I am in Socorro County, off I-25, between New Mexico’s Ladd S Gordon Waterbird Complex and the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge. I have been amazed at the number of sandhill cranes I have seen. Wave after wave are flying into the area at dusk. An official count in the year 2000 gave their numbers at anywhere from 2,500 to 10,000.
Water from the Rio Grande River goes into canals, ponds and marshes in the area. The State and national governments are trying to replace marshes that have disappeared elsewhere to give migrating birds a place to stop and rest. They even farm areas and leave the crops for the birds. In a few weeks one field will be flooded for three months to entice more species of shorebirds and waterfowl to the area.
The Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge was originally left to the Nature Conservancy. They later gave it to the National Wildlife Refuge. It is great to see public, state, and federal agencies work together like this.
Could not resist taking a picture of this pair on one of the farms. The people of New Mexico really love horses.
