The annual Dragonfly Festival returns with activities for the entire family The first sign that the popular Dragonfly Festival is just around the corner are the sightings of the beautiful shimmering dragonflies and damselflies zipping through the air. People, insects and animals living in the high desert can’t wait until the scorching summer is coming to an end, meaning that soon the familiar calls of cranes and geese will echo throughout the Pecos River valley. The Friends of Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge, who help organize the event, have been putting up their colorful flyers throughout town.
Every year, the flyers feature a young artist’s painting, chosen from Roswell Independent School District students who participated. This year’s winner is 4th grader Aubrianna Gonzales from Washington Avenue Elementary. The festival takes place from Sep.
6-8 at the refuge. Kicking off the events is a presentation in the auditorium on Friday at 6:30 p.m.
and stargazing with the Roswell Astronomy Club. It is highly recommended to reserve a spot for the free guided walking tours and early morning bird tour on Saturday by calling 575-244-6256. The tours are on a first-come, first-served basis.
Friends’ member Don Weld said that Boy Scouts will be on hand selling food as a fundraiser, and the Stellar Coffee truck will have coffee and pastries for sale. The friends have been involved in the upkeep and — unique to refuges in the U.S.
— getting financing from the government to put in the nature store. “I think it was around 2009 when we finally built the nature store,” Weld said. “And that was because of Joe Skeen (New Mexico Republican Representative for District 2 from 1981 to 2003) and the friends group getting together.
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We don't have a huge number of people. We do what we can to raise funds (for) the nature store. Also, to do these events, such as the Dragonfly Festival, the butterfly trail cleanup.
We helped with the bird blind out there, you know, volunteers and money to help restore that bird blind to what it should be and get the walkway. You had to build these ramps that would meet ADA requirements.” (A bird blind is a shelter where people observe birds and other animals without disturbing them.
) Weld said that the refuge gets support from volunteers and the friends. While some volunteers are also friends’ members, this isn’t always the case. Some of the volunteers are children.
“We like to plant each year fresh milkweed for the butterflies. Yeah, because the butterflies, the monarchs, they lay their eggs on the milkweed,” he said. There will be archery, fishing pool stations, a monarch butterfly release for kids (spots are limited, call for reservations), arts and crafts, a scavenger hunt, as well as live raptor and bat programs.
The refuge turns 87 this year. Originally, it was set up for migratory waterfowl in 1937. Today, it is known for having more than 100 species of dragonflies and damselflies.
The tours on Saturday begin with the Early Bird Tour at 6:30 a.m. and continue with dragonfly and wildlife tours.
The last tour, a wildlife tour, will be at 3 p.m. The Sunday tours are all dragonfly tours and begin at 9 a.
m., with the last tour beginning at noon. For more information, visit friendsofbitterlakenwr.
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