A walk along the Rio Grande at the Alamosa National Wildlife Refuge was,
as always, good birdwatching. We saw a robin-size bird – black, gray and white.
We were certain it was a shrike but didn’t have enough of a look to determine
whether it was a loggerhead shrike or a northern shrike. We’ll keep an eye out
for that one. We followed a little brown
bird out into the willows and finally saw our friend the song sparrow, a bird
that has lured us into the willows on more than one occasion.
Near the far end of the trail we saw two bald eagles in a tree and one
soaring overhead. The head and tail of one of the eagles was brownish and we thought
this is probably the last year he will be with his ma and pa. On the way in and
out we saw Canada geese and mallards on the now ice-free mighty river.
We had a pleasant and funny encounter with a couple on the trail.
They asked if we had seen any blue
cranes. What a wonderful question. Have
you seen the blue crane? A question full of adventure and mystery - The
Blue Crane…The Maltese Falcon…The Golden Fleece.
We were confused at first by their question but it dawned on us that
they had probably heard about the Crane Festival but confused (and mentally
combined) sandhill cranes and great blue herons. In any case, we explained to
them that they would have to venture onto the Monte Vista refuge to see the
cranes. We let the nice couple from the
big city use our binoculars to see the eagles - all three then perched together
in the tree. It was a fun experience for
us and we hope our new acquaintances buy a pair of binoculars and return to the
Valley in search of the Blue Crane.
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