Bernardo is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

Socorro County Socorro County is a county in the U.S. state of New Mexico. As of the 2010 census, the population was 17,866. The county seat is Socorro. The county was formed in 1852 as one of the original nine counties of New Mexico Territory. Socorro wa ...

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ke ...

, United States, at the northern junction of

US 60 U.S. Route 60 is a major east–west United States highway, traveling from southwestern Arizona to the Atlantic Ocean coast in Virginia. The highway's eastern terminus is in Virginia Beach, Virginia, where it is known as Pacific Avenue, in the ...

and Interstate 25. Bernardo was named, ''circa'' 1902, after a friend of John Becker, a leading merchant in nearby Belen. The main point of interest is the nearby Bernardo Wildlife Management Area, visited by large flocks of

sandhill crane The sandhill crane (''Antigone canadensis'') is a species of large crane of North America and extreme northeastern Siberia. The common name of this bird refers to habitat like that at the Platte River, on the edge of Nebraska's Sandhills on ...

s and other birds.

Location

Bernardo is situated in the

Albuquerque Basin The Albuquerque Basin (or Middle Rio Grande Basin) is a structural basin and ecoregion within the Rio Grande rift in central New Mexico. It contains the city of Albuquerque. Geologically, the Albuquerque Basin is a half-graben that slopes down ...

on the west bank of the Rio Grande, just north and upstream from that river's confluence with the

Rio Puerco The Rio Puerco is a tributary of the Rio Grande in the U.S. state of New Mexico. From its source on the west side of the Nacimiento Mountains, it flows about ,Calculated in Google Earth generally south to join the Rio Grande about south of B ...

. There is an RV park and Horse Motel on the west side of I-25, across from the Waterfowl Management Area, on the old Route 66. The landscape in the area consists of cultivated fields, grassland, marshland and ephemeral river. Ladron Peak is just to the west and Bernardo State Game Refuge is just east of the settlement. Collectors of rocks and minerals may find petrified and opalized wood on east side of the Rio Grande near the route 60 bridge. Seven miles east of the Bernardo interchange is Micah Village, an intentional community.

Waterways

The

United States Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, ...

operates a gauging station on the Rio Puerco near Bernardo. It routinely measures sediment concentrations of more than 600,000ppm, and over fifty years has measured an average of 113,000ppm, making Rio Puerco the fourth most sediment-laden river on Earth. During drought periods, the Rio Puerco may dry up almost completely. A conveyance channel of the Rio Grande runs past Bernardo. In March 2007 the U.S. Senate set aside ten million dollars for flood damage repairs to levees in the region, including the levee between Abeytas and Bernardo.

Birdlife

The New Mexico Department of Water Game and Fish manages the Bernardo Wildlife Management Area, a unit of the

Ladd S. Gordon Waterfowl Complex The Ladd S. Gordon Waterfowl Complex is a group of four conservation area in New Mexico devoted to assisting birdlife in the region. Management areas The Ladd S. Gordon Waterfowl Complex contains four wildlife management areas in Valencia and Soc ...

. It covers that have been set aside to provide a winter habitat for waterfowl such as ducks and geese and for sandhill cranes. A flock containing as many as 5,000 cranes may congregate at one time in the area. There are three observation decks along a dirt road near the Rio Grande. A separate loop goes through some of the huge, undeveloped area of grasslands along a deep channel of the Rio Puerco. Fields of parched corn and of alfalfa are planted to provide

bird food Bird food or bird seed is food (often varieties of seeds, nuts, and/or dried fruits) intended for consumption by wild and domestic birds. While most bird food is fed to commercial fowl (such as chicken or turkey), bird food is also used to fe ...

. The birds are wary of predators such as coyotes who may lurk in the standing corn, but sections are pulled down for them so they can eat in safety. In the winter some of the fields may be flooded, or there may be ponds where the cranes roost for safety. Mule deer sometimes share the fields with the birds.

References

Citations Sources * * * * * * * * * {{authority control Unincorporated communities in Socorro County, New Mexico Unincorporated communities in New Mexico