Northern aplomado falcon ruffles feathers at Mesilla Valley Bosque State Park

A rare winged visitor is causing a stir at the Mesilla Valley Bosque State Park. The endangered bird, a Northern Aplomado Falcon, was first sighted last week by a park employee and has been drawing attention ever since, said Mesilla Valley Audubon Society President David Griffin. "There are some guys coming down from Santa Fe to see it if it's still here; people are coming up from El Paso," he said. "There's a guy from Tucson. Even someone from California was supposedly flying in to look for it." The falcon is noteworthy because it lacks a leg band, meaning it likely didn't come from any of several breeding programs aimed at restoring the species. It would be the first such sighting locally since 1999, Griffin said. The falcon has been moving between the east and west sides of the Rio Grande, from the Mesilla Bridge, south to the park's visitors center...read more