We camped near Santa Fe in a great little campground near the bottom of the ski basin road. Black Canyon CG has paved sites with great separation, clean outhouses, no hook-ups. It’s barely an hour from Albuquerque and near 8500 feet. There is a good trail out out of the campground and another to Hyde Park CG. There were lots of birds, lots of hummingbirds, even one magnificent hummingbird (twice the size of more common hummingbirds). See 20 photos.
The Sky This Week, 2013 May 21 – June 4 — Naval Oceanography Portal
Full Moon occurs on the 25th at 12:25 am Eastern Daylight Time [mjh: 10:25pm 5/24 Mountain Time — should be about as big both nights].
The Sky This Week, 2013 May 21 – June 4 — Naval Oceanography Portal
Welcome to hell, Mr West.
» Bigger, faster, earlier fires expected | ABQ Journal By Patrick Lohmann / Journal Staff Writer on Thu, May 2, 2013
» Bigger, faster, earlier fires expected | ABQ Journal
» New Mexico’s drought worst in the country | ABQ Journal by John Fleck
» New Mexico’s drought worst in the country | ABQ Journal
Stand against those who would destroy anything for their own profit.
Strips oil and gas corporations of the rights of “personsâ€
Mora County (4/29/2013) – On April 29th, at a special meeting called by the Mora County Board of Commissioners to vote on a “Community Bill of Rights,†Mora became the first County in the United States to permanently ban the extraction of oil and gas.
For years, Mora County has been threatened by “hydro-fracking,†along with other forms of oil and gas extraction. After enacting a temporary moratorium on oil and gas drilling, the County Commissioners adopted a local bill of rights that permanently bans the extraction of oil and gas within the County. In doing so, they follow the lead of over three dozen municipalities on the East Coast – including the City of Pittsburgh – who have adopted local bills of rights to ban “fracking†and other extraction.
Appropriate for May Day, the international distress call. I’m surprised ‘95-‘96 was even drier — I must be suppressing the memory. And small wonder my allergies are worse this year. peace, mjh
» Water year start 3rd driest for city | ABQ Journal by John Fleck
With less than an inch of rain since Oct. 1, this is the third driest start to a water year in Albuquerque since record-keeping began in 1900, according to a National Weather Service analysis.
Only 1903-04 and 1995-96 were drier, according to Deirdre Kann, science officer for the service’s Albuquerque office. Meteorologists and water managers usually start their “water year†calendar Oct. 1, a time period that captures the entire cool season’s rain and snow in a single year’s measure rather than arbitrarily splitting it in two on Jan. 1.
The Weather Service’s official gauge at Albuquerque’s airport has recorded 0.83 inch of precipitation for the water year.
The entire state of New Mexico faces serious drought conditions, but Albuquerque “is in worse shape than most locations,†according to Kann
» Water year start 3rd driest for city | ABQ Journal
» With drought comes dust | ABQ Journal by John Fleck
Due to the current drought and very dry soil conditions, there is more potential for blowing dust than usual for the entire state even in lower wind conditions.
The Environment Department realizes that although dust storms are common in New Mexico and are inherent to arid climates, inhaling dust can cause a number of serious health problems and can make some health problems worse. It can irritate the lungs and trigger allergic reactions, as well as asthma attacks. For people who already suffer from these conditions, dust can cause serious breathing problems. Dust can also cause coughing, wheezing and runny noses. Breathing large amounts of dust for prolonged periods can result in chronic breathing and lung problems.
The Sky This Week, 2013 April 23 – 30 — Naval Oceanography Portal
Full Moon occurs on the 25th at 3:57 pm Eastern Daylight Time. April’s Full Moon is popularly known as the Grass Moon, Fish Moon, Growing Moon, or Pink Moon among various cultures.
This month’s Full Moon is characterized by a very small partial lunar eclipse which will be visible throughout Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia. At its maximum just over one percent of the Moon’s disc will be covered by Earth’s umbral shadow. This is the final umbral eclipse in saros number 112, which began in the year 859 and will end in the year 2139. [mjh: That sentence blows my mind.]
The Sky This Week, 2013 April 23 – 30 — Naval Oceanography Portal
Gah. When processing the following, consider that 10 to 11 inches is our average — we’re getting nothing.
» New Mexico drought not getting any better | ABQ Journal
Albuquerque is 10 inches below average over the last 2-1/2 years, and the 36 and 48 month statewide averages are approaching the worst similar periods during the drought of the 1950s. “It’s not just a short term drought. This is a long term drought we’re in.†Chuck Jones, National Weather Service
» Bandelier’s popular alcove house, reached by a series of ladders, has been closed | ABQ Journal
Because visitors to the popular Alcove House at Bandelier National Monument now face potential dangers beyond the risk of falling off the ladders to the site, it has been closed.
And the closure may be in effect for “many months,†according to a news release from the monument.
That’s because careful work will have to be done to restore the structural stability of the ancestral pueblo site, which nestles in a cliff niche the equivalent of 14 stories above Frijoles Canyon.
Masonry repairs done in the 1930s have developed a network of cracks, according to the news release, and masonry has become dislodged in recent days.
On Wednesday, staff from Bandelier’s Vanishing Treasures division was assessing the site for future stabilization work and discovered that masonry has loosened at the Kiva structure, which was becoming undercut. Staff returned on Thursday to examine the site and recommended closure.
“Closing a site as popular as Alcove House is not something the National Park Service would do lightly. It is one of the signature sites of Bandelier National Monument,†Acting Superintendent Tom Betts said in the news release. “But we do not want to take any chances with visitors getting injured or falling, and we want the resource to be stabilized and protected …
» Bandelier’s popular alcove house, reached by a series of ladders, has been closed | ABQ Journal
You should read the entire blog entry, which strengthens my conviction that this pipeline — and the strip-mining that goes with it — must be stopped. Canada, how could you even consider this? peace, mjh
10,000 Birds | What does the Keystone XL Pipeline have to do with Birds?
All four major flyways in North America — the aerial migration routes traveled by billions of birds each year — converge in one spot in Canada’s boreal forest, the Peace-Athabasca Delta in northeastern Alberta. More than 1 million birds, including tundra swans, snow geese and countless ducks, stop to rest and gather strength in these undisturbed wetlands each autumn. For many waterfowl, this area is their only nesting ground2.
About three billion birds fly north to the Boreal Forest each spring to build nests and lay eggs. These birds arrive in the Boreal Forest after spending the winter in South and Central America, Mexico, the Caribbean, and the United States. From the Boreal Forest Fact Sheet:
- 325 bird species – that’s almost half of all the bird species in North America! – depend on the Boreal Forest.
- About 3 billion of North America’s landbirds, 26 million of its waterfowl, and 7 million of its shorebirds breed here.
- There are nearly 100 species of which 50% or more of the entire population breeds in the Boreal Forest.
- Up to 5 billion birds – adults and their new babies – migrate south from the Boreal Forest each fall.
Back in 2008, the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) wrote a report titled “Danger in the Nursery: Impact on Birds of Tar Sands Oil Development in Canada’s Boreal Forest†which covers various ways tar sand development affects bird populations including:
- Habitat loss
- Trailings ponds and oiled birds
- Fragmentation of habitat from drilling
- Water withdrawals
- Air and water toxins
- High emissions and climate change
10,000 Birds | What does the Keystone XL Pipeline have to do with Birds?
» Mt. Taylor forest road temporarily closed | ABQ Journal
By ABQnews Staff on Tue, Mar 26, 2013
POSTED: 9:38 am
The Cibola National Forest and Grasslands’ Mount Taylor Ranger District has closed parts of Forest Road 178 to motorized traffic from the junction of FR 178 and FR 180 to the junction of FR 178 and FR 480, forest officials said in a news release.
“We have closed this road to protect the public as we work on a forest restoration and thinning project,†District Ranger Matt Reidy said in the release. “Active and dangerous logging operations that include felling, skidding and loading log trucks will occur on the road.â€
The roughly 4 1/2-mile stretch is expected to be closed until June 30.
Alternative routes to access the Post Office Flats area include: FR 49 (Zuni Canyon Road) to FR 480; or FR 49 to FR 50 and then to FR 548 or FR 480, the release said.
» Smoking banned on state-owned land | ABQ Journal
SANTA FE (AP) — State Land Commissioner Ray Powell is prohibiting smoking, open fires and fireworks on state trust land because of the risk of wildfires.
Powell announced the restrictions on Monday. He said the potential for human-caused fires is high because of drought conditions as well as recent high winds.
The Land Office manages nine million acres of state-owned land ….
Get out. Look up. Howl.
Remember the moon will probably look full on rising 3/26 & 3/27. Don’t forget early morning near sunrise is another good time to view and photograph the moon. peace, mjh
The Sky This Week, 2013 March 19 – 26 — Naval Oceanography Portal
Full Moon occurs on the 27th at 5:27 am Eastern Daylight Time. In popular folklore this Full Moon goes by a variety of names since it occurs close to the time of the vernal equinox. Among the more common appellations are the Crow Moon, Sugar Moon, Sap Moon, Worm Moon, and Lenten Moon. In the Judeo-Christian faiths this is the Paschal Moon, which fixes the dates of two of the most important dates in religious calendars, Passover and Easter.
The Sky This Week, 2013 March 19 – 26 — Naval Oceanography Portal
Monarchs are on the move, but not yet en masse. We saw our first mourning cloak and cabbage white of the season today in Albuquerque. peace, mjh
Monarch Butterfly Migration Update | Journey North News
Population at Record Low
Mexican officials announced on Thursday that this winter’s population hit a record-low, with butterflies covering only 1.19 hectares. There were twice as many monarchs last year.
As is the first turkey vulture. peace, mjh
“One swallow does not make a summer, but one skein of geese, cleaving the murk of a March thaw, is the spring.†― Aldo Leopold
