…from beneath the crooked bough, witness 230 years of brutal tyranny by the al Khalifas come to an end

Bosque Del Apache National Wildlife Refuge is located about 15 miles South of Socorro New Mexico.  It is one of the premier birding spots in the United States.  I have made dozens of visits to this wonderful part of the upper Chihuahuaian Desert. 

I arrived at the town of San Antonio just North of the refuge and managed to get a few photographs of a cemetery and ruins of and old adobe house (view galleries).  San Antonio is a fragmented, dumpy, unincorporated little village like so many scattered  across New Mexico.  San Antonio is “world renown” for the Green Chile Cheese Burger served at the Owl Bar and Café. 

The last of the Sandhill Cranes were still hanging out… I suppose they never saw the “flyer” that indicated it was time to head north.   …couldn’t resist…  The best birds of the day were a Bald Eagle and some Northern Shovelers.   There were also the usual birds, mallards, coots, gulls, common hawks, peeps.   It’s always great to go there even when the birds are not at their peak. 

Over the past decades I have enjoyed Three Rivers Petroglyphs.  In the early days of my visits it was an unknown place, not a BLM Park and mostly unbothered by those who would steal national treasures.  There was considerable vandalism, graffiti chipped into the petroglyphs by ad-lib “rock artists” and lots of evidence of midnight beer parties.  It was a great place to enjoy a “cob of cannabis” and goofing on incredible stone art for hours, a natural gallery…

As Three Rivers became better known there was a period of serious theft of the petroglyphs.   Many of them were destroyed as thieves would attempt to remove them by chipping them off of larger rocks and many of the smaller petroglyphs were simply hauled away. 

One memorable morning I was there to enjoy this wonderful spot and watch the Sunrise over Sierra Blanca.  It was and still is quite the meditation spot.  Upon arrival I noticed the dirt parking lot and primitive trail-head bore the tracks of wheel barrows and evidence of a major theft overnight.  I was distraught and very pissed off, my meditation changed to violent fantasy.  How I hoped the thieves would come back and I would take them out one by one in Rambo style justice.     …fortunately no such justice was to be had that day….

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Did the NIE conclude there was a nuclear weapons program freeze in Iran because the usual criminals (Rumsfeld, Rove) are no longer around to help manipulate the information? Probably not… Perhaps the Bush administration has concluded it cannot “get away with” a war on Iran. After all the NIE finding of no active nuclear program might just be what Israel needs to help clear the way and hasten them to go it alone.
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We arrived around 11:00 am at the boat dock. The water was choppy and the winds were measured at 14mph. We wait about 1/2 hr. and the began to calm. We went on the water with winds at 10 mph. The water was rough and the weather was a bit cool. After about and hour the wind diminished to zero. The went from choppy to still. We paddled to the north end of the lake about 3.75 miles. The usual Grebes were out and a bout. Flock of snow geese were in the air and Sandhill cranes were in the north end.
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We were greeted by the usual flotilla of Grebes. The lake was 10-15ft higher since the last entry for Caballo. The morning was brisk in the low 50s and the water has cooled down. The paddle was brief and it’s clearly time to find some “farmer johns” so I can continue to paddle through the winter.

Lake Carlsbad in New Mexico is located in the heart of Carlsbad New Mexico. It has a boat ramp and is open to power boats and paddle craft. It is one of the easily accessible bodies of water from Alamogordo NM. It’s head waters come from natural springs and the Pecos river. It is dammed by the upper Tansil Dam. It is about 2.6 miles long and 70 yards wide. The beach area has a boat ramp and a sandy beach and swimming area.
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The water level at Caballo was down by about 25ft. from the three weeks ago. While on the south end of the lake three weeks ago I saw the Juvenile Pelican. This week on the North end of the lake I saw two adult Pelicans. I approached them and they were unbothered at 30 yards. I also saw my first flock of Snow Geese for the year and group of seven Turkey Vultures hanging out on the shore. The Grebe’s were out in full force feasting on the concentrated fish due to the low lake levels.
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