March 12, 2016 Sunrise in Pilar:

December 21, 2008 El Bosque:

Dixon CBC Indentification Practice:

Of the 111 Species that have been recorded on the Dixon CBC, just 32 of those species account for more than 95% of the individuals counted.

The learning begins with those species that are seen every year. Many of these are very common species. Once those are mastered, one can move on to the species less likely to be seen.

Five different exercises for using the materials are described.

You may know more than you think! Click Here to get started.

Learning the Birds
of the
Río Embudo

A set of tools to help you learn the local birds.

A collection of lists with photos, range maps and other resources, grouped by season.

Within each season, the lists begin with the most common and familiar species, then move to the less familiar.

• Blog Archive: 2014
• Seasonal Variation: Spring Fed Arroyo
• Spring Migration Peak Detection
• Spring Migration Songbird Fallout
• Spring Migration Count, Taos County May 10 - 15, 2013

• Blog Archive: 2013
• Conexiones: La Junta del Río Pecos y el Río Grande; La Boca del Río Grande
• Spring Migration Texas/NM, April 5-19, 2013
• Spring Migration 2013: Update April 2
• Spring Migration 2013 Begins
• Immature Bald Eagles: Photos by Sarah Nelson (La Bolsa)
• Dixon Christmas Bird Count: 2012

• Blog Archive: 2012
• Lewis's Woodpecker feeding on Russian Olives
• Rufous Hummingbird: Common Migrant
• Spotted Towhee making its Contact Call
• Black-crowned Night-heron on the Río Embudo
• White-winged Dove: Northern Expansion of Range Along the Río Grande
• An Interesting Nest: Black Phoebe on the Río Grande

• Blog Archive: 2011
• American Dipper: Juvenile Begging for Food
• Migration: Western Tanagers
• Mourning Doves
• Northern Flicker Hammering on Stove Pipe
• Evening Grosbeak Eating Elm Seeds
• Sage Thrasher
• Spotted Towhee Singing

• Blog Archive: 2007-2010
• Red Tails Overhead: Crow Driving Off Red-tailed Hawk
• American Dipper Feeding on River Bottom
• Eurasian Invasion: Expansion of Eurasian Collared-dove
• Spring Arrival and Nesting Observations 2008
• Spring Arrival and Nesting Observations 2007

Spring/Fall Migration:

Who Is Arriving, When? I have been paying close attention to the presence of bird species in the Embudo area for more than 20 years. I have pulled together all of my records and consulted other sources such as records from eBird to come up with some preliminary "first" and "last" dates for the summer residents and transient species.

Timing of Common Summer Residents and Transients

The graphs are from downloadable PDFs. (Click to display in the browser, right click to download.) Both files show arrival and departure information for the Common and Less Common species in our area.

The first file shows the approximate time period that each species is present in the Embudo area. The second file is the same information, but ordered by the arrival date for each species.

Timings ordered by Arrival Times

Though not depicted in the graph, the peak of the Spring migration is around the 2nd week of May. This is discussed in a blog entry from last year entitled: Spring Migration Peak Detection: May, 2014

Another entry discusses a Migration Fallout the morning after a midlle-of-the-night snow storm last may. The storm forced down migrants flying at night.

Two migrant flycatchers:

The Black Phoebe and the Say's Phoebe are usually the first migrants to be seen in Dixon each year. This Say's Phoebe was in Rinconada in 2008:
Usually seen in agricultural fields, you may hear its plaintive down-slurred "pee-your" or if you are close enough "pit-pee-your". This species often nests under portales and in carports. Look for it on fences flying out in small circles to grab an insect before returning to its original perch.

This Black Phoebe was on the Rio Embudo on April 24th, 2016 giving its two-note, bright "pit-WHIT":
Unlike the Say's Phobe, the Black Phoebe is associated with water, regularly perching on low branches a foot or two above the water. It makes its living "hawking" insects above the surface of the river.

The Turkey Vultures return from South America:

The group of 20 or so Turkey Vultures that spend the summer in Dixon always arrive by April 1st each spring. The common western sub-species of Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura meridionalis) are long-distance migrants. The majority of them migrate all the way to the northern part of South America, wintering in Colombia and Venezuela. Others stop short in Panama.

This Turkey Vulture was over Dixon on September 13, 2016. Each year, the vultures leave before October: Without radio-tagging some of the local vultures, there is no way to know exactly where this particular group goes in the winter, but is highly probable that they make the long trek to Colombia and Venezuela.