snowy Egret , Egretta thula : 2 ex 2 ex , (1) , El Paso area LRR - 1, WSP - 1 , 6-12-00 - Cattle Egret , Bubulcus ibis : 29 ex 29 ex , (28) , El Paso area LRR - 1, CF - 28 , 4-12-00 - Green Heron , Butorides virescens : 4 ex 4 ex , (3) , El Paso area , Rio Grande Valley ssp virescens , 27-11-00 - Canada Goose , Branta canadensis : 16 ex 5 ex , Indian Cliff Ranch , 1-12-00 11 ex , Leasburg Dam SP area , Lake A , 12-12-00 - American Wood Duck , Aix sponsa
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