Bosque del Apache

January 2, 2013

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Sights at the Bosque

Jim and I are still in New Mexico, back in the Bernalillo KOA Campground after 9 days in the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge near Socorro. The time we spent down there, at the Bosque Birdwatchers RV Park (real name, I swear!), was really enjoyable. We needed a change of scenery after spending so much time in and around Albuquerque. After a particularly unpleasant dental appointment for me, we decided to spend our Christmas shooting birds. Photography, not hunting!

Got down there on the 20th of December and immediately drove into the refuge to check out the bird populations. This sanctuary is in the migratory path of a lot of species heading south for the winter, right along the Rio Grande River. We had such a warm Fall so the birds got a late start. The sunset on that day was beautiful so we stayed to take pictures. That afternoon, we didn't see very many birds. We drove around the refuge and found a large Snow Geese population settled into one of the larger ponds, and a small number of Sandhill Cranes.

The next morning, we woke up at 4:00 a.m. and got down to the refuge well before sunrise to get a spot on the shore of the pond. The temperature was around 20 degrees and we stood out in the cold for 2 hours, shooting the geese and cranes. That morning was pretty unspectacular....the birds never did a "fly out" together....where all the birds take flight at once. The noise is overwhelming when they do that. This morning, they were pretty sedate.

Morning cranes

Geese Aloft

We spent several more sunsets and sunrises at the ponds around the refuge, enjoying the bird sightings and taking photos. All told, we saw Snow Geese, Sandhill Cranes, Coots, Ducks, Canada Geese, a Bald Eagle and Jim was fortunate to get a photo of a Great Blue Heron. The bird populations fluctuated all week. Toward the end of our stay, we were treated to a huge gathering of Sandhill Cranes, at sunset, just outside the boundary of the refuge. We were able to shoot photos to our hearts' content.

Places to go.....

Lone Crane

One morning I shot a video of the morning "fly out" and I believe I captured the essence of the experience. Hope you enjoy! That morning, the temperature was 12 degrees with a slight wind. Brrrrrr. Not fun standing out in the cold. I left Jim at the edge of the pond finally and went to sit in the (warm) truck.  Make sure you have your sound on!

Christmas day we stayed in the trailer and watched movies and TV series on DVD. It was so cold and windy there was no sense going outside. I made a turkey dinner, complete with all the fixings. It was a quiet day. We came back to Albuquerque in time for another doctor appointment on the 31st. Yikes! Seems like that is all we do!

The holidays are now over for another year. We will be in the Albuquerque area for another month or so, finishing up with the dental and medical appointments. Then, off to new adventures!

Click on the photos to enlarge.

If you would like to view all of my photos from this trip, click on this link: 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lizbeth_54/sets/72157632300780259/

For Jim's photos, click on this link:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nicheplayer/sets/72157632304315650/