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
