From the western edge of the National Park we head east to Rio Grande Village on the eastern edge. If you drive out of the park you can drive either west or north, but not east. Rio Grande Village is on a deadend road but there is access to Mexico if you check in at one point. It’s possible to get a boat ride across to Mexico but we elected not to do that excursion.
We found a common black hawk nesting site. With the birds not yet on their nest we do not see any common black hawks but we hear them. Next, we do a “Nature Trail” walk as Marsha continues to enjoy her busman’s holiday. The trail follows a peninsular sticking out due south where the Rio Grande does loop here. It has a wetlands area plus a climb to a viewpoint overlooking the Rio Grande. On the boardwalk over the wetlands we first view an American Coot. A Nutria revels itself and we get great views of this way overgrown muskrat like rodent. They are roughly the size of a good sized beaver yet with a large muskrat like tail.
After finishing this walk we pile into the truck and head for the Dagger Flats Auto Tour. Daggers are the flowering bloom of the Faxon Yucca Plant. Calling this an Auto Tour is a bit funny since it’s a rough unpaved road that goes in several miles to an area of many Yuccas. The road is rough and very narrow with few places to pull off to allow vehicles to pass.
Loggerhead shrikes and one golden eagle were some of our views along this route. Once again we stubble across another interesting location that few visitors of the park get to see. In the three hours we spend on the auto tour we encounter maybe ten vehicles.
Seeing North America 