I decided to get up early today and go birding in Roosevelt Co., NM. I was
specifically looking for Lesser Prairie Chickens. I have not birded here
before, so it was all new and I took a stab in the dark about where to
look. I was trying to find the Milnesand Prairie Chicken Preserve area, but
I don't think I was successful. I never saw a sign of any kind, although I
am still uncertain about whether the Preserve is in one specific location
or a collection of private land throughout eastern NM.
While I did not find any Prairie Chickens, I did enjoy the area and see
great birds. I started on TX Co. Rd 2182 and took it to NM Co. Rd. 262
towards Bluit and Milnesand. At Milensand, I turned north onto NM Co. Rd.
206. I had not heard of Blackhills Prairie Chicken Area before, but came
across at least 3 entrances. While there are no gates at any of the
entrances, a sign at one entrance states that the area is only open to
activity between June 30 and Feb 15, so I did not enter. I did see a
Roadrunner from one of the entrances though :) After that, I turned onto S.
Roosevelt Rd. 33 and birded just the first 1/4 mile or so. Back on NM Co.
Rd. 206, I turned east onto NM Co. Rd. 438 right after Pep. At the end of
NM Co. Rd. 438 I headed south on NM Co. Rd 114 towards Lingo and then back
into TX, still on Co. Rd. 114. Below is a list of the birds that I saw. All
except the Ferruginous Hawk were in NM.
Bobwhite (about 10)
Scaled Quail (2)
Loggerhead Shrikes (3)
American Kestrels (at least 5)
White-Crowned Sparrows (at least 25)
Cactus Wrens (2 singing)
SWAINSON'S HAWKS! (2) - ebird flagged them as rare. I assume they are
early.
Greater Roadrunner
Barn Swallows (4)
Rock Wren (doing its "knee bends")
Northern Harrier (Several females/juveniles and 1 male)
Lark Buntings (2 flocks)
Vesper Sparrow (1 singing)
Killdeer (heard)
Red-tailed Hawk
Meadowlarks (everywhere. Only heard Eastern singing)
Common Raven
Raven sp. (several)
Mourning Doves
Ferruginous Hawk (Light morph in flight when I was back in TX)
I also saw several Mule deer and 3 Springbok.
In case anyone else would like to know, I have Verizon and did not have
signal the entire trip (at least until I was pretty close to Lubbock
again).
--
Jennifer Miller
Lubbock, TX
{o,o}
/)_)
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