Bosque Del Apache - San Antonio, New Mexico

New Mexico is a major migration route and winter range for sandhill cranes. The greater sandhill crane nests in the Rocky Mountain region. They winter along the Middle Rio Grande Valley from Albuquerque to Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge.

Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, fondly known as "The Bosque," is in New Mexico near the small town of San Antonio, 9 miles south of Socorro, and less than an hour and a half from Albuquerque.

The Refuge is 57,331 acres located along the Rio Grande in San Antonio, located at the northern edge of the Chihuahuan desert. The heart of the Refuge is about 12,900 acres of moist bottomlands - 3,800 acres are active floodplain of the Rio Grande and 9,100 acres are areas where water is diverted to create extensive wetlands, farmlands, and riparian forests.

We didn't get to the pond early enough to see the sandhill cranes take off but we did get to see the Snow geese fly in.

Driving the South and North loops to see the daytime feeding grounds

I think he was on time out

Sandhill cranes have heavy bodies and long necks and legs. The average greater sandhill crane stands up to 3.9 feet and has a wingspan of 6.6 feet. They can weigh 16 lbs. Sandhill cranes are colored gray and sexes are generally in distinguishable. Adults have red skin on their crown with gray nape feathers.  Juveniles have a feathered crown, brown nape feathers and buff-colored secondary wing coverts.

Check out how noisy they are

Caught up with a local.

We were here at 6:00am so we wouldn't miss them again.


Cranes roost in shallow water, four to eight inches deep, bordered by a sparsely vegetated shoreline.
Being in the water makes it easier to detect predators. Optimal roost sites are within 10 miles of feeding areas.

Starting to wake as the sun comes up

Lesser and Canadian sandhill cranes mix with greater sandhill cranes.
The two browner ones in the middle are Lesser cranes.

Not sure if she was doing yoga or just showing off

We weren't the only ones that got up early