June is busting out all over...

June arrived and with it the missing heat. After a fairly mild spring, we are suddenly amid afternoon temperatures in the mid to high 90's with a few days of the mercury topping 100 degrees.

The dragonflies have emerged

like this Flame Skimmer

Barn Swallow babies are ready to fly, some have already fledged. 

Western Meadowlark delivering an aria

Roadrunners taking advantage of the shade. 

Seedpods have matured and when I brushed against it while feeding the birds, my heart did a total flipflop. 

June 3, Alvin and I were enlisted to assist Jeff and Cisco on the biweekly bird survey. 

We recorded while they spotted the water fowl and shorebirds. It was very hard to ignore the blue Grosbeak and Lark Sparrows, but this survey only focuses on birds that utilize the wetlands along with raptors and owls. 

An added bonus was the Pecos River muskrat inhabiting one of the canals. 

On the way to "The Farm" the refuge area south of Hwy 380 we detoured for Jeff to remove a rattlesnake from a neighbor's garage. 

After placing the unusually docile reptile on the ground, Jeff proceeded to instruct us all in the differences between a Prairie Rattler and a Western Diamondback. 

The Prairie Rattler was relocated to an uninhabited area

but he wasn't in a hurry to explore his new home. 

We proceeded to link up with the ACE (American Conservation Experience) crew from Flagstaff Arizona that was conducting a month long invasive plant removal project by spraying Phragmites along the banks of the Rio Hondo. 

We took them a portable water tank for mixing the chemicals. 

And the Polaris with the sprayer as the time was running short on their project. 

Cisco had a cool hard hat 

as he unloaded the Polaris. 

After all that, we continued with the bird survey.

We flushed  a total of eight Barn Owls plus 2 Great Horned Owls. 

Finally back at the VC

A Cliff Swallow struck the window but recovered after allowing me some close-up photos. 

The view from the deck

overlooking the wetlands. 

On June 9, we said goodbye to the ACE crew

with pizza

during lunch conversation we discovered that the crew had been to Laguna Atascosa in February spraying invasive plants at Bahia Grande. 

I found some odd birds around the wetlands

This very pale female Northern Shoveler

and this strange looking Pintail.

Some critter had a feast on the deck one night and left a few piles of innards for me to clean up. 

The chore just about caused me to toss my cheerios.  

And that's about all of that.

Time Flies...

Hard to believe it has been over a month since my last post so I'm going to add some highlights of our adventures here at Bitter Lake and the surrounding area.

New Mexico skies are spectacular and May has produced some amazing cloudscapes.

I especially appreciated the rays produced by light diffusion. 

My daughter used to say the angels were singing when these rays appeared. 

We avoid Main Street in Roswell at every possible opportunity, traffic light on every corner, reconstruction of Berrendo Bridge, and bumper to bumper traffic. One of our "shortcuts" is along Berrendo Road. I was fascinated by this group of stone structures. 

Constructed by contemporary artist Donald Anderson, of the museum of the same name, it is no longer accessible by the public. 

On of our exploratory drives took us by the historical Jinglebob Ranch on the old Dexter Highway. 

Founded by John Chisum back in the 1860's, it is still a major endeavor with long horns, pecan orchards, and alfalfa fields. 

One of the perks of volunteering at Bitter Lake is the use of  a GOV - government owned vehicle - for transport to and from the RV pads to the VC and for trash pickup on the wildlife loop. 

Our van is a 1999 Ford with less than 30,000 miles on the odometer. 

We've had a good laugh over the manual locks and crank down windows. 

Most importantly, the AC is very good. 

I decided I had enough of the long hair phase, so I visited Pro Cuts. 

She made a braid for me to keep. 

and proceeded to clip and clip and clip until I ended up with a pixie cut. 

The braid was donated to Locks of Love. 

On Saturday, May 23, wwe visited Mescalero Sands 35 miles east of Roswell. 

Four Wheeler trails crisscross the stable dunes 

while the active dunes have new paths every time the wind blows.

Many small critters make their homes here and early morning tracks

tell a story 

these are tiny mouse prints barely the size of ,y little finger tip

I would love to spend the night watching for night critters

Not all our adventures take us away from the refuge. 

The refuge provides one of the largest nesting habitats for Snowy Plover in New Mexico. 

The mirror surface of Bitter Lake makes for double the fun of plover watching. 

Scaled Quail abound, many times watching diligently from atop the fence posts. 

Burrowing Owls inhabit the prairie dog town and also utilize the fence posts.

Another amazing cloud formation

and rain replenishing the aquafer

The first hatching of Barn Swallows almost ready to fledge. 

One crazy Cowbird can't seem to realize his reflection isn't real

He tires me out just watching him interact with himself all day. He's been at this for about 5 weeks now. 

Mother Killdeer did her best to lure me away from the nest site. 

But I found her eggs anyway. 

Owls take advantage to the deck beams to nightly perches and leave their regurgitated owl pellets and white wash behind as evidence. 

And that is a recap of the rest of the month of May. Only four more weeks before time to travel on.