All photographs copyright © 1996, Don Baccus
Boque Del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, located south of Albuquerque,
New Mexico, is reknowned for its wintering populations of snow geese
and lesser sandhill crane. The thousands of birds wintering here are
surprisingly tame, and can easily be viewed at close distance from
your car. There are also several viewing platforms scattered around
the refuge, and birds are used to seeing people on them and will hang
out to feed in nearby fields.
At sunset, cranes and geese fly from the fields at the north end of the refuge into the shallow ponds where they roost. This spectacle is one of the "must see" bird phenomena of the western United States.
Along with the vast numbers of cranes and geese which give this refuge its reputation, other common birds of western marshes can easily be seen. Northern harriers, various ducks, snipe, coot, and the like are common. Bald eagles and red-tails, though less common, are easily seen and the red-tails in particular will often allow close inspection. Cooper's and sharpshinned hawks are common, though harder to see as they tend to hang out in woody thickets.
Mule deer are common here, and the wildlife photographer will be pleased to learn that this is a relatively easy place to shoot coyotes.
Since most out-of-state visitors to view and photograph the huge flocks of geese and crane, this guide is designed to be of help to the winter visitor.
There is a $3/day user fee for visiting this refuge.
The easiest way to view the refuge is by driving the auto loop. The one-way
loop is bisected by a two-way connector, so you can skip half the loop if
you wish. Since most of the sandhill crane are found feeding along the north
half of the loop, and the best spot to watch the evening fly-in is also
along the north half, this can be a convenient short-cut once you've gotten
familiar with the refuge and its wildlife.
However, unless you're eager to dash off to the grain fields where the crane feed, turn right after the pay station and begin a leisurely drive around the full auto loop. You'll find snow geese feeding by the side of the road, willows full of wintering white-crowned and song sparrows, occasional cock pheasants, double-crested cormorants perched over ponds, waterfowl, and raptors to enjoy. Loggerhead shrikes perch hopefully on exposed perches, and a bald eagle or two are usually seen near the road on the southern half of the loop.
As you swing east at the south end of the loop, you'll notice a lot of
restoration work underway. Salt cedar, an exotic pest species taking
over much of the riparian areas along southwestern cedars, is being removed
in an effort to restore the native cottonwood/willow community that gave this
refuge its name. "Bosque" is Spanish for "woods". "Bois" serves the same
purpose in French, which is the source of the name of the city of Boise,
Idaho. These riparian woodlands are uncommon in the arid and semi-arid
Intermountain West, and it is a shame to see salt cedar (also known as
tamarisk) take over. It forms extremely dense thickets and is of limited
use to wildlife.
This southeastern portion of the loop had few birds during my last visit there, not surprising given the heavy-duty equipment scraping the earth bare of salt cedar in that part of the refuge.
North of the connector, you'll come to the viewing platforms and fields in which the sandhill crane feed during the day. If you're visiting in winter, you'll see thousands of crane at this end of the refuge. There will be huge flocks of snow geese, as well. From time to time, you may see coyotes attempting to snag a goose or crane. Usually, they just send the birds up, and the resulting flocks flying about are spectacular.
Consider getting out of your car and sitting quietly next to one of these fields for awhile. Crane are very chatty birds, and their gutteral calls, repeated by a few thousand pairs feeding in a loose flock, are suggestive of an earlier time when large, migratory birds blackened the skies over North America.
Years ago, the USF&W experimented with fostering endangered whooping cranes
with sandhill cranes. The idea was to start a second breeding population,
as all of the whooping crane which survived until they were listed under
the Endangered Species Act winter at one refuge in Texas. While the
sandhill crane foster parents successfully raised whoopers, for reasons
not well understood by biologists, they whoopers never successfully paired
off to raise young of their own. In at least one case, they've hybridized,
and last winter (early 1997) a young hybrid was easily seen on the refuge.
Your chances of seeing a whooper here are, unfortunately, currently not very good.
The ponds where the geese and crane fly in to roost in the evening are just north of the loop road's junction with the western end of the east-west connector.
The refuge includes three wilderness refuges. For information on hiking in these areas, including possible seasonal closures, contact Refuge Headquarters.
You'll find photographing snow geese extremely easy at this refuge. They'll
generally let you shoot them from the car, the only trick required is to
find some next to the road. They're also extremely white, so exposure can
be a bit tricky. You'll want to increase exposure from the camera meter's
reading, as it is calibrated for 18% gray subjects. On the other hand, if
you're using an incident meter or the "sunny/16" rule, you'll want to
underexpose by about a stop. If you don't understand why these seemingly
contradictory statements lead to the same result, you need to buy a good book
by John Shaw.
The crane are conveniently gray, exposure's no problem. They are more skittish than the geese, and when near the road are often hidden by willows which form a brushy visual buffer between the road and the fields where they feed. The refuge management has kept "windows" cleared in the willows, and occasionally you'll find a cooperative crane, or pair, which allow nice portrait-type photographs. You'll need to patiently drive this section of the loop and be persistent if you want to be certain of such photographs.
At sunset, most shooters head straight to the roosting ponds to shoot the
fly-in. While this is fun, parking along the northern part of the road is
very nice, too. Flocks of crane and geese fly very low overhead on their
way to the ponds. It's a bit like parking alongside an airport, watching
planes pass overhead on their way in to land.
As far as other species go, standard refuge shooting techniques, i.e. using a window mount or beanbag to photograph from your car, are your best bet.
I've had my best luck with coyotes on the southeastern part of the auto loop, in early morning, shooting from my car. There are a couple of roads running east-west (closed to the public) which coyotes use when foraging for breakfast.
The northwestern portion of New Mexico is part of the Four Corners region, where Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah meet in the midst of slickrock country. Southwest of Bosque, north of Silver City, lie numerous mountains - the Mogollon Mountains are probably the best known.
Nearer the refuge, consider visiting The Very Large Array radio telescope, which is about an hour's drive west of Socorro.
And, of course, there's the food! New Mexico is justly famed for its regional spin on the food of old Mexico.
The refuge lies 15 miles south of the small town of Socorro, which hosts an annual "Festival Of The Cranes" on the third weekend of November. There are several cheap motels in town and a few restuarants. This is the logical place to stay when visiting the refuge.
The nearest major airport is in Albuquerque, about an hour's drive north of Soccoro on Interstate 25.