Day Three of the DVOC Field trip to New Mexico – Today was our first day to visit Bosque Del Apache National Wildlife Refuge. Bosque is one of the better known refuges in the system and a favorite of wildlife photographers because of the spectacle of Sandhill Cranes and waterfowl that winter here. Couple the number of individual birds with a dawn fly out and a dusk fly in as well as the wonderful winter’s light on the surrounding mountains and you have more Kodak moments than you can shake a stick at. In order to be at the flight deck (an observation platform specifically located for viewing this phenomenon) at dawn we would have to leave the Econo Lodge at 6:15. So it was an early morning and much to our chagrin, it was snowing. Yes, we came to the desert in winter for a break from the coming cold at home and we ran into the first major snow here in a couple of years. All told maybe 3 inches of snow fell in the early morning hours and we did not have a sunrise to watch. We still had 100s or cranes to watch as they left their night roost for a day foraging in the surrounding fields. We also had lots of Northern Shovelers and Northern Pintails, Wigeon and Mallards. A few juvenile Bald Eagles kept watch over the departing waterfowl and cranes. While enjoying the departing waterfowl we also had quite a few Western Meadowlarks feeding in the marsh edges and a Coyote.

From the fly out area, we worked half of the auto tour loop of the refuge in the snow. We did the best we could but the snow was really blowing and our optics were fogging up so it was a bit of a challenge. Still we had “looks” at Ruddy Ducks, Canvasbacks, a Redhead and a Common Merganser. It was not the best of conditions but you could still sense the wealth of waterfowl using the refuge. Every pool had lots of Mallards, Pintails and Shovelers with a smattering of Gadwall and Green-winged Teal. Coots were everywhere and we knew if the conditions had been more favorable, we could have picked up over birds. One snowy field held at least a dozen Pheasants and the occasional raptor was found in the treetops. We came to the viewing platform opposite the “flight deck” and here we had six Bald Eagles in our field of view and another Coyote. This time we first became aware of the Coyote because we heard it howling and then made it a point to find it. A small group of American Pipits and a Say’s Phoebe foraged along the vegetation near the pool’s edge. As we were leaving this platform, we played hide-n-go-seek with a Ladder-backed Woodpecker. Finally, everyone got on the woodpecker and we made a move to the Visitor’s Center. In one of the trees, surrounding the parking lot was an adult Cooper’s Hawk. Here at the feeders we had many White-crowned Sparrows, a Spotted Towhee and a Green-tailed Towhee. When we left the center, a group of six White-winged Doves was in the treetops. We headed to lunch in the small town of San Antonio and headed to the Buckthorn Tavern. After a somewhat protracted lunch hour, we returned to the refuge and a beautiful, sunny winter’s day. A walk along the Marsh trail helped work off lunch if not produce much in the way of birds.

We kept moving along the autoroute until we came upon a few Long-billed Dowitchers, Killdeers, a Greater Yellowlegs and a Dunlin feeding in a puddle. Her some of us also had an Orange-crowned Warbler. We continued along the tour route until we came to a field with 1000s of “white” geese and a few 100 Sandhill Cranes.

We got out of the vans and started to work the geese in search of both lesser Snow and Ross’ Geese. Although the majority of the flock was Snow Geese, we had no trouble picking out numerous Ross’s Geese. The cranes kept our attention between their bugling and dancing. A mixed blackbird flock also fought for out attention, as we were able to pick out some Yellow-headed Blackbirds in with the much more numerous Brewer’s and Redwing Blackbirds. At this point the group was enjoying the spectacle of the geese and scenery when, a blue Ross’ Goose was found in the flock. It took awhile to get everyone on this bird and our efforts were hindered by the blue Snow Geese in the area and active nature of this entire flock. However, this bird was very distinct and easily picked out repeatedly so that everyone was eventually able to see it. Its bill shape was clearly small and triangular, it was a smaller bird and its coloration was almost a jet black back to its neck rather than a grayish tone of a blue snow goose. This was a highlight of the day and from here, we returned to the flight deck to watch the fly in.

This spectacle had drawn many of us on this trip. In groups of four to a dozen, the cranes came into to roost and the geese and ducks came into the pool here by the 100s. On at least two occasions, the sky again looked like it was snowing as a soaring eagle put all the geese in to the air. Wow! It was a wonderful collage of sight and sounds as the cranes bugled and the geese honked. Added to the beauty here was a wonderful sunset turning the sky and surrounding mountains a mix of red, pink, mauve and blue. It was truly a wonderful way to end the day. Dinner was at Frank and Lupe’s El Sombrero restaurant.