Date: 11/14/24 6:15 am From: <trochetj...> Subject: [AZNMbirds] CWNM: Bluewater Lake CBC on 14 December
Dear Birders,
One month from today, this year’s Bluewater Lake CBC in the eastern Zuni Mountains of New Mexico will take place. If interested in spending an early winter day afield in these mountains counting birds, I invite you to contact me.
The count circle has a radius of 7.5 miles and extends from near Prewitt in the north to just beyond Ojo Redondo in the south, and from Bluewater Village in the east to just beyond Cottonwood Gulch in the west. The circle has an altitude range of nearly 3000 feet and habitats that go from ag fields and grassland to mixed coniferous forest. If you like to cross-country ski, consider bringing your equipment. If the uplands have lots of snow that precludes vehicle transport to high elevation, you may well save the day with the montane species. Many parties will be in and out of cars or trucks during the day, but some assignments are all day afield. So have clothing in layers for changeable weather, good footwear, and a daypack with TP, a brown bag lunch and beverage container, and your optics, of course. A thermos with coffee, tea or hot chocolate could be a great warmer upper on a cold day. We had a whiteout afternoon one year, so a GPS unit to find your way back to a vehicle or other safe place wouldn't go amiss. For two assignments, one below the dam at Bluewater Lake State Park and the other ascending Bluewater Gorge near the village of Bluewater, rubber knee boots are very useful. I am thinking of a couple of assignments that could be given to people who only have a morning free, but thorough coverage of most areas will require the entire 10-hour day. I expect to do some advance scouting again this year, so I hope to point folks to something interesting in their assigned areas.
At the end of the day, we'll have a tally supper in Grants or Milan where we'll recharge our batteries and make a review of hits and misses during the day.
Last year we enjoyed our best coverage in decades and had better results than any previous Zuni Mountains region CBC, with 93 species and five additional forms on count day, plus 15 additional species and one intergrade during count week. We have our work cut out for us if we are to match or exceed those totals.
Again, the count date is Saturday, 14 December. We will meet at the Bluewater Outpost (Dairy Queen) at the Bluewater Village exit off Interstate 40, exit 72 about 9 miles west of Grants, New Mexico at 6:30 a.m.
Best,
John Trochet
Sacramento, California
compiler, Bluewater Lake Christmas Bird Count
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