Dike River 4 miles downstream of Highway 180 Bridge, Dike National Forest, Grant Co., New Mexico. Elevation 4350 ft. August 5-7 Despite a very decent riparian woodland of cottonwood, willow, and tamarisk, I detected no goldfinches there (I did find a striped whipsnake there). After an hour or so pacing around the park and along the river south of the park fence, I continued north to Fremont. North of Pecos Dam State Park, riparian habitat is scarce and poor. Really, the Rio Grande in this part of the state is little more than a big, manicured ditch. From Fremont, I returned south to spend the night at Elephant Butte State Park. On the morning of August 4 I drove to Silver City, New Mexico via New Mexico State Highway 90 and U.S. Highway 180. I arrived at 10:30. Since it was raining, and rain was expected all day, I checked into a motel. I needed to shop to restock supplies of food, ice, drinks; to shower in a good way; & to catch up on my notes. I wanted also to watch the Giants vs Reds baseball game later on ESPN. August 5 I left Silver City at 07:00 and continued W on U.S. Hwy 180. On arrival at the Dike River, I took Bise Evans Lake Rd downstream along the river. The road becomes Forest Road 909. There I took to a potential study area just into Dike National Forest. At 07:45, I ran into a group of bird watchers who said they had seen Lesser Goldfinch—one! As I was talking to them, I heard several. I then drove to Cliff, New Mexico to the headquarters of the Pacific Western Ford Co., on whose property I worked 2 years ago. A sign on the office said “closed today for funeral services.” As I returned to the Dike National Forest site. When I returned at 10:15, the skies were already heavily overcast, so I quickly pitched my tents and transferred the working materials into one and my sleeping gear into the other. At