Cliff Dwellings, Rocks, Rare Owl, Farewell Luncheon, and Future Plans -- Oh My!

San Antonio, NM (weather is improving 62 high 40 degree low, blue skies)

 "In every walk with nature

one receives far more

then he seeks"

John Muir

Mexican Spotted Owl

We saw this beautiful and very rare owl while hiking at Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument. We were so excited to see him and he seemed to enjoy watching us too. This owl is one of the largest in North America and is a threatened specie due to loss of old growth forests. Isn't he a beauty. 

Gila National Monument Visitor Center

We planned one last getaway weekend with our friends Bob and Amy to see the Gila Cliff Dwelling National Monument near Silver City New Mexico. It was a spectacular drive to Silver City from Bosque del Apache where we are volunteering. The road climbed and twisted and turned through some of the prettiest scenery in New Mexico.  We saw lots of wildlife including a bobcat, javelina, red fox, and this beautiful owl. On the way there we drove the road at night. I'm not sure this is such a good idea but Bob did a great job.

I was really struck by the vastness of this place. Between the National Monument and National Forest there are 3.3 million acres of land. There are hundreds of miles of trails and the overlooks as you wind along the road to the park are spectacular. 

Two volunteers we met at Bosque are now volunteering at Gila Cliff Dwellings. They have enjoyed the experience but found the very cold weather and lack of any internet or cell phone signal a challenge. The nearest grocery store  is quite a distance and not a easy drive to Silver City and oh did I mention the road also washed out for a few weeks to the Cliffs.  Volunteering certainly can give you many interesting stories to tell and memories.

We hiked out to the Gila Cliff Dwellings after a stop at the Visitor Center. There is an excellent movie which tells all about the Indians who built and lived here as cliff dwellers. You can actually go through some of the dwellings and there is a ranger there to tell you more about the inhabitants. The hike is about 1.5 miles in length and is moderately strenuous. There is one ladder involved but this can be bypassed if needed.  

We stayed in Silver City at a reasonable and clean Motel 6. The locals seem to  love living here and much has been done to restore the downtown. An owner of a restaurant told us many people are moving here to retire. 

City of Rock State Park

On our way back we stopped at the City of Rock State Park.  It sure looked like Fred Flintstone must have lived here. We had fun  hiking among the big boulders and added a few new birds to our life list. 

It has a nice campground with no hookups and your site is right among the boulders or there are electric and water sites on the perimeter. 

John and Jimmy

Curved -billed Thrasher

Red-tail Hawk

The next day at Bosque a really nice farewell luncheon was planned for us. Several of the rangers cooked a delicious New Mexican themed lunch for all of us to enjoy.  The refuge manager gave a nice speech thanking the volunteers for all their support to this beautiful refuge. 

Christian and Dennis our amazing chefs

Kevin - Refuge Manger

In addition, the volunteer coordinator gave out certificates and pins to the volunteers who had reached certain milestones of volunteer service. John received a pin for 2000 hours of services with Fish and Wildlife Service. I'm close behind him at about 1900 hours. We also got a nice gift certificate to use at the Nature Store as an added bonus. I used mine to buy a beautiful fetish necklace and John got a handsome Tilley Hat. The refuge also welcomed all the new volunteers who have arrived for the spring season.

Fetish necklace and earrings

Volunteers at Bosque del Apache NWR

We are ready to be back on the road again and certainly have a strong case of "hitch itch". However, we will miss all our new friends and rangers at Bosque. Saying good bye is not easy. Soon we  will be attending three rallies in Arizona. The first one is the FMCA rally in Chandler (near Phoenix) where we have volunteered to be a part of the parking crew. Over 2000 motorhomes will be arriving over the next few days. That is sure to be an interesting challenge. 

Other upcoming rallies include the Escapee Rally in Tuscon and a joint Newmar Kountry Klub rally with a fulltiming and Arizona chapter in Benson. My brother is also coming out for a visit and we are planning on visiting some friends in Why Arizona.  Check back to see why we go there. 

A two week visit to some of the spectacular National Parks in Utah is planned with our dear friend Sally from Sanibel and some friends with the FMCA camping club Cuatro Estados. 

This summer and fall we will be working for Grand Teton Association. Once again we will be returning to this very special place and are looking forward to seeing our friends who work for GTA too. Stay tuned for many more adventures. Life is good!

Volunteering at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge

San Antonio, NM (clear blue skies, 54 high, 24 low)

"There are some w ho can live without wild things

and some who cannot"

Aldo Leopold

Snow Geese at dawn over the refuge

Visitor Center

The call of the Sandhill Crane is unmistakable. We wake up each morning to their throaty cries and feel very blessed to call Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge our home for the next four month.

Picturesque cotton wood tree overlooking north and south ponds

Immature Bald Eagle

We have now started our seventh year on the road and are volunteering at this beautiful National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) in New Mexico.  We have been here for about six weeks and are really enjoying this magical place. It is located about 80 miles south of Albuquerque near the small town of San Antonio. It's a very special place for bird watchers and photographers to see the Sandhill Cranes, Snow Geese, and a multitude of ducks who migrate here each fall and spend the winter.

Sandhill Cranes flying over the corn fields

Flight deck at dusk

Northern Pintail Duck

There are ten full hook up sites for the volunteers and we have arrived in a staggered fashion to be here to help out during the Festival of the Cranes. We also do a variety of tasks such as working at the the Visitor Center, fee booth, roving, and ground maintenance. There is a large lounge for watching movies and TV and a huge industrial style kitchen. We have enjoyed many potluck dinners and fellowship and really feel at home here.

Jeff the Biology Manager talking to us about the crops

Our orientation was very organized and extensive.  It was a treat to take  van rides all around the refuge and even into areas the public cannot access. Many staff members provided our orientation and seemed very happy that we have joined them this season. The feeling was quite mutual.

Snow Geese and Sandhill Cranes chowing down on the corn

A Bald Eagle flew over and it caused the Snow Geese to fly around chaotically

Sandhill Crane family

Bosque del Apache is a huge refuge of over 57,000 acres established in 1939 by Franklin Roosevelt. At that time there where only 17 Sandhill Cranes left. The refuges main purpose is  to help recreate what the Rio Grande River performed before it was dammed and diverted. Each year crops are raised (corn and a variety of grasses) by refuge staff and cooperative farmers to feed the cranes, geese and ducks. It takes 1.5 million pounds of corn to feed the birds. Water is moved through irrigation ditches to simulate the flooding of the plains once done by the river. This helps bring the seeds to the top for the ducks and provides a safe haven for the Sandhill Cranes and geese to land in each night. Through the efforts of this refuge the Sandhill Crane population has increased to over 10,000.

Chris our Volunteer Coordinator describing a trail to us during orientation

Special computer controlled gates which regulate water

The refuge also works very hard to eliminate Salt Cedar, an invasive species. It's a labor intensive task to bulldoze, plow, disk, plow, collect, and then burn this tenacious and inhospitable  plants once introduced to New Mexico from Asia. It also gobbles up lots of precious water. They have worked very hard to come up with a plan which works very well.

Sandhill Cranes

Looking out over the Dabbler Deck

In addition, this refuge provides habitat for four endangered species (Mexican Jumping Mouse, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Silver Minnow, and Willow Flycatcher.).  It was explained to us all of their special fussy needs. It really is amazing how all that is accomplished here with a very small staff.

The Festival of the Cranes is held each year the week before Thanksgiving and it's a not to miss birding, wildlife, hiking, and photography event. There were over 150 events to choose from and it brings in about 3 million dollars to this county. We attended a few of the events (owl, photo, and crane workshops) plus provided support with keeping restrooms, buses, and conference rooms clean. You could also sign up to drive the vans for the special bird tours and many of us roved around the refuge answering visitor questions and setting up spotting scopes. I had fun walking around with a Sandhill Crane puppet for a couple of hours. We were all amazed at how well organized this event was. For each task we were assigned there were detailed instructions and supplies. All of the refuge staff helped out and several employees from other refuges came in to help too. We haven't heard the latest attendance figures but in past years about 8000 people attended. We had the best time!

Lucistic Sandhill Crane

Coyote checking out the possibilities for dinner

It's also a great location for touring some special place in New Mexico. Look for upcoming blogs about birding hot spots in Albuquerque, revisit to White Sands National Monument, visit with our friends Fran and Randy, and a interesting tour of the  Salinas Pueblo Missions. We will be here until the end of February. Why not come out and visit us.