Recent Birds at Rio Bosque
Water deliveries to the park from the adjacent Roberto Bustamante Wastewater Treatment Plant resumed 14 Oct. The wetland cells are again flooded. The recent cold weather brought 500-1,000 ducks with it.
Numbers of passage migrants have tailed off, and winter residents are arriving. Soras continue to call at multiple locations. Sandhill Cranes are appearing less frequently than in October and early November.
A White-tailed Kite continues to be seen intermittently, as are the park's resident Harris's Hawks.
Burrowing Owls are still being seen regularly but are getting harder to find. Check the artificial burrow structures located on earthen mounds scattered throughout the park.
A Western Wood-Pewee on 6 Nov was a surprisingly late migrant.
A group of 9 Mountain Bluebirds on the east side of Wetland Cell 2 on 28 Oct represented a 3rd record for the park. Another individual followed on 7 Nov.
You can download the current field checklist for the park here.
You can view recent Rio Bosque bird observations posted to eBird here.
Noteworthy birds seen at the park during the past month:
| Species | Date | Number |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 2 Dec | 2 |
| "Harlan's" Hawk | 2 Dec | 1 |
| Loggerhead Shrike | 2 Dec | 2 |
| Harris's Hawk | 1 Dec | 2 |
| Crissal Thrasher | 1 Dec | 1 |
| Bufflehead | 30 Nov | 1 |
| Cooper's Hawk | 30 Nov | 2 |
| Burrowing Owl | 30 Nov | 1 |
| Black Phoebe | 30 Nov | 1 |
| Western Meadowlark | 30 Nov | 1 |
| Sora | 29 Nov | 1 |
| Black-tailed Gnatcatcher | 25 Nov | 2 |
| Ring-billed Gull | 24 Nov | 72 |
| Neotropic Cormorant | 24 Nov | 3 |
| Turkey Vulture | 24 Nov | 3 |
| Cave Swallow | 24 Nov | 1 |
| Spotted Towhee | 24 Nov | 1 |
| White-tailed Kite | 19 Nov | 1 |
| Redhead | 16 Nov | 1 |
| Sandhill Crane | 11 Nov | 1 |
| Wood Duck | 9 Nov | 2 |
| Green-tailed Towhee | 9 Nov | 1 |
| Lesser Scaup | 7 Nov | 3 |
| Mountain Bluebird | 7 Nov | 1 |
| Western Wood-Pewee | 6 Nov | 1 |
| American Robin | 6 Nov | 1 |
| Pine Siskin | 5 Nov | 4 |
| Vesper Sparrow | 5 Nov | 1 |
