Deming, NM (12/27 thru12/30/2017)

There are a couple photos taken before leaving the Rio grande Valley that I want to share.  I was at a  wildlife refuge to photograph birds.  After hiking some distance, I sat down to watch a feeder, but this cute fellow showed up and scared the birds away.

I left and went to a nearby water feature, thinking the birds might come there.  Before long, however, my furry little friend joined me once again, apparently to wash down the bird feed he had just eaten.

Leaving Harlingen, I stopped in Kerrville, TX for two days, including Christmas.  The nice folks there treated me like family, even inviting me to their Christmas dinner.  It was a great time being with this wonderful group.

Next I drove to Fort Stockton, a small town in the middle of West Texas.  I remarked to the fellow at the desk I had been there several times, each time experiencing a sand storm.  He allowed that happens a lot in summer, but not this time of year.  He was right, since that night we had a sleet storm move in, covering everything with a sheet of ice and leading to my late departure to avoid icy highways.  As a bonus, there was a heavy fog that persisted until noon.  Thanks to changing the time zone, I had an extra hour to make it to Deming, NM.

Deming is a town of roughly 15,000 residents who enjoy hot, dry summers and fairly mild winters.  The town was settled in 1881, when two major railroads joined tracks here, becoming the second trans-continental railroad.  It is a haven for rock collectors, known as "Rockhounds", and has a nearby state park appropriately named "Rockhound State Park".  Other state parks in the area are Spring Canyon, in the Florida (pronounced Flo-REE-da) Mountains, and City of Rocks State Park, which I visited some twenty years ago.  About thirty-five miles south of town, on the border with Mexico, is the tiny village of Columbus.  In 1916, Mexican revolutionary General Pancho Villa raided Columbus, the only land invasion of the U.S. in history.  Escaping back into Mexico, Villa was pursued by Army General "Black Jack" Pershing.  Despite spending nine months in Mexico, Pershing's forces were unable to capture Villa and were recalled when the U.S. entered WW I.

Florida Mountains from my campground.

First night sunset

Driving one of the back roads, I spotted one of my favorite birds, the American kestrel, on a power line.  They always look sweet and innocent, but are very efficient at killing their prey, mostly large insects and small rodents.  They are also a challenge to photograph, being wary of humans.  This one soon left the wire and swooped into some bushes.  Not expecting good results, I nevertheless fired off a few shots, continuing to shoot when he returned to his perch with his prize in his beak.  Not fine quality, but I was happy to get these photos.

I read that the local waste water treatment plant attracts lots of birds, so I paid a visit one morning.  There were thousands of birds, mostly yellow-headed blackbirds, and plenty of ducks.  Unfortunately, they flew/swam to the other pools for safety.  Only a few stayed even close enough for long shots.

Northern shoveler

On my way to Spring Canyon, I met three men wearing hunting camo and sporting large spotting scopes.  They were scanning the mountains for Persian ibex, an exotic species introduced here by the state in 1970.  Hunting is allowed to maintain a herd of sustainable size.  While I was there, they located three animals high on a ridge.  I left, not knowing if they were going to hike within rifle range of these animals.  Incidentally, the ibex are very difficult to shoot, with eyesight that can detect movement at half a mile and agility that allows them to move over mountain terrain quite rapidly.

Here are a few photos from Spring Canyon.

Coming back, I encountered a small herd of longhorn cattle grazing freely along the shoulder of the road.  This one began to stare at me quite seriously, so I left and went back to looking for birds.

In Columbus, I found little of value, including Pancho Villa State Park.  The village is dilapidated and dirty, though surprisingly a few nice homes were located there.  I've no idea why, unless it involves smuggling.😉  There was one interesting structure I found, signed as a shrine to "The Perfect Man".

Obviously, the shrine had never been completed, but I was intriqued to know more about this "perfect man".  A little Google research told me Meher Baba was an Indian spiritualist who lived from 1894 until 1969.  Claiming to be the "Avatar" (God in human form), he developed a huge cult following.  He visited the U.S. and had a following here, but why would Columbus, NM be chosen as the site of a shrine to him, and why was it never finished?

Over the next few days, I plan to visit City of Rocks State Park and also look for petroglyphs said to be in nearby canyons.