The 11th Annual High Plains “Lesser Prairie Chicken Festival” kicks off April 20 through 22, 2012. You can read all about it on New Mexico Wildlife or you can contact Tish McDaniel at 575-762-6997 or chickenfestival@yahoo.com. The news release states the following: Nature enthusiasts from around the country will hear the annual calls of the lesser prairie chickens this April and flock to Milnesand, NM for the opportunities to see the birds’ colorful, sometimes comical, mating rituals on the prairie grasslands of southeastern New Mexico. Be sure to register early for the 11th Annual High Plains Lesser Prairie Chicken Festival. The event is imited to 100 individuals, and spots usually are full by the April 1 signup deadline. Registration is limited because of the sensitivity of the lesser prairie chicken during the breeding season. A fee of $100.oo per person covers all field trips, five meals and a commemorative poster.  Festival participants will have the opportunties to: Observe and photograph the mating rituals of the lesser prairie-chicken at close range, either from a passenger van or on the ground in a photo-blind ($25.00 per person)…Bird watch with some of the best birders in New Mexico….Talk with ranchers and biologists working to conserve prairie chickens….Learn about the Southern Great Plains ecosystem….Enjoy good food and Western hospitally…

Milnesand, NM is a small community 30 miles south of Portales, NM and it has no motels, so you may want to stay in Portales….please click on www.wildlife.state.nm.us/recreation/prairie_ckn/Festival.html  for further information….

Also from the New Mexico Wildlife News…..Eagle Nest Lake is now open to ice fishing and to all-terrain vehicles and snowmobles…..The ice currently averages 14.77 inches thick….(which ain’t nearly enough in my way of thinking)….The people on site say it is safe to get on, so if you believe that, its ok with me for you to get on it, but don’t come crying to me if you fall through, ok?….Pete