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Perhaps I should begin by telling you that we are not avid birdwatchers (birdbrains as someone in my family calls them). We don’t have a “life list” of all the birds we’ve seen (but perhaps we should). We are however, nature lovers and we enjoy watching nature at work. So it would have been foolish to pass by the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, 20 miles south of Socorro, without stopping in.

The Bosque’s 57,191 acres are managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service “as a refuge and breeding grounds for migratory birds and other wildlife.” The U.S. Government purchased the land for the refuge in 1936 and the CCC constructed the first canals and started the wetland restoration work that is still ongoing today. The refuge officially opened in 1939 but only a few migratory birds arrived that first winter. In 1941, only 17 Sandhill Cranes used the refuge. Recent bird counts have shown over 15,000 Cranes and over 50,000 Snow Geese!

The refuge is actively managed, canals channel water from the Rio Grande in the center of the refuge to all of the 13,000 acres of wetlands. An innovative deal with local farmers lets farmers cultivate acreage in the refuge if they plant half the field in corn and the other half with alfalfa. The alfalfa is for the farmers but the corn is left in the field for the over-wintering birds. In a way it is ironic that the farmers play such a big role, it was farmers and their canals and other drastic changes to the Rio Grande that destroyed the original wetlands in the 1800s!

The lush Rio Grande attracted people early on. The Piro, a Pueblo Indian tribe, lived in the area about 700 years ago. The Apaches moved into the area shortly before the arrival of the Spanish. The Spanish began settling in New Mexico in 1598 and they traveled El Camino Real, just east of the river, on their way from Mexico City to Santa Fe. The Spanish noted an Apache encampment along the river (the fierce Apaches were best avoided) and that’s how the area earned it’s name. Bosque del Apache is Spanish for “woods of the Apache”.

Personally, I think we lucked out on the timing of our visit. We arrived the week before the annual Festival of the Cranes. While we missed some of the special events we also missed the crowds. After all, we wanted to see the birds and animals, not people! First stop, the Visitor Center. Lance was able to measure his “wingspan” against that of a Whooping Crane, the Whooper had him by at least a foot!

We weren’t lucky enough to see a Whooping Crane, they rarely, if ever, come through the Bosque. But we were amazed by the birds we did see. The Bosque boasts a bird list over 340 species long! We saw nowhere near that many (probably because we aren’t aware enough) but these are the birds that we saw: Canada Goose, Snow Goose, Mallard, Northern Pintail, Sandhill Crane, Brown Pelican, Double-crested Cormorant, Western Grebe, American Coot, Belted Kingfisher, Red-tailed Hawk, Northern Harrier, Gambel’s Quail, Mourning Dove, Ring-necked Pheasant, Red-winged Blackbird, and Northern Flicker. Our favorites: the Sandhills, so awkward looking, tall and loud; Brown Pelican: the only one, he looked kinda lonely; Ring-necked Pheasant: shy and prone to hiding but loud; and the Snow Geese because there were so many of them!

We also came across animals: Turtles, Coyotes, Mule Deer, and Desert Cottontail. The Coyotes were far and away the most entertaining! The Coyotes are the reason that the Geese and Cranes “commute” each day. In the morning there is the great “fly-out” as the birds leave the safety of the open water for the nearby fields. There they spend all day squawking, preening, defending their mates and feeding. While in the fields they are vulnerable to attack from the sly Coyotes. When the sun starts to slide behind the Chupadera Mountains, the birds fly back to the water, where the Coyotes won’t go.

We watched four Coyotes try valiantly to snatch a goose dinner but they failed. They really are smart creatures, one Coyote dashed through the center of a large flock of feeding geese and the birds scattered in every direction. At first, we thought the direct charge was a desperate attempt by a loner but no. Slinking through the grass on the perimeter were three other Coyotes, ready to pounce on the fleeing geese. They also tried a sneak attack but to no avail. Smart animals (I actually was disappointed for the Coyotes, I mean there are thousands of these geese, who’s gonna miss one?)!

The whole time this was going on the Sandhills, that were sharing the same field, were completely unconcerned. In fact, after the second charge most of the Snow Geese flew over and landed among the Cranes, apparently assuming it would be safer there. I don’t think I’d mess with a Sandhill, they are pretty big and have huge, strong looking beaks.

Sandhill Cranes are one of the oldest bird species in the world, the fossil record goes back over 50 million years! There are 15 crane species in the world, the U.S. is home to two of them, the Sandhill and the even bigger, endangered Whooping Cranes. There are actually two subspecies of Sandhill Cranes, the Greater and the Lesser. The main difference is size and where they spend their summers. The Greater Sandhills are larger and summer in the northern U.S. and Canada while the Lessers are smaller and summer in northern Canada. Since Cranes average 38 mph and can fly 365 miles a day the trip doesn’t take that long.

We finally tore ourselves away in the middle of the afternoon on the second day. We were tired yet invigorated by our time spent in the company of nature’s amazing friends! After a short nap we continued on our way south.

Photos: View our best photos from the visit to Bosque del Apache NWR (Erin took over 600 photos at the Bosque! -Lance).

Dates: We visited the Bosque on 11/03/06 and 11/04/06.