Laura: IN THE BOSQUE ALONG THE RIO GRANDE,  THROUGHOUT THE SPRING AND THE SUMMER, WE SEEK OUT THE  COTTONWOODS FOR SHADE, RELY ON THE RIVER FOR SUSTENANCE  TO WATER OUR HEELS OR TO COOL OUR BODIES FROM THE  NOONDAY SUN.

IN THE AUTUMN, WE CELEBRATE THE BRILLIANCE OF THE  COTTONWOODS WHEN THEIR CANOPIES FIRE THE RIVERBANKS  WITH YELLOW.

BUT BY LATE OCTOBER,  ESPECIALLY AS NIGHT STARTS FALLING EARLIER, IT'S EASY  TO TAKE THE BOSQUE FOR GRANTED, OR TO STOP WALKING  BENEATH ITS CANOPY ALL TOGETHER.

BUT I THINK IT'S THE BEST TIME OF YEAR TO BE HERE.

AS THE TREES DROP THEIR LEAVES, IT'S EASIER TO SPOT  PORCUPINES NAPPING IN COTTONWOODS AND ELM TREES.

OR GNAWING ON BARK, OR FINDING THE SEEDS OF   RUSSIAN OLIVES.

IN THE SANDS ALONG THE BANK,  YOU CAN SEE WHERE BEAVERS HAVE LUGGED BRANCHES,  DROPPED INTO THE CURRENT OF THE RIVER, OR EXCAVATED  HOLES TO REACH THE TASTY ROOTS OF TAMARISK SEEDLINGS.

BEAVERS THEMSELVES ARE HARD TO SPOT, BUT THERE ARE SIGNS  OF THEIR INDUSTRIOUSNESS EVERYWHERE.

COYOTES CALL OUT EARLIER IN THE EVENING, CELEBRATING  THEIR HUNTS OR MAYBE JUST SINGING TO THE NIGHT.

MASSIVE MOBS OF CROWS THAT WINTER IN THE MIDDLE RIO  GRANDE VALLEY, THEIR NUMBERS TOO BIG TO EVEN CALL  MURDERS, ROOST AT NIGHT IN THE BOSQUE.

THEY SPEND THEIR DAYS SPREAD OUT ACROSS THE CITY FEEDING,  AND THEN RETURN TO THE BOSQUE AT NIGHT, HUNDREDS OF  THEM SETTLING INTO THE TREES.

WALK THROUGH THEIR RANKS AND THEY'LL YELL AT YOU.

DROP NUTS AND SMALL BRANCHES ON YOUR HEAD, TOO.

AND, OF COURSE, LATE FALL IS WHEN THE SANDHILL CRANES  RETURN TO THE VALLEY FOR WINTER.

TODAY WE APPRECIATE THEIR PRIMORDIAL CALLS,   AND THE CLUNKY GRACE OF THEIR  LANDINGS IN THE RIVER WHERE THEY SHELTER FOR THE NIGHT  AWAY FROM PREDATORS.

THEY'VE MIGRATED HERE FOR  THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS OF GENERATIONS,  THEIR HABITS AS CLEAR AS THE LAYERS OF LIMESTONE IN THE  SANDIA MOUNTAINS, THEIR PATTERNS TIED INEXTRICABLY  TO THE SWAY OF SEASONS.

TODAY WATCHING THE CRANES  ALONG THE RIVER, IT'S SOMETHING TO IMAGINE THE  BLESSING THEY MUST HAVE BEEN TO THE PEOPLE WHO LIVED  ALONGSIDE THE RIO GRANDE FOR CENTURIES, TO THINK OF THEIR  MASS ARRIVAL ALONG WITH SNOW GEESE PRECISELY AS THE  WEATHER TURNS COLD AND HARVEST SEASON PASSED.

LIKE NEW MEXICANS, THE BOSQUE, THE RIO GRANDE,   THEY ARE RESILIENT.

THIS RIVER HAS FLOWED FOR MILLENNIA.

THESE COTTONWOODS HAVE STOOD SINCE THE 1940S.

THE FOREST, THE WILDLIFE, HAVE ALL SURVIVED THE PRESS  OF MORE AND MORE PEOPLE, MORE AND MORE DEMAND.

BUT AS THE REGION WARMS, AS THE REGION DRIES, AND  EVERYONE AND EVERYTHING DEMANDS MORE WATER, WE ALSO  NEED TO DEMAND MORE FOR THE RIVER, MORE FOR THE BOSQUE,  AND REMEMBER THIS, TOO, IS OUR HOME.

FOR NEW MEXICO InFOCUS AND OUR LAND, I'M LAURA PASKUS.