Once again, looking forward to the arrival of new bird species. Today I was gratified to see two Cassin's kingbirds doing their marriage dance. It seems a little early for their arrival, but I think birds have been showing up a little earlier every year. (That's part of my reason for this blog -- I'm terrible at keeping records, and I can come back next year and look at bird arrival dates for comparison.)
It was at a distance and I didn't have my camera. If I had it, I would have taken a picture something like this picture I took on 5/14/06:
They probably won't show up at my home in the Manzanos until the end of April, though I am encouraged by their early arrival in Albuquerque. When they get here, I promise to spend several hours shooting their mating displays.
So if you are in Albuquerque, now is the time to go locate a mating pair and get some good pictures for yourself. This weekend is the best time; by the end of next week they're probably going to be finished with their pageant and you'll have to wait a year for your next opportunity. An open field with plenty of bugs (grasshoppers, flying moths, etc.) would be a likely spot. If there's a lone tree near the field and the area is fairly quiet, your success is practically guaranteed.
The ones I saw today were in an industrial parking lot on Kirtland AFB (near Hardin and Wyoming) though, so you can probably find them just about anywhere in Albuquerque. I once encountered a pair guarding a nest in a yucca 3' off the ground in a Fort Davis field (5/11/08):
All I had was my 2MP cell phone, but up until that point I believed they always made their nests over 20', so I thought it was worth taking the shot.
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