December 10th to the 28th 2003. 

Bosque Del Apache has become one of those must visit places for British wildlife photographers and although I try to resist them, eventually I get the feeling I just must go see. I was not disappointed. In fact, seeing thousands of snow geese taking off in the first glow of dawn is one of the great ornithological spectaculars of the world. The weather is usually sunny, if freezing cold at dawn, but the early starts worth it to witness such a moving sight.

I was not so glad to be standing amongst 50 other photographers all taking the same pictures. It reminds me that I should not be there as I will not make money from it, but I would not have missed it for the world.

The geese and sandhill cranes are present in numbers from November to February and we went from December 10th to the 28th in 2003. 

We flew with Continental Airlines from Gatwick to Houston (8 hours) and on to Albuquerque (2 hours). The car was booked online with Holiday Autos (tied up with Alamo), which cost £450 for 17 days. We had to pay a few extras at airport, mostly for my friend Dr John as an additional driver, otherwise it was just a small airport tax.  Philip Mugridge got a better car hire deal than us through netflights.

Our car was a Chevy Cavalier, which I can't recommend as the rear window does not wind down all the way and is a major obstacle for photography, but all American cars appear to be the same except the Chevy Blazier 4 wheel drive, which is available as a rental, but at almost twice the cost of the Cavalier. 

We missed our connecting flight due to high security and left Albuquerque Airport at 2300 hours. On arrival in the USA you have to remember to collect your suitcase at the first airport you land in (Houston). It does not get carried through. It is also important to have a first nights accommodation address to fill in on your debarkation form handed out on the flight. Without an address you will not get in the country! You don’t need to actually book the accommodation, just so long as you have the address and say you intend staying there. 

From the airport take Interstate 25 southbound. This is very close to the airport and we came out straight onto it. We drove south a few miles and turned off into one of the small towns, where we found a motel and slept. The following morning we carried onto Socorro, which is the nearest town to Bosque. It is only 80 miles from the airport to Socorro so you would normally expect to drive there in 90 minutes or so.

Interstate 25 takes you all the way. Get off at the first signposted junction for Socorro and enter the towns main drag. Like most US towns there is one main road through the centre, which runs parallel to Interstate 25 and goes back to it at the next junction. As you go through town there are many motels and restaurants. Some display the room rates, but these prices are usually for one person and don’t include the tax. The last motel on the right hand side is Motel 6. It has a huge blue sign that can’t be missed.  At $35 a night for 2 people the weekly rate it is almost the cheapest in town and the rooms are excellent. We did not book in advance, but they have a web site so you could do.

The cheaper (only by a dollar or two) hotels we looked at were a little tatty. At one place, John was put off by one of the other guests coming out of a room. He commented the cliental looked a bit rough and when he turned out to be the owner we moved on.

Motel 6 is close to Interstate 25 at the southern end of town. To get to Bosque simply leave the motel, turning right and take the slip road southbound on to the 25. The next junction is J139 (about 7 miles) and is signposted for Bosque. Take it and follow the sliproad off  to the right. The road quickly swings around under the 25 and out the other side and into the small town of St Antonia.

At the crossroads in St Antonia take a right turn, signposted Bosque and follow this road for 8 miles to the reserve. The visitors centre is on the right. During opening hours call in and look at the birds around the centre. There are some feeders, which attract blackbirds, sparrows and quail. Other photographers tell me they have seen nuthatches and woodpeckers here. Some photography is possible here. At the centre we bought a years pass to the reserve, which cost $12 for the car. A bargain as the daily rate is $3 per car. You can also get a map of the reserve here.

If arriving at dawn the visitors centre will be closed so don’t turn into it, but carry on along the road for another 200 metres where the main entrance to the reserve is on the left. Go in and drive past the kiosk, which will be unmanned at dawn. 30 metres past the kiosk swing left and drive on about 200 metres looking for the Flight Deck viewing platform on your right. Most mornings there will be other people and their cars already in position. On December 12^th sunrise was at 0703. On the 26^th it was 0713. We arrived at  0630 every day.

The first day stand on the viewing platform, but after that you may want to try anywhere along this stretch of track. The best spot varies day to day. It is usually very cold. -14c was the coldest we had, but the air was very dry so the windscreen never froze. Gloves, hat, thermal underwear and many layers of cloths are needed. It warms up quickly once the sun rises and by midday it can be back to shirt sleeves, but not always.

The geese sometimes take off when it is still dark, sometimes long after sunrise. Sometimes they land again, sometimes not. It is all very variable. Photographs are possible most mornings, but what you really need is a fantastic sunrise to shoot them against. To get that you need a small amount of cloud and unfortunately we had mostly pure, blue skies which were not very colourful.

When you decide it is all over and the geese have gone, you can either start to drive the 14 miles around the track, going anti-clockwise as much of it is one way,  or head out of the reserve and back along the road towards St Antonia again. In the darkness coming in you passed a series of pools where the sandhill cranes were roosting. They leave a little later than the geese so you have plenty of time. Drive back along the road until you cross the railway. The pools now appear on your left. Stop and watch to see which direction the cranes are leaving in and than go and stand in a suitable spot. They are very approachable and you can walk along the bank.

After that it’s back into the reserve and driving around the loop. You can expect to do mule deer, elk, roadrunner, snipe, ducks, coyote, white crowned sparrow, red tailed hawk and American kestrel. The birds of prey are a bit confusing, but the buzzard like hawk you see most commonly is the red tailed hawk. People have also photographed bald eagle, golden eagle, peregrine and northern harrier here.

Of an evening you can photograph the snow geese gathering at or near to the Farm Deck viewing platform.  There is action here all day, but it seems to intensify about 1500 hours and if the wind is right can be great for snow geese flight shots. After that you can try for the sandhill cranes coming in to roost at the same pools as in the morning.

We tried to eat at different restaurants each night in Socorro and had no particular favourite, although having very simple tastes my favourite line became “You always know where you are with a Denny’s”. Breakfast was skipped, although Denny's is open 24 hours a day. The Roadrunner Restaurant did a bargain "eat as much as you want" midday meal.

We explored other reserves in New Mexico, but found little to photograph at that time of year. Bernardos is between Albuquerque and Socorro on Interstate 25, about 30 minutes north of Socorro. Leave the 25 at the junction signposted Bernardos. Then go north on the NM116 for about 1 mile. The NM116 is a bit difficult to spot, but if arriving from Socorro on the 25 come off the slip road and cross the NM60, which goes under the 25. The NM116 is the small road on the left of the shop/filling station and to the right of the northbound sliproad for the 25.

Carry on up the NM116 for about 1 mile and there is a sign on the right for the reserve, where you have to cross the railway. It is another auto trail like Bosque and might produce the odd picture, but we were not lucky.

The only other photographs we managed were at the Randall Davey Audubon Center on the outskirts of Sante Fe, where there are a series of feeders that attract small birds like house bunting, spotted towhee, darked eyed junco, western scrub jay and mountain chickadee. The feeder in the front car park is well lit from about 0900 hours and has some attractive natural perches. How you find the centre is a bit more difficult. It is a bit of a maze so a map and advise from the tourist office or hotel would be best. We found it.

For flight photography of sandhill cranes and snow geese, Bosque has no equal and worth the trip, but I would not want more than a week there again. Maybe worth combining a trip with a week in Florida. 

Roadrunner