Bosque del Apache - part 1

There are many workshops offered at Bosque del Apache during the Festival of the Cranes. Our first workshop we signed up for was about prairie dogs. We were told that there are five known species found from southern Canada to northern Mexico. Out of these species we were told that one is threatened, one endangered, and the other 3 species have suffered a 95% decline in the last century. Most of the decline has to do with loss of habitat. Prairie dogs are considered "colonial squirrels" and the black-tailed prairie dog can be found in southern New Mexico as well as other Rocky Mountain states, plus Nebraska and Texas. You can learn more about these cute mammals here, here, and here. During this past summer the black-tailed prairie dog was re-introduced at the refuge in two locations. One of the locations is just off the highway near the tour loop entrance, where there is a pull-off so visitors can watch them. You may want to click on the photos below to get a larger image of these cute little animals. Even though I had a zoom lens at 300mm, it was still difficult to get a decent picture of them. As you can see, they blend in beautifully with their environment.

Our second workshop for the day was about a New Mexico Important Bird Area - a wetland in the Desert. I never would have thought that there actually is a wetland existing on Holloman Air Force Base (HAFB), and open to the public. The base constructed the wetlands several years ago and it was declared an IBA in 2002 by the National Audubon Society's New Mexico chapter. HAFB has two large bodies of water attracting many unlikely migrants during spring and fall, and it even provides wintering grounds, too. Here is a checklist of the birds for that area. I'm hoping that one of these times when we return to the Bosque refuge we will take the time and drive over to the air force base and check out the wetlands.

Following the presentation we were treated to meeting a few educational birds. I cannot remember the name of the group who provided the birds, but it is a New Mexico rehabilitation center. The first two photos are an albino black-crowned night heron. The rehab center thought that this bird was showing signs that it could be released back into the wild, but upon further observation they realized that the bird probably would not survive.

This is a western screech owl. I didn't realize how small this birds are. It was only about 8 inches tall. I love those beautiful big yellow eyes. Don't you?

And here is another 8-inch bird - a burrowing owl. This owl lost its left eye, so hunting would be a problem for it.