Northern Parula, Mesilla Valley Bosque SP, Las Cruces, NM, Apr 11, 2026
Northern Parula, Mesilla Valley Bosque SP, Las Cruces, NM, Apr 11, 2026
Northern Parula, Mesilla Valley Bosque SP, Las Cruces, NM, Apr 11, 2026
Lucy's Warbler, Mesilla Valley Bosque SP, Las Cruces, NM, Apr 11, 2026
Lucy's Warbler, Mesilla Valley Bosque SP, Las Cruces, NM, Apr 11, 2026
Lucy's Warbler, Mesilla Valley Bosque SP, Las Cruces, NM, Apr 11, 2026
Black throated Green Warbler, Mountain View Cemetery, Deming, NM, Apr 11, 2026
Black throated Green Warbler, Mountain View Cemetery, Deming, NM, Apr 11, 2026
Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Mountain View Cemetery, Deming, NM, Apr 11, 2026
On Saturday I was up early once again after getting to bed early after a long, grueling day of hiking on Friday. I started the six hour drive up to New Mexico on my way to Arizona way before it was light. 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, a species known to be at the location. I would have multiple chances to get the species once I made it to Arizona but figured I would give it a try in New Mexico. The trip was fairly smooth with only one traffic tie up near El Paso 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 home in most of Texas). Despite still being sore I headed out on the trails looking and listening and after a little over an hour I heard a Lucy’s Warbler singing. It was working through an area of mesquite trees with at least one other individual and possibly two more. I got a few distant photos and a recording and as I waited around to better ones I had brief looks at an Orange crowned Warbler that just wanted to stay hidden. Not long after getting some slightly better photos of a Lucy’s I heard a very familiar song. I heard what sounded like a very quiet version of the 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. I then started the hour drive to my Airbnb in Deming and with still a few hours free before I could check in to my Airbnb 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). I ended my time in New Mexico with five species of warbler with two being rarities in the state, Northern Parula and Black throated Green Warbler. The other species were Lucy’s Warbler, Orange crowned Warbler and Black throated Gray Warbler. The Lucy’s Warbler became species #31 so far for the year.
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