Early this afternoon (it’s hard for me to leave the Zunis) I found a broad-wing hawk adult in the central Zuni Mountains. It was northwest of Sawyer, at the mouth of what is sometimes called Granite Canyon but is unnamed on topo maps. The location is approximately here: 35.18484, -108.22869. Access is off Forest Road 50 to an unmarked dirt track east of Sawyer called FR 50P on some maps. If you go over a yellow cattle guard and past a big pile of large white rocks, you’ve found the right “road.” It is unsuitable for low-slung vehicles.
Equally exciting (for me anyway) was a singing Lincoln’s sparrow at Red Wall Canyon this morning. This is about and hour’s hike from the hawk location. Red Wall Canyon is a relatively short, wet canyon that is worth visiting just for the scenery, but it is the best place known in these mountains for summering Lincoln’s sparrows. The canyon access is about here: 35.19142, -108.25346. Five large bull elk with substantial antlers in the velvet were at the canyon when I visited. The few other places with water were also heavily attended by all sorts of wildlife from insects to elk when I visited.
Best,
John Trochet
Sacramento, California (now heading home- really)
