Opinion Issue 16

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PICTORIAL AND POETIC TOUR OF BITTERLAKE

 

For several months, the geese and ducks have been flying overhead, their airborne chatter heralding autumn and winter, as they migrate to greener pastures and warmer climes. Herds of white-tail deer, mule deer and antelope are seen along the roads and highways, sometimes even within the city limits.

Following photography is by Joann Hazel, and the poetry is by Joyce Abrahamson, both of Roswell.

Deer near Bitterlake, south of Roswell, photo taken in December
by Joann Hazel (above and below)

Buck stands guard in the pre-dawn.

Ducks near Bitterlake, south of Roswell, photo taken in November
by Joann Hazel

THE DUCKS

by Joyce Abrahamson

The calling of the mallards
as they circle in the sky
in perfect V formation
makes you know that winter’s nigh.

Early every morning,
when the dark of night is gone,
they leave their sleeping haven
and fly off with the dawn.

Their wings reach out like fingertips
when through the sky they soar,
waving very gracefully
and calling even more.

Searching, always searching
for food to fill their need,
looking for the open fields
hoping to find seed.

The hungry ducks come swooping down,
landing in the field,
looking for the scraps of grain
left by the farmer’s yield.

Then off they go into the sky,
calling as they rise,
searching for another field
that far below them lies.

Ducks at sunrise, photo taken in November by Joann Hazel

Here are some pictures. I took some in November, and then in December, Bob and I took the tour that they have the first Saturday of each month, September to May. You get to see the ‘sink holes’ filled with water and some endangered species. Bitterlake is there and you never know what else you might see. This last time in December is when a friend of mine and I saw the deer! I took pictures of the cranes and snow geese or white pelicans ( I’m really not sure which; from as far away as they were, and in the water, it was hard to tell). But the cranes were out there for sure; they are Sandhills. Whooping Cranes don’t migrate to NM.

Joann Hazel

Ducks and Cranes at Bitterlake

One of the sinkholes at Bitterlake