Bird watching and dogs don't usually go together too well. So we decided to do a hike first. The hike was just a mile or so away from the park entrance so we figured after a nice long hike the dogs would be tired enough to sleep while we drove around looking at the birds.
Most of the hike is down through a hot and dry canyon. We'd done this trail two years ago and knew it was a safe trail for Slugger to be off leash most of the way. This time of year at least, there isn't any wildlife around that we've ever seen. I think it's way too dry for most critters to be able to live here. But it's obvious that someone lives here sometime as evidenced by the holes in the caves.
This hole obviously was home to some birds as they made quite a mess on the rocks just below their perch.
Inside one of the holes I found a nest. Not being a nest expert, I don't know what kind of animal lived here. But I did think whatever it was, it sure built a pretty nest.
It was pretty hot during our hike so the dogs spent a lot of time looking for shade. We took a lot of water breaks to make sure no one would overheat.
There was this little open cave area where we spent some time as the dogs thought it was really fun to climb around on the rocks and run through the opening.
Once we got up out of the canyon we had some nice views. Mostly you can see that there really isn't anything for miles around.
There was only one tree on this entire hike and it seemed kind of pretty.
These are the closest things we saw to flowers.
I don't know what it was about this place but Boogie seemed to be especially photogenic here....when he wasn't running around at full speed. You can see here that he was his normal self - dirty nose and all.
On those rare moments when his nose is clean he is extremely handsome!
After coming up out of the canyon we got to a stretch where we could see down to the park. I think it is so interesting that there is just desert for many miles in all directions and suddenly there are these very colorful fields and a few very large ponds of water in the distance.
About 50 yards before the end of the hike, Boogie started crying and pawing at his face and shaking his head. He was being bitten by a red ant. I don't know if it was a fire ant or not but I do know it was really hurting him. After we finally got him calmed down and going again, another ant got him on the foot. He was screaming and jumping around and didn't want our help. Mike finally got the ant off him but it must leave quite a sting as he just stood still holding his foot up. When we finally got him to move he limped very badly. Poor guy. At least we were just about done with the hike.
We entered the park to start the 13 mile drive that goes through the interior of the park. We'd gone about 1/4 of a mile when Mike decided that we should go home as we hadn't seen any birds yet. Huh?! This made no sense to me so I encouraged him to continue on. About three or four minutes later I saw something flying and asked Mike what kind of birds they were. Sure enough, they were Sandhill Cranes. Yippee! Okay, so you needed binoculars to see them well - they're the white spots about tree level.
On one of the nearby ponds were various kinds of ducks......
These are Northern Pintails.
We stopped at a little walkway that goes out over one of the ponds. Here we saw a variety of living beings. There was a turtle swimming not too far away - actually he looked like he was treading water.
I guess he was on his way to visit all his turtle friends, seen here on many different logs.
On the opposite side of the walkway were these Cormorants. The bird in the middle with the grey chest is a different kind of bird however we were unable to identify it.
We saw a number of these pretty Western Grebes.
While on the walkway we passed some people on a tour. As we passed, we heard the tour guide say that there were over 20,000 Sandhill Cranes already here! We certainly didn't see all of them but we did have many opportunities to see a lot of them.
Most of them were sitting in fields quite a distance from us.
But we did get to see quite a few up close.
It was actually very surprising how unafraid the cranes were of people. Mike tried to get close to get a picture and they didn't fly away - they just yelled at him.
One time we were watching the cranes when something did scare them and they started to fly away.
Even when we weren't seeing any birds, the scenery was very pretty.
We thought we had gotten the dogs tired so they would sleep during the bird watching portion of our trip. But the three big dogs were totally involved in watching the birds as well. Each of them had their head out a different window and watched intently the entire time. They never made a peep. Boogie was in his crate so he couldn't see out well - but I don't think it mattered as he was on his back and his were shut!
Even though we heard a lot of snow geese, the roads didn't lead to the pond where they seemed to be. It wasn't until I got home and looked at my pictures close up that I realized the white part you see in this picture that I took from the vista on our hike are actually thousands of snow geese.
After leaving Bosque del Apache we headed off to find Owl Bar.
Supposedly the Owl Bar is a landmark. It's been in business in this very same spot for over 70 years - all by one family (different generations of course). It is located about 10 miles away from the park in a very small town. It was located right on the corner of the two main roads....which aren't that main.
It is a small dark bar. They have a very limited menu but they are very famous for their green chili hamburgers. Neither Mike nor I are really into spicy food. We wanted to have the food they are known for but we were worried about the chili's. So we asked if the burgers were very spicy. They waitresses looked at each other and both shook their heads and said "oh no, they're not spicy." So we each ordered a burger.
The poor dogs. Mike and I each took a bite of our burger and immediately felt like dragons. These burgers were WAY too hot for my taste! So the poor dogs got to eat the meat portion of my burger because the chilis were stuck to the meat. I didn't give any of the chilis to Boogie though as he is such a little guy. The big dogs ate it right down - guess they're tougher than me! The rest of the burger was really good! It was fun to eat at a landmark as famous as this.
We had a safe drive home. The dogs seemed especially happy to be home as they'd been in the car for the last six hours straight. We were so lucky to have a yard to go home to as the dogs had some energy to burn off for sure!
We sure saw a lot of different things while in New Mexico. Who knew there was such a variety of things in this state! More people should come here and check it out.
Debbie
11/9/07
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