Today, we'll be #FBF to Bosque del Apache Wildlife Reserve, which had been on my radar for years but I wanted to visit during the festival of the cranes, which only occurs in November. It is where thousands of cranes (and other birds) fly every November. They offer lectures, workshops, photography sessions, etc. Or you can also just go on a self-guided tour-that's what we did.
Socorro is about 2 hours from Albuquerque and we wanted to be there for sunrise (and later found out, feeding time). We got up SUPER early and made it to the reserve in time for the sunrise. We were exhausted, but were treated with one of the coolest experiences.
There are several ponds along the way to the heart of the reserve so we pulled off of the road to observe. There were several photographers that had set camp but there were also a group of the cranes just hanging out so we thought we'd stop for a bit to check it out and then continue on our way. Over the period of about 10 minutes or so more and more birds started to show up. You could hear them from a distance and flocking together in their traditional "V's" all landing in the same pond.
Observers do a really great job at staying quiet so all you hear is the squawking of the birds. They actually get quite loud. After what seemed like 15 minutes or so of watching them, there was then a little action among a small group of them and the next thing you know a huge flutter, more squawking and ALL of them, which had to have been hundreds, maybe more, flew off at the same time, right overhead. It was amazing! I was fortunate to have even captured it all on video. That experience alone made the early-hour wake-up SO worth it! Rumor had it we were probably a weekend too early. Apparently what we saw was a small group and the cranes hadn't finished coming in to the reserve yet. I can only imagine what that looks like during peak!
After that we continued onward to the rest of the reserve just driving around. Nothing really compared to that experience but the landscape was still really pretty and the early morning time made for a quaint and peaceful experience.
After that we drove home because it was too early to do anything else, plus a nap sounded really good. However, if you're visiting, I highly recommend some hiking in the area and then heading over to the VLA (Very Large Array).
We visited the VLA earlier this year on our way to Pie Town. Yep there's a Pie Town, NM with a restaurant that serves just pie, and yes we drove three hours just to get pie :). Yes, it was delicious.
The museum portion of the VLA I personally found dull, but not for lack of quality or information, simply because that's not really my cup of tea. The hubby really enjoyed it and found it super interesting. I liked the outside portion way better. The satellites are enormous and really cool to watch as they change directions. Structurally, they are also pretty impressive.
If you make it down there, one word of caution: it can get extremely windy. We're talking check your balance windy or you might get knocked over, windy. I still recommend it though. Hey, if you get hungry, I know a great place to get some pie! ;)
The quickest route is to take I-25 to and from Socorro, but if you're looking for a more scenic drive you can take the route through El Malpais. We did this on our way out to the VLA and were glad we did.
Have a great weekend, friends!
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