Arrived early this afternoon after a modest drive up the Rio Grande from El Paso. Foolish us, driving north this chilly week. At least here we can splash about the Rio Grande without worrying about border issues. Bright sunshine illuminated shower clouds and rain in the valley and snow fields on the surrounding mountains. We parked, registered, and then walked around the campground. Only three other motor homes are in place. The wind was chilly but the sun was warm. A small flow of the Rio Grande (Rio Norte/Rio Bravo) passed over a wall and spillway into the rocky channel downstream.

We had spotted and identified several small birds, including our first black phoebe of the year, when a small, dark, short-winged bird flew low up to the top of the spillway. It landed where Anne but not Chuck could see it. Chuck asked if it were a dipper. Anne was not sure but in another moment Chuck confirmed the identification. Another life bird for both of us! We sought this bird in California and Washington without success. In the latter state we had found a dipper nest under a bridge, but after a wait of twenty minutes had to leave to reach our evening destination.

Now the dark, round, glossy, little bird bobbed about in the shallow water of the spillway reaching into the water for insect larvae. Chuck had noticed a report of one here a week ago on the Internet, but thought it unlikely to remain for our arrival. But this handsome dark bird of mountain streams seemed quite content to be fishing in the desert this season, and we will take our birds where we can get them. It makes another tic on our life lists. We’ll always remember finding this spunky bird in the Rio Grande in the New Mexico desert on a brisk, showery and sunny February afternoon. The birding hobby thus enriches our touring as much as our touring enriches our birding!

February 15, 2007 – Percha Dam State Park, (Truth or Consequences) New Mexico

This morning was a bitterly cold 18 degrees F. The forecast was for a low in the upper 20’s. We realized that it was colder than expected when the water did not flow. A quick check of the window thermometer suggested why. The temperature inside was only 45. A few minutes of heat took care of that, but we didn’t have water again until our return this afternoon. The surprise freeze damaged a cheap plastic fitting but otherwise caused no harm. Tonight we will disconnect and drain the hose and use our tank water. The warming trend starts tomorrow.

We awoke early this morning for a seventy mile run north to the famous Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge. This refuge includes an area of Rio Grande floodplain and surrounding desert that is being managed for waterfowl, cranes, and other wildlife. It is popular for its huge numbers of snow geese and sandhill cranes. We arrived just after dawn. [img_assist|fid=1000|thumb=1|alt=Hundreds of Sandhill Cranes] The sun was already melting the frost on the land and the thin layer of ice on the more shallow areas of the basin ponds. On a boardwalk the pattern of the railing was reflected by unmelted frost on the boards below.

The river valley warmed quickly but the surrounding low mountains showed snow on the shaded slopes and more distant higher mountains were pure white with deep snow. The snowy mountains provided a lovely backdrop to the ponds full of ducks and the fields with hundreds of cranes. The day brought only a few new birds for the year; yellow-headed blackbird, bushtit, spotted towhee, and ring-necked pheasant, but also splendid views of the cranes, northern pintail, mallards, and a pair of courting Say’s phoebes. We ended our tour with a two and one half mile walk up a canyon trail that took us from the valley floor into the desert and to a lookout on a bluff that gave a panorama of the valley, the ponds, and the mountains beyond. Priceless. The afternoon high was 52 degrees.

February 17, 2007 Truth or Consequences

We are celebrating our last evening here after an almost balmy 72 degree afternoon. Already the temperature has fallen to 40 degrees. It was another brilliant clear day with blue sky above distant snow covered mountains and the winter-bleached valley vegetation. Only the hay and onion fields are green.

Yesterday, we explored Caballo Lake. True to its name there were horses on its shore. There were also eagles in the trees and hundreds of ducks and gulls in its waves. Dawn found us looking across its waters. When we tired of picking out birds we returned to camp for lunch. We napped and then returned to the lake and explored trails up into the desert. Creosote bush, mesquite, yucca, cactus and other varieties of desert scrub grow like corals on the sea floor. Each is a specimen plant in place on the sand. Who says a desert has to be barren or plain? We found few birds there, but enjoyed watching the sun set from a giant sky behind grand mouintains.

This morning walked a few miles about the campground and surrounding areas first, and then drove up a nearby Animas Creek valley. Animas Creek was flowing well with snowmelt from far away. The scycamore groves in the valley remain bare, but still provide good habitat for a number of birds that are not otherwise found in the Rio Grande basis. We found a few year birds, including the acorn woodpecker, and a life bird, the bridled titmouse. The titmouse is a delightful little bird with a striped crest. Sort of a tufted titmouse in a clown suit. We watched a family of this bird feeding on sycamore seed globes for some time.

The afternoon was for chores and a final circuit of our campground. The weekend and great weather brought in a few more campers. Tomorrow we are off to the tiny town of Portal, Arizona.