After having run around New Mexico, trying to partake of all the sights in a whirlwind of activity, we have settled down to enjoy our current home – Bosque del Apache NWR, and to enjoy the company of some of our new friends.
We have spent time with new friends, both from the Refuge and other full-time travelers.
Our friend Cindi brought her two dogs for a visit while Roger had to go out of town on business. We enjoyed our conversation, shared meals, and marathon Dominion challenges so very much. “Until our paths cross again!”
We met with Bud & Barbara at their trailer near Truth or Consequences, NM. (Yes, it IS the real name of a real town!) Together we visited the Geronimo Springs Museum – a delightful mixture of town history, early Americana, and Native American artifacts. Their collections of pottery & points were amazing! The cracked & broken pots under the display table would have made many musuems jealous!
The Refuge was created in 1939 to attempt to recover from the effects of habitat loss along the Rio Grande River. It had been the historic wintering ground for thousands of Sandhill Cranes, Snow Geese, and other water fowl, but the dams and channels constructed along the river had destroyed all of this habitat. The numbers of cranes had dwindled from thousands in the later 1800’s to only 17 migrating cranes. Funds from federal “duck stamps” purchased the land, and this refuge is now one of the most highly managed wetlands in the nation. We are now the winter home to many thousands of cranes (5,000 – 15,000), snow geese (30,000 – 50,000), and ducks (too many to count!)
We have hundreds of pictures of these magnificent birds and this beautiful refuge, but I won’t subject you to “all” of them. Here are a few of our favorites.
Mark was “Smokey”
Snow Geese & Super Moon – Nov. 2016
Snow Geese:
Red-tail Hawk
Pintail Duck
Osprey
White-tailed Kite:
Moon over the Refuge
Javalina
Sandhill Cranes
Beauty of the Refuge
Deer crossing the Crane Pond
Cranes flying in for the night:
We have had fun with the other volunteers here at Bosque del Apache. SO many interesting backgrounds and experiences! Such sweet people! However, we will save more on that for another day….