Brown-capped Rosy Finch	Black Rosy Finch
Grey-crowned Rosy Finch	Hepburn's race of the Grey-crowned Rosy Finch

Nine birders from the Valley and one from New York traveled to Albuquerque to see the Rosy Finches feeding at Crest House on Sandia Peak, a truly amazing sight.  Under brilliantly clear blue skies, the flocks came wheeling in, feed for a few moments, and be gone as suddenly as they had come.  We spent considerable time getting used to the movement and learning to pick out the individual species, ending up with good views of all three plus the Hepburn race of Gray-Crowned Rosy Finch.  There were not many other species on the peak, but we had memorable views of wintering birds and saw lots of activity whenever we found them!

On both Friday and Saturday, we also visited the Rio Grande Nature Center where we saw both Common and Hooded Mergansers, Wood Ducks and several other nice birds.

Sunday, we drove to Bosque del Apache for more birding of the winter flock variety, and were well rewarded by views of fields full of Snow Geese and Sandhill Cranes plus several duck species, Bald Eagles and hawks, including a beautiful Ferruginous.  In all 81 species were seen by members of the group, plus several recognizable races, phases, and subspecies.

Group Members were Andre Tarby (leader), Joan Barker, Bud Larkin, Krys Hammer, Marjorie Eckman, Daniela Yellan, Barbara Meding, George Wall, Vera Markham and Richard Zaineldeen from New York.

The trip list for the entire weekend consisted of Pied-billed Grebe, Double-crested Cormorant, New-tropic Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Cackling Goose, Ross's Goose (white and dark phases), Snow Goose, Wood Duck, Teal, Canvasback, Ring-necked Duck, Lesser Scaup, Bufflehead, Hooded Merganser, Common Merganser, Northern Harrier, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Cooper's Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Ferruginous Hawk, Bald Eagle, American Kestrel, Merlin, Gambel's Quail, Common Moorhen, American Coot, Sandhill Crane (Greater and Lesser), Killdeer, Greater Yellowlegs, Mourning Dove, Eurasian Collard-Dove, Rock Pigeon, Greater Roadrunner, Gila Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Hairy Woodpecker, Northern Flicker (Red-shafted), Black Phoebe, Say's Phoebe, Northern Shrike, Steller's Jay (interior form), Clarks Nutcracker, Common Raven, Chihuahuan Raven, American Crow, Mountain Chickadee, (Black-capped Chickadee?), Red-breasted Nuthatch, White-breasted Nuthatch, Marsh Wren, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Townsend's Solitaire, Mountain Bluebird, Western Bluebird, American Robin, Hermit Thrush, European Starling, Cedar Waxwing, Spotted Towhee, House Sparrow, Savannah Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, Song Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco: Oregon, Pinksided and Gray-headed, Western Meadowlark, Eastern Meadowlark, Gray-crowned Rosy Finch (including Hepburn's race), Brown-capped Rosy Finch, Black Rosy Finch, Cassin's Finch, House Finch, Pine Siskin, American Gold Finch and a Hybrid Pheasant.