Stopped at El Vado State Park near Chama, New Mexico to let some spring weather systems pass. Had snow, hail, and rain. The snow melted as soon as it hit the ground. On the distant mountains, it just lasted a few hours. I have been in drought areas so long, I enjoyed the rain. Left my trailer cleaner than it’s been for a while.
Bluebird with a worm.
Have started seeing osprey nests. The osprey below looks to be a young one.
Stayed at Abiquiu Lake a few days. Georgia O’Keeffe had a home in the village of Abiquiu, along with one at Ghost Ranch.
First picture above, the Rio Chama River after it reconstitutes out of Abiquiu Dam heading towards Abiquiu.
The second picture is of Cerro Pedernal Mountain, seen from the lake campground. Georgia O’Keeffe is supposed to have called it “her mountain” because she painted it so much. After her death, her ashes were scattered on top of it.
The third picture is of her former home in Abiquiu. She also had a home on Ghost Ranch a short distance away. She was supposedly not pleased when the owner left the property to the Presbyterian Church, but eventually made peace with the owners.
When I drove into Abiquiu to see Ms. O’Keeffe’s former home, I stopped my truck when I saw a large number of birds I didn’t recognize in some trees. Saw that they were crossing the street to where there was a bird feeder and then returning to the trees which I later found out were on Ms. O’Keeffe’s former property. The birds are evening grosbeaks.
Below, sunset at Abiquiu Lake.
Stayed at Hyde Memorial State Park in the Sangre de Cristos Mountains, just 8 miles above the historic Santa Fe district. The campground is only open when the snow melts. This year it was gone in April, usually it’s May.
The road to the campground continues on 8 miles to the Santa Fe ski basin. The top picture above is from an overlook there. A sign says aspen trees grew in after a fire in 1880 and fir trees will eventually replace them. If they haven’t been replaced in more than 100 years, guess they will be there for some time.
Sculptures at the Ghost Ranch building in Santa Fe.
Above, a white-breasted nuthatch and a Clark’s nutcracker. The nuthatch appeared to be collecting nesting material.
Also stopped at Manzano Mountains State Park, southeast of Albuquerque. It is a small park that is closed most of the year because of snow.
Above, a picture taken as I was leaving and an Abert’s squirrel in a birdfeeder.
After I left Bandelier National Monument, stopped in Albuquerque for a day. Saw there was a wind advisory and possible thunderstorms forecast for the next day. Subsequently headed to Elephant Butte State Park to wait it out. Not sure if that was the right choice, as I was buffeted by severe winds for 4 days. However, saw that most of the southwest had weather problems during this period.
After leaving the Elephant Butte area, stopped at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in Socorro. The sandhill cranes are gone, but there are still plenty of other birds there.
Enjoyed visiting Bandelier National Monument near Los Alamos, New Mexico. There are an amazing number of holes in the rock cliffs all over the area. The area peaked in the 1400′s. The ancestral Pueblo people then moved close to the Rio Grande River, which is nearby.
Enjoyed staying in the campground at Bandelier. There were only a few people there, although the Visitor Center parking lot was full of visitors every day. The ponderosa pines in the campground made me of think of Idaho and Montana campgrounds. It is closed from November to February because of snow.
Bandelier is composed of 33,750 acres, but has only 3 miles of public roads. There are 70 miles of trails. The ones by the Visitor Center follow a stream and are easy to walk. You can follow one trail along the creek down to where it meets the Rio Grande River.
Two days in a row I walked along a trail along the creek that goes to the last official dwelling exhibit. Beyond this point, the trail takes you into the National Wilderness Preservation System. There were quite a few backpackers hiking into the area.
Both days on my walks along the creek saw a female black bear with two cubs. The first day, a ranger had chased them up a tree. He said the female has been coming to the area for 3 years because of the water and plant food sources. The second day, the ranger didn’t even bother to come. He had said they don’t pose a danger and would rather climb a tree than confront humans.
Above, an Abert‘s or tassel-eared squirrel. Have wanted to see one of these guys for a number of years.
Above, a vewpoint in the town of White Rock, a suburb of Los Alamos a little northeast of Bandelier. It is looking towards Sante Fe and the town of Española. The Rio Grande River runs down the center of the picture, but is hidden behind a hill. Saw both kayakers on the river and backpackers hiking into the area.
The city of Santa Fe is so beautiful. They don’t allow advertising billboards. You just see the official highway system signs along the highway. There must also be an ordinance on what colors can be used to paint homes and businesses. They are all an adobe color with just differences in the amount of yellow, red, and white paint added. So they don’t all look alike, yet blend really well together.
Below, Valles Caldera National Preserve that is just west of Bandlier. It was a private ranch until the year 2000. The owner’s sold the entire surface estate of 95,000 acres and seven-eighths of the geothermal mineral estate to the federal government.
Pictures from the last day of crane watching. You frequently see short-lived altercations between cranes, as seen in the second picture. They don’t last long, one walks away. It may be a personal space issue.
Geese coming in to drink and bathe in the water near the cranes.
A quail enjoying the sun after a night of freezing temps.
Below, bugling cranes. This is when fights often occur, as one crane interloper enters a family unit.
A congested corn field at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge filled with sandhill cranes and snow geese. The geese suddenly took flight. Looking at my pictures on my computer, saw a coyote in the background that I had not noticed when I was taking the pictures. The cranes stood their ground.
Northern pintails
Red-tailed hawk, light adult. It was fussing above some snow geese. Maybe it knew the geese would all take flight if it flew toward them.
Also saw a bald eagle, but it was too far away to get a good picture.
Gambel’s quail and a canyon towhee near my campground.
Below, three swans and sandhill cranes coming in to roost.
Have been staying close to Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge for close to a week. It’s been cold, as I guess it has been over a lot of the US, in the teens at night and the 40′s and 50′s during the day. Still just need the furnace at night.
Saw the coyote in the top picture wondering around the refuge on Saturday. Just a little earlier in the day had seen a coyote, possibly the same one, in a field with some sandhill cranes. It always surprises me that the cranes don’t fly away on seeing a coyote. They do have a weapon in their bill. They can stab a coyote with it, as long as the coyote doesn’t come from behind.
The last two pictures are from Monday morning. The coyote in the third picture has just nabbed a duck in the same area as seen in the picture with the cranes. On leaving the refuge, saw three young, healthy looking coyotes (one seen in the bottom picture).
Adult sandhill crane (top picture) and two juvenile cranes (bottom picture).
Northern shovelers
Below, photographers bundled up to see the cranes fly in to roost.
Sandhill cranes at the Bernardo Waterfowl Management Area north of Socorro, New Mexico.
Not many geese here, but there are supposed to be 20,000 of them at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, where I will shortly be heading.
Last year when I was here helicopter refueling flights took place over where I was staying. Saw it again this year. There are military bases all over New Mexico. Assume these are training flights.
A crane doing it’s version of dancing on a cold morning. It has been in the 20′s a lot of the nights here. Warms up enough during the day so the furnace is just needed at night.
Fields of sun baked corn in parched soil alternate with fields of alfalfa at Bernardo Waterfowl Management area. There is no flooded field or pond on the bird viewing road this year, which is disappointment. The cranes roost in water for safety and it’s fun watching their fly-in.
Have been at Bottomless Lakes State Park near Roswell, New Mexico for about a week. I have never been here during November and was really surprised at the thousands of sandhill cranes that winter here. The second picture above occurred after a helicopter flew over a hay field where there were a huge number of cranes. Most of the cranes return to Bitter Lake Wildlife Refuge to roost at night. It is an incredible sight to see wave after wave of them fly in.
Getting here: Stayed at Brantley Lake State Park before coming to Roswell. Went through bird withdrawal there after all the birds at Rockhound State Park. Not many birds at Brantley. There is DDT in the fish in the reservoir and they also have a problem with blooming algae. There was no bird activity on the water. Where the Pecos River reconstituted below the dam, however, there were ducks and herons.
The campground at Brantley was nice with drip irrigation providing for some shade trees. The nearby town of Artesia is a former small farm town that is now overrun with the oil industry. Southeast New Mexico is divided up into oil fields and their home base seems to be Artesia. Have to wonder what is going to happen to all the artesian wells after the oil is gone.
Got an Amazon Kindle recently and was thrilled at finding all the free digital books you can get from Project Gutenberg. I’m rereading all the classics that I read as a teenager. Just finished War and Peace. Have to admit I use the read outloud feature on the Kindle.
Hawk seen along the road when I first arrived at the State Park.
A Say’s phobe flying around catching insects in the air. They are so intent on hunting they don’t pay much attention to nearby people.
A loggerhead shrike at the Bitterlake Refuge.
Below, scenes from Bottomless Lakes State Park. The camping area is on the left side of the second picture.
Black-throated sparrow. These little guys are so cute.
Cactus wren going into and out of a nest. The nest is supported on three sides by the prickly pear cactus. There are three cactus wren nests around my site. I read online that they build two nests, one for young ones and one for roosting.
Sage thrasher
Gila Ladder-backed woodpecker (thanks Jonathan)
Some birds seen but not pictured: a pair of orioles, not sure which kind; a pair of pyrruloxia, Gambel’s quail, & sandhill cranes. A flock of sandhill cranes flew overhead one day and the next morning I heard them. There is no body of water nearby, so I was a little worried about them.
Along with lots of birds in the area, there are lots of insects. The tarantula above walked through my campsite one day. Made sure to wear my heavy hiking shoes when sitting outside after that. Sitting next to a retaining wall, your eyes are level with the ground and you see all kinds of insects.
Below, a curved-billed thrasher. The light at sunset is so incredible here.
