One train and two windshields

Riding the rails.

Finally got the chance to ride a train in New Mexico.  I fell in love with train travel when I was living in Asia and traveled in 4 countries by rail.  Here in the US it's a bit trickier since we Americans have a love affair with our cars.  Whenever the opportunity arises I do love to hop a train, so recently I drove north of the Bosque to the southern terminus of the Railrunner.  It's a commuter train that travels daily between Belen at the southern point and Santa Fe at the northern end.  Of course I could have drive to Santa Fe but the train offered me the option of taking the journey at a slower pace and sitting by the window at a raised elevation with great views of the scenery.  In fact, a large part of the travel goes through Indian pueblos and gives the rider a chance to view areas not normally seen except by the residents. 

The weather was great in Santa Fe and after browsing in the depot (the original building) in downtown I picked up a rental car and drove up along the Rio Grande to Taos.  All was going great until just before I reached town.  A truck passed.  A rocked pinged across my windshield, and then the ping turned into a long crack right in front of the steering wheel.  I had no cell service at this point so I drove slowly into Taos where I was able to return the car and leave in a different rental with an intact windshield.  That extra $15 for the vehicle liability insurance made things a breeze.  Sure glad I took it.

 After visiting a few places in Taos I decided to head east toward Las Vegas (the one in New Mexico, not Nevada). 
This meant going up and over the mountains, past the ski resorts and all their buses, and coming out on the other side all while enjoying some really gorgeous views.  There was snow on the mountains and even right up to the sides of the road, but I was thankful to be driving on clean, dry surface all the way across.  In Vegas I made a short visit to the wildlife refuge there.  Not much to see since the drought had made it impossible to plant crops the previous year and very little water was available.  The wildlife was taking refuge somewhere, but not here.

View of a visitor entering the cemetery in the village
of Wagon Mound with the famous "mound"
in the background.

My name on the log as I perched high above
the gorge at the cache.

The next morning I drove into the village of Wagon Mound, a sleepy little place that once had been a very important stop along the Santa Fe Trail.  The large rock formations were trail signs for the travelers that here they would find shelter for a night or two of rest on their journey.  Today it offers a view of the wagon mound rocks and a truck stop along I 25.  All around me the land was flat except for the mounds. I could see why travelers focused on this spot.  But turning east on state highway 120 I found the Canadian River Gorge and some breathtaking scenery.  Of course I also found a few caches along the way including one that offered a 360 view of the valley and gorge.  Very impressive.

By lunch time I was back in Santa Fe returning my rental and having lunch near the train tracks.  The trip back offered a full rail car: full of UNM students heading home on a Friday with their duffle bags of dirty laundry for Mom to magically turn into clean clothes.  Once again I enjoyed a window seat with panoramic views.  I followed the journey with an app that helped me learn about the areas I was cutting across.  Back in Belen I loaded my bags into the little orange car and after running a few errands I heading back to the Bosque where only I could turn my duffle of dirty laundry into clean clothes.  All was good until about 10 miles from my exit off I 25 when I heard a rock ping the corner of my windshield and then saw the crack formed across the passenger window.  Now how about that!  Two windshields in two days!  Sure did make for a memorable trip.

They Call Me "The Duck Whisperer"

John discusses the Northern Pintail, our most common
duck at the Bosque, while keeping the Susie and
the Drake calm.

I suppose there are worse things to be called.  It all started innocently enough.  The staff here were kind enough to establish a day when volunteers could participate in the capture and banding of ducks here on the refuge.  I couldn't refuse the opportunity since I had so much fun helping with the kids banding day back in November.  It was a cold, clear morning but not as cold as the day we banded with the kids.

A drake mallard gets some attention too!

The birds were captured with nets launched by small rockets in an area away from the public tour route, but one that the biologists had been baiting for several days to insure plenty of ducks.  There were 2 different days to attend to allow for work schedules, and on the day I went there were about 9 volunteers and the one biologist in charge. Once the ducks were in the nets they were sorted into crates by species and sex.  Then the biologist gave us a lot of info about the ducks we were working with that morning. Finally each duck had to be taken out, weighed and wingspan measured, and released after having a small metal band attached to its foot and the info recorded in a log. 

Showing off the colors of my favorite little duck
friend, the green winged teal.

Saying farewell

That's when it began.  Since John the biologist was busy teaching about the ducks and making sure all the info was recorded and that the data was gathered and bands attached correctly, I just opened a crate and began to hand out birds.  I don't really have much experience with live, wild ducks, but somehow I just did it well.  So now I am the duck whisperer and considering some of the things I could be known for here, that's not a bad thing.  Besides, while all the eagles and hawks get lots of attention in the refuge, as well as the sandhill cranes of course, I think the ducks are the most fascinating birds here. So whisper on my web footed friends.  You know I love you!!

Trying Not to Scratch an Itch

Well it's been a long time since I've been sitting still in one place for 5 months.  I have really enjoyed all the time I've spent here in the refuge and I've made some new friends here of course.  The winter has been mild according to the locals and for that I'm grateful.  Somehow I thought being in the desert meant a much warmer winter.  Maybe next year I'll get it right. 

There are a lot of changes in the air.  The eagle population is up and the crane and goose population is steadily declining.  The first cormorant has taken up residence in the rookery and bluebirds are everywhere.  Of the 14 volunteer campsites currently occupied, 6 of them will be vacated by the end of the month.  Neighbors are getting busy with packing up and exchanging email addresses.  Then, during the month of March most of the rest of us will be slowly packing up and moving on to the next job. 

So where am I off to? Not really sure I can say yet except that it is narrowed down to somewhere in Arizona.  In the mean time I will keep doing my job and try to keep from trying to scratch that itch that has me wanting to move on down to see new horizons.

The Christmas Goose

It's the day after Christmas and all you insane friends of mine are out fighting the crowds for another bargain or two.  My hat is off to you for having the courage to fight your way through it.  I personally don't need anything that badly.  In fact, I had a lovely Christmas.  It started with sunrise over the mountains while I sat deep in the Bosque watching the sandhill cranes fly out to other fields to feed all day.  Shortly after that I watched as the snow geese covered the surface of a large pond on the north side.  They are so loud coming in that I could close my eyes and imagine myself back home at the Hickerson family gathering (actually this fly in was so loud they could have been my Ogg family gathering). 

Lots of people from all around the state and well beyond come here to see the sandhill cranes but the cranes are far outnumbered by the "light" geese most of which are snow geese, but about one third of them are Ross' geese and if you look closely you will even see the fabled blue goose. 

If turkey is more to your liking for the Christmas feast just head to the woods in the northern reaches of the Bosque where I found about 100 of them in a corn field.  They tend to stay hidden from the visitors here although they are certainly protected like all the other birds.

So I sat and watched the geese for a while thinking about the traditional Christmas goose in Dickens' Christmas Carol.  A hunter out looking for a fat goose for the table would have his pick here - as long as he avoids Ben the Bosque game warden. 

After a few hours in the refuge it was time to head back to my little home and check on the crockpot chicken and dressing I was cooking for our covered dish Christmas dinner.  Late in the afternoon we all gathered together in the lounge and followed the Christmas tradition of stuffing our bellies one more time.  Lots to eat but no goose!

 

 

My Life is For The Birds

The sky is filled with cranes every morning.

Looks like it's been a while since my last post.  I would apologize but I feel no guilt for it.  Seems like my life has been for the birds more and more since I moved into the refuge.  And boy do we have the birds here.
This week's count for Sandhill Cranes is a little over 8,500.  The cranes are the main draw here but the snow geese give them a run for their money.  And these guys do their best to take away attention from the cranes.  It makes for very interesting shows all the time.  The cranes have a loud bugling voice that rings out across the refuge night and day.  They are tall and graceful with their scarlet caps that seem to glow on sunny days, and when they come in for a landing they drop their long legs and flap their huge wings resembling small aircraft coming in for a landing on the fields and ponds.

The snow geese aren't about to be put out by some showy cranes.  Not only are the geese numbers more than twice the number of the cranes, but they have a way of being noticed when they leave and arrive.  First of all the geese arrive in groups of one hundred or more at a time.  

It's snowing geese!

They fly over the field in a dramatic swoop then swing back across a little lower before finally coming to a noisy landing.  Try to imagine a restaurant full of chatting people.  Multiply that noise by tens or hundreds depending on the size of the flock.  If you are used to the honk honk of the Canada geese on the pond, forget it.  Snow geese sound like that restaurant full of people.   

An American Widgeon is unimpressed by my visit.

And then things get ducky - like more than 85,000 ducks worth of ducky.  Most of them are northern pintails, northern shovelers, and mallards.  But mixed in with them are ruddy ducks, buffleheads, canvasbacks, redheads, ringed necks, and a few widgeons, green-winged teals, and wood ducks.  A drive or walk down the south loop is filled with lots of quackers. 



Just one of the training sessions I've attended since starting
at the Bosque.  We are taught the history of the refuge and
the Rio Grande River as well as birder training.

After the cranes and the geese, the next big draw here on the Bosque is the raptors.  I rode the 12 mile tour loop last Sunday with our bird guide and ended up with a count of 3 mature bald eagles and 5 juveniles; 2 mature golden eagles and 1 juvenile; 32 northern harriers,
1 kestrel, 13 ravens, and 37 red tail hawks.  And the biggest thing I learned is that not all red tail hawks have a red tail.  Go figure.

Beyond the big show there are all the little song birds that come to the feeders or hang out on the dried sunflowers in the fields: white crowned sparrows, white throated sparrows, song sparrows, house sparrows, juncos, towhees, and a few house finches.  The winter weather here is mild but what few bugs we get are kept in control by the resident flycatchers: Say's Phoebe and Black Phoebe.

Wheww!!  Did I leave anyone out?  Well, wintering goldfinches and mountain bluebirds of course. 

A murder of crows

So if I don't blog as often as I have before you'll have to understand.  When I'm not taking visitors out to see the refuge and our residents, I'm studying them.  It's a tough job but somebody's got to love it!

How To Enjoy a Beautiful Thanksgiving

Halfway up to the cache

Got up early on turkey day and turned on the news to hear the reports of shootings and fights among the folks camped out all night to start their holiday shopping.  While watching the news I scrolled down the list of all the posts listing what my friends and family are thankful for.  After listening to the news I was thankful not to need to be near a shopping mall.  Soon there was a knock on the door.  One of the other volunteers wanted a partner to go along on a short cache run.  It was 8:30 and we had to be back by noon because of the potluck turkey dinner this afternoon.  Was I interested?  You bet!

In 10 minutes we were on the way up a narrow canyon gravel road in his jeep.  The first cache was a simple micro in a cut out along the canyon wall, then we were back in the jeep and driving deeper into Box Canyon.  The sky was blue, the temps were brisk but not too hot or too cold, and the canyon walls were high.  The next cache was on top of one of those canyons.  When the GPSr beeped at 190 ft. we stopped and looked straight up - and up - and up.  It was a no brainer to drive to the end of the canyon, park the jeep, and hike back up the other side of the canyon's edge.  Only a quarter mile hike but really a beautiful view from up there. 


Just a little hike up and over that old mine

Looks like we found it!

Back to the jeep and deeper into the canyon we found our next two caches near the remains of some old abandoned silver mines.  More parking the jeep and hiking up hills.  Oh, and there was still snow and ice in the higher climes so there was just a little slipping and sliding in some spots.  Before I knew it the morning was over and we had to drive out the other end of the canyon onto the highway and back to camp for lunch. 

 

 

 

 

Here come the snow geese

And after lunch there were the birds in the refuge.  Lots of them.  And lots of folks standing around with cameras.  I was amazed at how many dedicated birders were spending the day watching the sandhill cranes.  But as the sun set I found myself standing in there with them perhaps feeling a bit of "lens" envy holding my little point and shoot camera in the midst of cameras with long range lens so large some folks have to wear back braces to carry them around.  Still I think my pictures came out pretty good.  I hope you agree.

Apologies for the long wait on a new post

Two roadrunners NOT on the road

I am embarrassed to say that the main reason I have been so remiss in posting to my blog is technical.  Google changed a lot of their set ups and it took me a while to cut through all the new stuff to find my way back to here.  Well, there's that and there's all the birding I've been doing.  And boy are there birds here to see!

What's that knot on that tree?

The Sandhill Cranes, the main stars of the show here, are coming in day by day and the latest count shows that we have a little over 3,000 with at least twice that many coming by the end of November.  And while they are beautiful to watch, I really like the snow geese which the latest count shows at a population of over 5,000.  And I can believe that.  Some mornings I look across the highway into the flooded grain fields and it's almost a blanket of white. 

Sneaky perch

But then things get ducky!  We have over 22,000 ducks here in the refuge.  I am busily learning to tell them all apart.  One day last week I was manning my post at the spotting scope on the Marsh Deck and saw a few ducks: ring necked, bufflehead, cinnamon teal, widgeon, pintail, mallard, redheads, and ruddy ducks.  Wow, it is really hard to pick some of them out because most of the males are still in their drab summer plumage. 

Buffleheads in the afternoon sunshine

Of course there are numerous Canada Geese along with all the red wing blackbirds, the hawks, the eagles, the woodpeckers......  well, as you can see, we host a large variety of creatures here.  And I am loving it despite the wintry weather beginning to set in.  There is snow up north on the mountains but so far it hasn't found it's way here and I hope it doesn't.  Well, OK Madeline Ruth, I do think it would be pretty to see the place covered with a light dusting of snow. But just a LIGHT dusting. 

Next week the Festival of Cranes will begin and I'm told there will be over 5,000 birders and photographers here for that.  It should be interesting.  I'll try to do better at posting some pix from that.