Otter tracks and scat.

Otter tracks in mud and a latrine site on a sand bank on the Rio Grande, Taos County, NM.

More Gold

Oct. 23 - More gold! The aspen photo is from last week before the hard freezes and winds knocked most of the aspens bare. Now its the time of the cottonwoods, the rivers lined with gold. The road to Taos along the Rio Grande is spectacular. Ducks(Green-winged teal and Mallards) are moving and Great blue herons are in evidence. While searching for otter sign Jim Stuart and I were treated to the long song of a winsome ouzel perched on a rock in the river just a few feet away. Neither of us had ever heard this song, or if we had, we attributed it to another bird. It was amazing to hear. Very long and complex. 

Otter Reintroduction

Oct. 14 - We've got otters!!

Five river otters from Washington state were transported to Taos, NM, and released into the Rio Pueblo de Taos. Two males and three females cautiously left their holding pens and started to explore their new home soon after the doors of the pens were opened. They all looked happy and healthy, and our team gave a collective sigh of relief. This was the culmination of a 9 year effort to return otters to the state. After a short time in the immediate area all the otters disappeared up and down the stream. 

Aspen Vista Knoll 10/8/08

FIRST PLEIN-AIR OIL PAINTINGS IN MANY YEARS!

October 8 - First I tried watercolor(in an effort to be more practical and eco-friendly) but didn't have the right stuff. So I exhumed my old oils and found a couple leftover canvases. I hauled it all up to the mountains where the aspens are all glowing, and the first snowfall threatens to end it all post-haste. Yesterday I managed to make 2 smallish paintings. Today I did one larger one. I'm no better than I was when I stopped painting back in 2002, but then I'm no worse. And.... its fun, and a great place to be.

Time of the aspen

October 3, 2008-

It has been 5 years since I have seen the aspens turn in NM, and this last week I was overwhelmed by their beauty once again. At the annual San Geronimo day footrace at Taos Pueblo I got my first taste of the season. The yellow, gold and orange trees were bundled into a huge ramada/shrine at the west end of the race track, and the guardians of the track use golden branches to gently wave the racers past. Then up around Lake Fork Creek in the Latir's I hiked among the flaming trees and took in deep breaths of their distinctive acrid, fallen-leaf smell. At the place I went to cross the stream I was surprised to find a late-season dipper(water ouzel) in residence. I envy his days spent along the rushing stream. I hunted for blue grouse up along the Cabresto but found only a scattering of feathers, and a red-tailed hawk crying out at my intrusion. Back on the road I discovered an area I had never been, Midnight Meadows and the road across the mountains to Red River. Sawmill Mountain and Greenie Peak.