A few years ago, I accidentally stumbled upon an area in New Mexico where thousands of Sandhill Cranes and other migratory birds visit during winter. There are scores of birds during the year too, but I read this at a time when I had never seen the cranes, and I was intrigued by the place. I read that a Sandhill Crane festival was held there every year in November, prompting me to promptly begin day dreaming about visiting some day. Then suddenly this year, it looked like that dream would turn into reality. If not for the festival, it was still worth a visit in the month of November.
A road trip materialized, and soon, I was standing in front of this sign!
A short drive down the small road, a lake appeared on the right. A beautiful tree dazzled against the mountains, all decked in yellow .
At exactly that moment, I saw a familiar grey! "There they are", I exclaimed, ready to jump out of the car. There was a pullout and another car stood a little further away. I got out, soaked in the ambience, and stood there observing a Sandhill Crane family going about their business.
A recreational vehicle just pulled up and a lady got out her binoculars and got busy like I had done earlier. The space above the dashboard of her RV had a few succulents growing in nice planters, and it was very cool.
A lake lay ahead and following a honking sound coming from the area led us to a huge gaggle of Snow Geese.
The cranes could not be far behind, I concluded.
I was right! Around the bend was a large field. At first, I saw a small gaggle of Canada Geese with the Sandhills.
Then the sight I was hoping to see suddenly presented itself! Hundreds of cranes happily eating corn in the field. They had flown a long way to get here, and were settling down in their home for the winter.
There were so many of them! It was a beautiful sight!
As we moved further down the road, a smaller sedge of cranes were feeding in a field, and more were flying in. I got out of the car, and observed their behavior. Another couple of people stopped to do the same.
Just then, a rafter of wild turkeys appeared from the thicket behind the field.
Slowly, they crossed the field, and came pretty close to where I was standing.
One looked at me to see if I posed a threat.
Then one by one, they flew across the dirt road and crossed to the field on the other side and disappeared. The whole episode lasted only five minutes, and I was lucky to have witnessed it.
Further down the road, beautiful vistas on either side greeted us. Sounds of cranes told us they were nearby, but I couldn't see them. They were all over in the fields at the refuge.
Mountains in the background, and a beautiful, crisp, sunny, fall afternoon was slowly turning into dusk.
The Snow Geese decided they wanted to move to an adjacent lake, and began to take off in groups. It was quite a sight!
Black-tipped wings and a snow white body, the sight of geese in flight with trees in the background was beautiful!
They began to settle down in the lake a little further away.
The lady at the visitor center had said that the cranes put on quite a show at sunset by the lake I had come across as we entered the refuge. We decided to drive there even if sunset was over an hour later.
There were more cranes there now. There were people too, and I soon realized they were all setting up tripods and taking up spots for the show at dusk!
I socialized a little with fellow birders. An elderly couple who had driven from Los Angeles told me how excited they were to be there. They shared their insect repellent spray with me, seeing how unprepared I was! It was a necessity there, and I am so thankful to them for sharing.
The lady with the succulents in her RV showed up too. She refused to get out, and said she did not like to spray DEET to keep away mosquitoes. She had a nice perch up there with a good view, higher than the rest of us. I told her I found her succulents very neat, and she was pleased. She said she had been on the road birding for the past two years, and had set up home in the RV. It was very nice meeting with these interesting people.
It began to get cloudy and I hoped that the lone day I had chosen to be here at sunset wouldn't disappoint. A surreal kind of hue spread over the lake and I managed to get this shot that I really liked.
The cranes began their fly-ins as the sun set.
One by one, they descended on the field.
Touchdown!
The sound of trumpeting/bugling/rattling of cranes filled the area. Here are three of them at it! They look upwards and make that sound.
Meanwhile, the clouds began to turn pinkish orange and the sky was getting really gorgeous!
The colors reflected in the water, and the cranes added to the charm!
Reflections of crane silhouettes in the lake! It was surreal!
I could not have asked for a better evening!
The cranes, the beautiful sunset, the clouds - spectacular!
A road trip materialized, and soon, I was standing in front of this sign!
A short drive down the small road, a lake appeared on the right. A beautiful tree dazzled against the mountains, all decked in yellow .
At exactly that moment, I saw a familiar grey! "There they are", I exclaimed, ready to jump out of the car. There was a pullout and another car stood a little further away. I got out, soaked in the ambience, and stood there observing a Sandhill Crane family going about their business.
A recreational vehicle just pulled up and a lady got out her binoculars and got busy like I had done earlier. The space above the dashboard of her RV had a few succulents growing in nice planters, and it was very cool.
Getting back in the car, we drove to the visitor center. It was around noon, and we hoped there would be a restaurant there. No such luck, and we thanked our stars we had breakfast bars, chips and some other snacks.
We got maps and other directions from the kind lady at the desk and set out.
A lake lay ahead and following a honking sound coming from the area led us to a huge gaggle of Snow Geese.
The cranes could not be far behind, I concluded.
I was right! Around the bend was a large field. At first, I saw a small gaggle of Canada Geese with the Sandhills.
Then the sight I was hoping to see suddenly presented itself! Hundreds of cranes happily eating corn in the field. They had flown a long way to get here, and were settling down in their home for the winter.
There were so many of them! It was a beautiful sight!
As we moved further down the road, a smaller sedge of cranes were feeding in a field, and more were flying in. I got out of the car, and observed their behavior. Another couple of people stopped to do the same.
Just then, a rafter of wild turkeys appeared from the thicket behind the field.
Slowly, they crossed the field, and came pretty close to where I was standing.
One looked at me to see if I posed a threat.
Further down the road, beautiful vistas on either side greeted us. Sounds of cranes told us they were nearby, but I couldn't see them. They were all over in the fields at the refuge.
Mountains in the background, and a beautiful, crisp, sunny, fall afternoon was slowly turning into dusk.
The Snow Geese decided they wanted to move to an adjacent lake, and began to take off in groups. It was quite a sight!
Black-tipped wings and a snow white body, the sight of geese in flight with trees in the background was beautiful!
They began to settle down in the lake a little further away.
The lady at the visitor center had said that the cranes put on quite a show at sunset by the lake I had come across as we entered the refuge. We decided to drive there even if sunset was over an hour later.
There were more cranes there now. There were people too, and I soon realized they were all setting up tripods and taking up spots for the show at dusk!
I socialized a little with fellow birders. An elderly couple who had driven from Los Angeles told me how excited they were to be there. They shared their insect repellent spray with me, seeing how unprepared I was! It was a necessity there, and I am so thankful to them for sharing.
The lady with the succulents in her RV showed up too. She refused to get out, and said she did not like to spray DEET to keep away mosquitoes. She had a nice perch up there with a good view, higher than the rest of us. I told her I found her succulents very neat, and she was pleased. She said she had been on the road birding for the past two years, and had set up home in the RV. It was very nice meeting with these interesting people.
It began to get cloudy and I hoped that the lone day I had chosen to be here at sunset wouldn't disappoint. A surreal kind of hue spread over the lake and I managed to get this shot that I really liked.
The cranes began their fly-ins as the sun set.
One by one, they descended on the field.
The sound of trumpeting/bugling/rattling of cranes filled the area. Here are three of them at it! They look upwards and make that sound.
Meanwhile, the clouds began to turn pinkish orange and the sky was getting really gorgeous!
The colors reflected in the water, and the cranes added to the charm!
Reflections of crane silhouettes in the lake! It was surreal!
I could not have asked for a better evening!
The cranes, the beautiful sunset, the clouds - spectacular!
Finally, after taking hundreds of pictures, I got into the car and then began another drama! The dashboard showed one tire to have a tire pressure of 16. The others had 37. We were in the middle of nowhere. It would get pitch dark in five minutes and I realized how a feeling of bliss can suddenly turn to fear. The nearest town was three miles away. We decided to drive there and call AAA. Luckily, a gas station was open and had air. As we got the tire pressure up to 38, I called AAA, but they said it would be an hour before they arrived. We decided to drive to Albuquerque, where we had a hotel reservation for the night. It was a 75 minute drive and keeping our fingers crossed, we started out. The tire kept losing pressure and we had to stop at a small town on the way again for air. Finally, we got to the hotel and asked AAA to come fix the tire. It turned out to be a rather eventful day!
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