Page 7 - Black Range Naturalist, April 2020

over Northern Cardinals and which group they may belong to – Arizona or Texas.* Now they’ll know we’re here with a population in an intermediate geographic zone. Winter ranges are altering rapidly for many bird species due to climate change. CBC data contributes to finding these changing patterns and evaluating their success. We’re there. Who knows, maybe male Northern Harriers will decide to winter in the foothills rather than the gulf coast? And we’ll be there next year with more data points for common, rare, and changing species.
Special thanks go to the Black Range Vineyards Wine Bar for hosting the compilation dinner as well as all the folks that brought lots of really great food! Hillsboro, Queen of the Potluck Towns! From what I could tell, everybody had a dandy time stoking up after a day in the field, bird bragging, and telling stories.
Next year
Well, I am very happy with
all the goals we managed to
hit this year. This CBC went
every bit as well as some
that I have known for 20
years, at least from my
perspective. However, couple of ideas come to mind. 1) A bigger team. We managed to cover most of the ground and habitats, but several teams were only 1 person. Only so much ground they can cover! I also like folks going a few together in case a vehicle breaks down, bad weather pops up, or some such misadventures. It would be especially good if we can get more counters up into the forest service habitat. Next year we may look at picking a date that is mid-way between those of Caballo and Mesilla Valley in order to draw a few more folks up from the south. This year we overlapped with Mesilla Valley. Another circle to look at as a draw could be Bosque del Apache. There are birders that will work clusters of 2 or 3 CBC circles that are in proximity but have different species - which we have when compared to circles that are on the Rio. That is how they
Both Pyrrhuloxia and Northern Cardinal were seen on the inaugural Hillsboro CBC. Both photos shown here were taken in Hillsboro. See “Northern Cardinal Range Expansion” in the July 2018 issue of this magazine for a full discussion of the Northern Cardinals in our area (or view as an online magazine).
like to spend Christmas. However, I do want to pick a date that maximizes the local community involvement first. 3) Other folks’ ideas and suggestions?
Bug of the Month on the Mimbres Messenger
The Mimbres Messenger is publishing a series called the “Bug of the Month”. In December the subject was Harvester Ants, in January it was the “Western Box Elder Bug”, in February it was “Tarantula Hawks”, and in March Tarantulas. The Mimbres Messenger may be viewed at this link or in our online bookcase.
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