The San Luis
Hills south of Alamosa were our destination today. We drove south on Hwy. 285
to Antonito, then turned east at CR 8. We were treated to a verdant stretch of
trees and flooded fields for about five miles. The mosquitoes were plentiful
and we decided it would be a good idea to roll up the car windows. The habitat
transitioned quickly to the arid, sage-covered San Luis Hills. We turned north
on a BLM 4WD track about 1 ½ miles to John James Canyon. From there we hiked
into the beautiful and isolated canyon. We were tantalized by beautiful bird
songs from both sides of the canyon but actual bird sightings were hard to come
by. Our first positive identification was a black-throated sparrow perched on a
pinon tree. We also saw spotted towhees, common ravens and a Swainson’s hawk.
We heard but didn’t see pinyon jays and western scrub jays. We stopped for a
rest under a pinon tree and noticed a tiny rock wren on a nearby branch.
Further up the canyon we saw a Cooper’s hawk searching for its next meal.
As we neared
the truck after our five-mile hike we saw about 30 head of cattle milling near
the gate through which we had to pass. As the cows moved away perpendicular to
our approach they revealed a couple of bulls – just what we were hoping NOT to
see - at the back of the pack. Thankfully the bulls moved on with the cows but
stopped a couple of times to eye us suspiciously.
We ate our
peanut butter sandwiches while sitting on the truck tailgate, then continued
east on CR 8 to the lovely Lobatos Bridge, which spans the Rio Grande as it
transitions from a flat, broad flow to the steep canyons of the southern San
Luis Valley and northern New Mexico. A couple of species of swallows, western meadowlarks
and red-winged blackbirds are at home along this stretch of the Rio Grande.
