For the Birds

According to the Corrales Comment, the corps of engineers are bulldozing the sand bars in the Rio Grande to improve the habitat for the silvery minnow. Likely. They are also going to start cutting down cottonwood trees that are with in 15 feet of the levee to reduce the fire hazard. That's as crazy as bulldozing sand bars to save the silvery minnow. Cottonwoods are not the fire hazard, it's all the overgrown underbrush in the bosque and along the river bank that provides the fuel for fire when it's dry in early summer. The cottonwoods don't burn as well without underbrush to act as tinder. The conservancy would do much better to allow people to go in and clear the underbrush and dead trees out of the bosque.

The drip system on the circle garden finally thawed out today. The temperature registered 70º F in the sun and 72º F on the deck, which means it was probably around 60º F. We sat out on the deck for lunch and watched dog fights between some crows and a rather large hawk. A large flock of finches buzzed us, while various other birds flitted around in the black bamboo, obviously enjoying the warm afternoon.  An intermittent cool breeze reminded us it is still winter, but a cool breeze was merely refreshing compared to the sub-zero winds we got last week.

More birds for today's photos. The cranes and geese where taken out on the river, while the other birds were in the branches of the wild plums that grow on the outside of the fence along the south side of the property. I actually snuck up within a few feet of the birds, but since they sit in among the branches, getting a clear photo of them is rather difficult.

Now that I know the conservancy must sacrifice the vegetation on the sandbars for the welfare of the silvery minnow, and cut down cottonwood trees to keep us safe from fire, I can rest assured that everything will be okay, because I know that they are the government and they are here to help!