A big thank you to our veterans….We appreciate all you have done and are doing for us….We can rest easy and enjoy life here in America, thanks to you. We salute you.

The birds are back, along with the bird counters…I wonder how many people it takes to count these little creatures, when they are jumping all around…I can just see the counters shouting out, “stand still, dang it, jumping all around is messing me up”…..But, I guess they get the job done somehow cause here is what they are saying the count is for this year, as of Nov. 6th…23,557 ducks….Canada geese, 125…light geese, 13,080…sand hill cranes, 1,919….eagles, 1…American coot, 81…Marsh and water birds, 17…shorebirds, 16….gulls and terns, 105…hawks and owls, 10….There is a nice article in the Albuquerque Journal today telling about the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, just south of Socorro, NM…it states that while the refuge was built for birds, it has become a haven for a wide range of wildlife. Corn grown under contract for the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service provide food for the sandhill crane, snow geese and Ross’s geese and about 350 different species of birds…..reptiles, amphibians, insects and about 30 kind of mammals are attracted to this area…Also, this year the aplomado falcon was seen by the vistors to the park. It is one of the rarest birds of prey to be found in New Mexico and has been formally declared “endangered”. Their attraction is the dragonflies….Coyotes, deer and elk have been seen in the refuge…The Return of the Sandhill Crane Celebration Weekend is scheduled for this Saturday and Sunday, Nov.  13 and 14 at the Albuquerque Open Space Vistors Center, 6500 Coors NW…for more info go to   www.cabq.gov/openspace/sandhillcranes.html

I went to that web site and its says it is not working…click on the ” Visiting” section and it will tell you about the return of the sandhill cranes, etc…Pete