After San Lorenzo it is a short drive to Bosque del Apache NWR our most important goal for the trip. And of course we are drawn here by the birds in the thousands that either migrate through or winter in the area especially geese and cranes. Almost immediately after exiting the interstate we start seeing cranes everywhere which is quite exciting already.
After entering the NWR there are a few parking areas before the visitor center and the turnoff to the Loop Drive through the Preserve. We stop at a couple of these parking area that overlook lakes and again notice some cranes and a few ducks. Still we didn’t come here for a few cranes…where are the thousands that were promised?
The visitor center is full of birders and they all talk about the huge numbers of birds in the interior lakes. We even see quite a few flocks of birds coming in and starting to set on a nearby lake so the hunt is on.
We climb in our car enter the loop drive and at the first lake we already have to stop as it is almost covered by Snow and Ross geese, very exciting for us.
We stay for some time enjoying the many geese and the lost shoveler duck between them. We even make a short video to remember the cacophony of sounds and then move on to the next lake.
It is the middle of the winter and it is cold outside as evidenced by the ice we find on multiple lakes. The views however are magnificent with the lighting enhanced by the setting sun.
There are less birds and more scenic views than we expected, in fact some lakes are scenic but birdless, quite unexpected.
As we continue from viewpoint to viewpoint we find different birds, even though they are not in the thousands they are varied and keep us busy us we try to identify them.
At the next viewpoint we hear a familiar call. We take a careful look and notice that there are quite a few birds on the nearby field, all of them Canada Geese. They are far away but the call is really distinctive and we remember it clearly from our time in Michigan.
The road starts to loop back but the views of the marshy area are still beautiful with the setting sun illumminating everything perfectly.
And there are birds after almost every corner – however where are our cranes? Just as we were thinking that the cranes might be retreating to a lake out of sight we arrive at the next viewpoint and hear the distinctive call of the sandhill cranes. And lo and behold there they are enjoying the water and the area with more and more joining them for the night.
From here we are less hurried and we can enjoy the views better. There are supposedly even mountain lions around and we know that we have seen one on a nearby mountain so we are carefully looking through the brush at every exit.
The largest mammal we see is a mule deer buck that is very intently looking away from us until he suddenly notices us and bolts away.
As we close the loop at the initial lake where we saw the geese we are surprised at the huge number of geese that have accumulated on the lake – it seemed that there were a lot before but there are even more now. There are also a lot of other birders on the shore taking pictures of this awesome spectacle.
After spending some time near the lake we are getting cold so we move a bit further away and while the lake is more empty here it still has a haunting beauty with trees jutting from the water and a lonely duck passing through them.
And then it is back to Albuquerque where we decide to celebrate the full day with dinner at a nearby Applebee’s. Full and tired we then crash for the night as tomorrow we have the drive back to Phoenix.
