Bosque del Apache, NM

Hundreds of snow geese flying in for the evening.

Bosque del Apache is one of those places you see photographed in National Geographic.  The spectacle of cascades of  birds flying in to one spot to roost for the evening is beyond compare.  Now, I confess to

never winning one of those "Guess how many jellybeans are in the jar" competitions, but even I can see there are thousands of birds out on this little body of water (the whole of which is not shown in the photo).

We took off for the Bosque one morning when at least two of us were feeling restless and needed to get out of the house.  My son says there is actually a real definition of Cabin Fever, and we hadn't yet met the criteria.  But we were restless enough to fit my definition, and so off we went.

The Bosque is a refuge for waterfowl.  It was funded by Duck Stamps, $15 per hunter, originally as a preserve for ducks.  A preserve in the sense that it gave the ducks (& others) a nice home until duck hunting season.  Then they preserved again, but then for dinner.  

Now there are no people hunting.  Only animals doing their own hunting.  As we drove through the refuge, we'd occasionally spot the signs: a circular splash of feathers on the ground without a carcass.  They told the dramatic story of a coyote, fox, or perhaps a bobcat peeling one from the flock.

We saw as many birds as we'd hoped:  bald eagles, a few roadrunners, several different species of falcons and hawks, more geese than we could have imagined, and a great many Sand Hill Cranes.  We were even treated to a few of their courtship dances.

A Rough-Legged Hawk.  They are known for perching
on the farthest extreme of a very small branch.

This Bosque is about 54,000 acres, most of which is desert land.  Just about 12,000 is wet bottom land.  Of that, just 3,800 is an active flood plain of the Rio Grande.  The remain 9,100 is a wetland made so with a diversion of water from the Rio Grande.  Entirely human-made, this procedure is a full-time, year-round process.  Valves are turned to release and drain water, fields are plowed as if they've been wrecked by flood, and food is carefully monitored and dispersed.  It is a very sophisticated and delicate system recreating nature for the preservation of its flying natives.

We walked along this boardwalk and into the desert.  It was warm and gorgeous.

This is a photo taken over the railing.  It gives you an idea of how dry dry can be. Dry, cracked mud under a foot or two of water.  It is surely a force of nature.