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Author Archives: Teri J Pieper

Bernardo Wildlife Area

The Bernardo Wildlife Area was just minutes from our campsite. I had read a small article about it in the National Audubon magazine so I knew it could be a good spot to see cranes and I had driven by it before setting up the camper earlier in the day. We went there for sunset and were not disappointed. And the next day it was even better at sunset. With colder weather and more wind, I never did get back to Bosque.

Bernardo had a very nice, short auto route and several really nice blinds for watching wildlife. The best part (besides the birds) was that no one was there! And the dogs could get out of the car. They are pretty good bird watchers. Sometimes all of us stayed in the car and used it as a blind to watch and make photos. They watched and listened while I made photos.

This is a rest area featuring bird blinds with picnic tables overlooking the Seviletta National Wildlife Refuge.
The entry to a bird blind
Sky is watching birds
Not like that Sky
Two rooster pheasants near another blind
I love the way cranes come in for a landing
I wonder if these coyotes thought they were going to get a crane for dinner?
Cranes were constantly coming and going both evenings.

Bosque del Apache

We continued to travel south, staying at another RV park without goatheads this time, north of Socorro. I wanted to see wintering Sandhill Cranes and other birds at Bosque del Apache, a National Wildlife Refuge in the Rio Grande valley. After setting up camp, we headed for the refuge and spent the afternoon in the visitors’ center and driving one of the auto tours. The dogs spent the whole time in the car so as not to disturb the wildlife. The weather was cold and windy, not the best for bird watching and photography but I made the best of it.

Sandhill Cranes
female Northern Harrier
Harriers hunt by hovering and pouncing on small mammals
Snow Geese

Albuquerque

The trip did not end in SE Utah. The girls and I continued south to Albuquerque where we camped just outside of the city in an RV park. Not my favorite accommodations, for sure. And Sky was very upset. It seems that the place is covered with goatheads. In case you are not familiar with them, let me explain. Goathead is a common name of an annual weed sometimes called puncturevine among other things. Its seeds are small and have sharp thorns that can puncture a bicycle tire. Imagine stepping on them with bare feet. The dogs would come to a complete halt, unable to move until I came over and removed the goatheads from their pads. Poor Sky could hardly relieve herself while we were there. Luna took to going as soon as she got out of the camper. It was a challenge for the dogs for sure. I did find a couple of trails at the nearby Petroglyph National Monument where they could walk more easily on leashes.

So why did we stay three nights in this RV park? My friends, Jennifer and Judy, of Notable Exceptions (you can listen to and buy their music here) were up for an award at the International Western Music Awards show and they were debuting the Corral Chorale, a mighty musical event and they asked me to photograph it for them. It was a fun weekend of music. Everyone was decked out in their finest western finery and I had to borrow a shirt. I did have my own boots.

Here are just a few photos from the weekend.

Jennifer’s dad was there!
Jennifer and Judy
Lauralee was there from Winthrop too
Tom Swearingen, western poet introduced the chorale
Carolyn and Tom were there from Winthrop
The awards show singers
Lots of talented young musicians

Hiking in SE Utah

I can’t say enough about the wonderful desert hiking we did while we were in the Bear’s Ears region of SE Utah. And we just began to explore the area.

ponderosa pine
oak leaves
Douglas fir cone
Douglas fir tree – three feet in diameter!
My favorite rock art

Night Skies

The girls and I camped for five nights at Natural Bridges National Monument. It has a tiny campground, is off the beaten path and is truly a dark skies place. There was no lighting visible from the campground or the tour loop around the natural bridges except for an occasional distant car driving on highway 95. There were lots of aircraft flying overhead and sometimes I had to wait for the jets to get out of my planned image. Once, two planes flew parallel to each other, going the same speed and direction. I wonder what that was all about. Anyway, I am still learning how to do this and how to process the image files so these are works in progress.