A Bitter Lake NWR and Roswell retrospective is long past due. It's not that we didn't enjoy ourselves at Bitter Lake, it's just me. In fact our stint at Bitter Lake NWR was one of the easier and more enjoyable gigs that we have had. The work was light. We had 3 days at the visitor center with an average daily visitor count of less than 15. Our biggest day was the day after Thanksgiving. The count was 55 and set a record high that we did not see repeated looking through the archives except when a special event was offered. Our volunteer coordinator tried to come up with projects to occupy our time, and often the chores were a welcomed distraction from sitting behind the desk at the VC. And, we have not experienced a more friendly staff and personable volunteer coordinator as what we found at Bitter Lake.

The only downside that comes to mind was our inability to make friends with and relate to the other volunteer couple. There was nothing negative about them; it was just we ended up leading parallel but separate existences. Having relationships with other volunteers is really icing on the cake for this life. The other volunteers we have met so far have enriched our lives immensely. The Bitter Lake volunteers were kind of meh.

We did have cranes, though. Weekly counts were made of the population, and the highest weekly count was in excess of 15,000. From November on, weekly counts were in excess of 10,000. Food is not raised on the refuge, and so every morning the cranes fly off the refuge to feed and then return to spend the night. At night cranes will stand in shallow water as they rest. The water helps them to detect predators sneaking up on them; it's a safety behavior for them. Their return every evening about sundown was spectacular. Thousands would fly over in groups of 20 to over a hundred squawking their way to their nightly roosting spots. They often directly came over the area where we were living, and since we were outside walking the dogs, we experienced the cranes up close. The sounds they make are indelibly etched into my deafness. Their sounds were loud enough that their voices filled even my silent void. It filled me with some of the same feelings I use to get when I would hear loons in the evening calling across some unnamed lake in northern Minnesota. The sounds of freedom and wildness. It was a good thing to experience.

The refuge also supported a variety of water fowl including coots, shovelers, green wing teal, mallards, pintails, etc. There was a fair size light goose population also overwintering on the refuge. Numbers were generally in the thousands, but not as large as the crane population or the snow and Ross goose populations at Bosque del Apache NWR the year before when we volunteered there. The light geese flocks were still spectacular. They generally hung out together and for whatever reason known only to them, they would get up and fly around and land back in about the same spot. The take offs were more spectacular than the crane fly offs since the cranes tend to leave in smaller groups.

The refuge allowed hunting. It is one of the purposes of the NWR and the USF&W Service. So, we had to be a part of it. Hunting was allowed on part of the main refuge Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays from sunrise to 1:00 p.m. All hunters had to fill out a survey sheet indicating what they bagged or shot without bagging. Cranes were included. Part of our job was to put up and take down signs and open and close one gate when the hunting period was over. So, we were very aware of what was going on, especially when we collected the survey forms and noted the kill for the day. Hunting is something that we both understand intellectually, but in our hearts we struggle with it, especially on a refuge.

The site offered to the volunteers consisted of a cement pad, full hookups, and access to propane. Within a short walking distance we had access to a washer and dryer. There were two bathrooms with showers, a recreation room for whatever, and a refrigerator for our use. There were several residences close by housing the biologist and one of the fire guys; so, we did not feel like we were all alone. The staff was very friendly and helpful, and when leaving we even got hugs from some of the non-professional staff. The refuge is located only 7 miles for Roswell which has all the amenities one could hope for. There was free WiFi for our use when we were at the VC which was readily taken advantage of since we sat more than we interacted with visitors. Anyway, not a bad place to be.

Roswell was a pleasant surprise for us. It is probably the largest city in SE New Mexico; so, it had a lot of things going on to keep us busy on the 4 days we were not working. One week there was a Jazz Festival with free concerts every day culminating with a Sunday morning jazz worship service at the Methodist Church. And there were UFOs and aliens all over town. We went to the local museum and got up to speed on why the focus on UFOs and aliens. Of course many of the local businesses capitalized on the theme with alien figures outside their business establishments. One of the McDonald's was designed as a space ship and was quite fun to see. And , of course, as we gazed up into the darkening sky watching cranes return against the multiple hues of a New Mexico sunset, there were times when...ah..better not...I'm not prepared to say anymore...just come for the cranes and stay for the UFOs.