All posts by mjh

Mark Justice Hinton lives in New Mexico and loves the Four Corners region, as well as the Rocky Mountains. Write him at chaco@mjhinton.com.
birds

Friday photos: Hybrids – BirdWatching

Identifying birds is an interesting challenge. Recognize that a bird is a hybrid must be a higher-level skill. mjh

Friday photos: Hybrids – BirdWatching Field of View – BirdWatching Daily – BirdWatching Community

The birds below are unique; they’re hybrids. That is, they contain the genetic DNA for two different species. Look up each member of each pair in your field guide. See if you can spot the characteristics of each species in the hybrid. The photographs were taken by readers. We found them in our online galleries.

Friday photos: Hybrids – BirdWatching Field of View – BirdWatching Daily – BirdWatching Community

Albuquerque, birds

Dive-bombing hawks fly into metro study

I’d like to know if being handled and wired makes hawks more aggressive. mjh

Dive-bombing hawks fly into metro study

Dive-bombing hawks fly into metro study

Umbrella best defense during nesting season

Updated: Thursday, 14 Jun 2012, 5:56 PM MDT
Published : Thursday, 14 Jun 2012, 5:56 PM MDT

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) – An unusual study is going on in northeast Albuquerque involving Cooper’s Hawks and tiny bird backpacks.

The New Mexico Department of the Game and Fish and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are teaming up to see just how aggressive the hawks are during their nesting season, which runs from May to July.

Each year there are about 20 calls in the city of Albuquerque about aggressive hawks, and almost all of those calls are about the Cooper’s hawk.

If a hawk in your neighborhood is dive bombing you, there are two things you can do: yell and shoo them away or simply use an umbrella when you are close to the tree where they are nesting. Cooper’s won’t see you as a threat if you are under an umbrella.

The aggression will stop once the babies are out of the nest.

Biologists have found 60 nesting pairs of Cooper’s hawks in northeast Albuquerque, and there are many more around the city.

The first step in the research requires capturing the hawks. That’s where Eve, the rehabilitated great horned owl, is put to work.

Horned owls are the enemy of the Cooper’s hawk, so Eve is put on a perch and an invisible net is set up. The Cooper’s are captured, banded and data gathered.

The hawks play an important role in urban ecology. State Game and Fish biologist Kristin Madden says they are fantastic for rodent control and pigeon and dove control as well.

When the fledglings are ready to fly, they will be fitted with tiny bird backpacks. The tracking device has Teflon straps that fit right under the birds feathers, with a tiny transmitter.

The data gathered will help biologists learn more about nesting, survival rates and disease in the birds as well as migration.

Interestingly, Albuquerque’s Cooper’s hawks like it here. They don’t migrate but stay here year round.

The data gathered on the Cooper’s hawks also help scientists learn more about other raptors, such as bald and golden eagles.

Dive-bombing hawks fly into metro study

daytrips, wildlands

www.llbean.com/parkfinder/search

The LL Bean parkfinder mentioned below is a very interesting, flexible tool. mjh

Dollars and Sense: State Parks for Bargain Vacation | nmmarketplace.com

By David Uffington, Published June 2012

State parks can be a bargain for a tight vacation budget: Once you pay the entrance fee, most of the activities in the park are free. Most states have at least one park; some have dozens when you add in historical or memorial spots, wildlife refuges, natural monuments and recreation areas.

One of the best online park finders is the one created by LL Bean, the outdoor gear store. They’ve accumulated information on thousands of state parks, making it easy to find just the right park experience.

Go online to www.llbean.com/parkfinder/search and type in the location you’re interested in (by ZIP code or city and state) or the name of park.

If you search by location, you’ll see a number of flags on the map, each indicating a different park. You can filter your search by activities (boating, camping, fishing and more) or by distance from you. Mouse over each flag for the name of the park, and click for more information. You’ll find the address, phone number, park website and driving directions, as well as the activities the park supports. What you won’t find is the associated fees. For that you need to click through to the park’s website.

Dollars and Sense: State Parks for Bargain Vacation | nmmarketplace.com

Albuquerque, wildlife

Protest the Bear and Cougar proposals at NM Game and Fish in Abq 6/15 10am

NM Game and Fish is proposing changes to the bear and cougar rules that will harm these animals. Trapping is in there too as you can see. Sandia Mountain BearWatch is organizing a protest at the Albuquerque NM Game and Fish office because they want an unconscionable number of bears to be killed. In addition, they want to add a provision that with only the say-so of the Department Director mountain lion trapping can be authorized without any oversight from the Game Commission. Currently, the Department Director is himself a trapper. The Department also wants to allow year round cougar hunting which will result in orphaned kittens and to increase the bag limit from one cougar to two.

What: Protest the Bear and Cougar proposals at NM Game and Fish in Abq.

When: Friday, June 15, 10 AM to noon

Where: NM Game and Fish office in ABQ

3841 Midway Pl. NE.

Directions:

Take I-25 to the Jefferson Exit
west on Jefferson away from the freeway to Singer (stop light)
left/west on Singer, go 1/2 block to Office Blvd.
right/north on Office Blvd
go 1 block to end of street to Midway Pl
The NMG&F office is at the end of the street at 3841 Midway Pl. NE


View Larger Map

sky

Enjoy the earliest sunrise of 2012 on Wednesday, 6/13

The Sky This Week, 2012 June 12 – 19 — Naval Oceanography Portal

This week brings us into the roughly two-week “season” of summer solstice phenomena. The 13th marks the date of the earliest sunrise here in Washington. This will occur at 5:42 am EDT; by the week’s end sunrise will occur about a minute later. The latest sunset for the year will occur on the 27th. Set squarely between these dates is the solstice itself, June 20th, which will be the year’s longest day. The reason we have these apparent discrepancies results from the Earth’s elliptical orbit around the Sun. This causes our planet’s orbital velocity to vary slightly over the course of a year, while its rotation rate stays relatively constant. I

The Sky This Week, 2012 June 12 – 19 — Naval Oceanography Portal

arizona, colorado, newmexico, sky, utah

NM EPHT: Environmental Conditions – Wildfire Smoke in the Four Corners area

Follow the link for the latest versions of these maps.. mjh

NM EPHT: Environmental Conditions – Wildfire Smoke

NOAA Southern Rockies (New Mexico and Arizona) Wildfire Smoke Forecast

Smoke concentrations in micrograms per cubic meter (μg/m**3) are represented as
light brown (low concentrations) on the left-hand side of the Legend across the top
of this map to red (high concentrations) on the right-hand side.

Current New Mexico Wildfire Smoke Map

back to top

NOAA U.S. Wildfire Smoke Forecast

Smoke concentrations in micrograms per cubic meter (μg/m**3) are represented as
light brown (low concentrations) on the left-hand side of the Legend across the top
of this map to red (high concentrations) on the right-hand side.

Current Wildfire Smoke Map

back to top

NOAA Wildfire Smoke Data

NM EPHT: Environmental Conditions – Wildfire Smoke

newmexico, wildlands

2012 Taos River and Land Cleanup Day June 9, 2012

Amigos Bravos – Friends of the Wild Rivers – Events

2012 Taos River and Land Cleanup Day

Meet at St. James Episcopal Church – Gusdorf Rd. Taos

June 09, 2012

Come volunteer at the 6th annual Taos River and Land Cleanup Day! Saturday June 9th from 8:30am – noon. Lunch for the volunteers will be provided after the cleanup. Please bring gloves, sunscreen and water!

-Rachel

Amigos Bravos – Friends of the Wild Rivers – Events

sky

Partial Eclipse of the Strawberry Moon before dawn 6/4/12 – NASA Science

Partial Eclipse of the Strawberry Moon – NASA Science

On June 4th, 2012, there’s going to be a full Moon.  According to Native American folklore it’s the Strawberry Moon, so-called because the short season for harvesting strawberries comes during the month of June.

This Strawberry’s going to have a bite taken out of it.

At 3:00 am Pacific Daylight Time, not long before sunrise on Monday, June 4th, the Moon passes directly behind our planet. A broad stretch of lunar terrain around the southern crater Tycho will fall under the shadow of Earth, producing the first lunar eclipse of 2012.  At maximum eclipse, around 4:04 am PDT, 37% of the Moon’s surface will be in the dark. …

On the Atlantic side of the United States, the eclipse occurs just as the Moon is setting in the west–perfect timing for the Moon illusion. …

Strawberry Moon (eclipse2, 200px)

A partial lunar eclipse in June 2010. Credit: Jared Aicher of Boise, Idaho

The eclipsed moon, hanging low in the west at daybreak on June 4th, will seem extra-large to US observers east of the Mississippi. …

Partial Eclipse of the Strawberry Moon – NASA Science

sky

Full Moon 6/4: Flower Moon, Rose Moon, Strawberry Moon, or Honey Moon

The Sky This Week, 2012 May 29 – June 5 — Naval Oceanography Portal

The Moon waxes to the Full phase this week, adding her glow to the warm nights of late spring. June’s Full Moon occurs on the 4th at 7:22 am Eastern Daylight Time. The popular names for this particular Full Moon are the Flower Moon, Rose Moon, Strawberry Moon, or Honey Moon. These names all derive from Luna’s appearance in the late-night Northern Hemisphere sky. Since the Moon’s path along the Ecliptic takes her to her most southerly excursion of the year, her light is scattered by more particles in the atmosphere, giving her a somewhat "warmer" tone since air molecules preferentially scatter blue light. Early risers in the western parts of the U.S. may also see a ruddy "bite" taken out of Luna’s disc shortly before she sets. This partial lunar eclipse will hide about 37% of the Moon’s face at mid-eclipse, which occurs at 6:04 am CDT (5:04 am MDT, 4:04 am PDT). Look for Luna a mere two degrees below the bright star Spica on the evening of the 31st. On June 3rd she passes four degrees north of ruddy Antares, lead star of Scorpius, the Scorpion.

The Sky This Week, 2012 May 29 – June 5 — Naval Oceanography Portal