Drive through New Mexico yields a few self found rarities and other species -April 11th

Lucy's Warbler, Mesilla Valley Bosque SP, Las Cruces, NM, Apr 11, 2026

Northern Parula, Mesilla Valley Bosque SP, Las Cruces, NM, Apr 11, 2026

Gambel's Quail, Mesilla Valley Bosque SP, Las Cruces, NM, Apr 11, 2026

Say's Phoebe, Mesilla Valley Bosque SP, Las Cruces, NM, Apr 11, 2026

Say's Phoebe on nest, Mesilla Valley Bosque SP, Las Cruces, NM, Apr 11, 2026

Mexican Duck, Mesilla Valley Bosque SP, Las Cruces, NM, Apr 11, 2026

Crissal Thrasher, Mesilla Valley Bosque SP, Las Cruces, NM, Apr 11, 2026

Mountains, Mesilla Valley Bosque SP, Las Cruces, NM, Apr 11, 2026

 

Cinnamon Teal (with American Wigeon and Black necked Stilt), West Mesa WTP, Las Cruces, NM, Apr 11, 2026

Black throated Green Warbler, Mountain View Cemetery, Deming, NM, Apr 11, 2026

Cassin's Vireo, Mountain View Cemetery, Deming, NM, Apr 11, 2026

After getting to bed early after a long day of hiking I was up early on Saturday to start the long drive toward Arizona with a stop in New Mexico on the way. The first few hours of driving was in the dark on some truly desolate roads…I had less than ten vehicles come by me in the opposite direction in those first couple hours. My plan for the day was to make it to Los Cruces to go to Mesilla Valley Bosque SP to try my luck in tracking down a Lucy’s Warbler for the year. The trip was fairly smooth with only one traffic tie up that didn’t last too long and I made it to the park a little after 8AM (the area is another hour behind from home compared to the hour behind in most of Texas). My legs were still hurting so I had to move slow as I searched for the warbler. As I had never visited New Mexico before even common species were new for me in the state. After about an hour of looking I heard a Lucy’s Warbler singing in an area of mesquite trees and I got some looks at it and some distant photos. There may have been as many as three but there were certainly at least two individuals. I also had a brief look at an Orange crowned Warbler that just wanted to stay hidden. I then spent time waiting to get better photos of the Lucy’s Warblers and right after getting a few photos I heard a very familiar song. I heard what sounded like a very quiet song of a Northern Parula, an eastern species that should not be at the location. I got a crappy recording and then eventually got looks at it to confirm I was not hallucinating. It was indeed a stunning male Northern Parula and it was fairly cooperative for photos (at least as far as warblers go). It appears to be one of the few records in the state for the entire year so certainly a rarity. By the time I left the park to continue my journey I had seen 29 species at the park. I took an early break for lunch nearby and then visited a small waste water treatment plant nearby to add some waterfowl and shorebirds for my New Mexico list. I then started the hour drive to my Airbnb in Deming around 11:30AM. I still had a few hours free before I could check in to my Airbnb so I decided to bird at Mountain View Cemetery in Deming. It looked like it had potential as it contained quite a few well watered mature trees in an otherwise desert landscape and my thoughts were confirmed when I found another rarity for the day. This time it was a female Black throated Green Warbler, another eastern warbler species that is quite unusual in New Mexico. I also added another Orange crowned Warbler as well as at least two Yellow rumped Warblers (both Myrtle subspecies). A total of five warbler species for the day with two rarities plus another new warbler species for the year made for a great day. My New Mexico list grew from zero to 54. 

Sunday would be the last day of making long drives and I was up well before dawn again (an advantage to keeping my body on east coast time). My final destination would be an Airbnb in Green Valley, Arizona where I would be spending three nights. I had a few ideas on what to do with my day before arriving at my lodging and I settled on driving directly to Mount Lemmon with the goal of potentially tracking down the last three warbler targets for the trip (Grace’s Warbler, Virginia’s Warbler and Red faced Warbler).