Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Center

Right down the road is a wildlife habitat, one that attracts sandhill cranes that migrate from Alaska and from the Rockies, using this flyway to eventually head more south.  Also using this same wetland is the snow goose.  Both of them we have seen in Colorado and near Santa Fe.  Many of the birds end up at the Whitewater Draw area in Willcox, AZ, if they are moving more south for the winter.

A tidge disappointed that there were only 8 sandhill cranes that we spotted.  Yes, we saw lots of ducks, all kinds of ducks.  They say that there are over 30,000 cranes that visit this wetland come October through December, but sadly we did not see them.

Never knew about the different flyways

We toured the visitor center (beautiful) and was surprised at the amount of staff manning the place.  I guess when the cranes decide to come in, there will be many people visiting.  As it was, we were about 3 weeks ahead of the big migration.  Oh well.  We have seen them in the thousands and it is an awesome sight to see and hear.  We will hopefully be heading back to the Whitewater Draw area sometime in December to see the cranes again.

Lots and lots of ducks!

Ducks wading in muddy area

There were viewing decks and boardwalks out over the waters, one of the boardwalks we were treated to turtles sunning themselves. With the binoculars we were able to see 8 turtles strung out on a long branch about 1/2 foot above the water.  Couldn't get a good picture but they were having a great time.

Turtles sunning on a log

Turtles on a rock

The Bosque (pronounced bosk-kay) is Spanish for woods, Apaches used to camp along the Rio Grande here and it was very heavily wooded.  Hence the name - Woods of the Apaches.  There is a concerted effort at the Bosque to eliminate invasive weed species and also to rid of salt cedar trees.  New hiking trails have been opened up just this past week although we did not walk them - they are just now flooding the fields in preparation for the birds and we felt there was nothing to see but trees and grasses.

The best time to see the sandhill cranes are just at sunrise when they wake and head out to feed in adjacent fields and also at sunset when they return to protective area and rest for the night.  We visited during the day which was also a detriment to seeing them.  I imagine in another 2 weeks or so this area will have lots and lots of visitors.

And 3 more

I see 5 more cranes!

A final note about San Antonio - we happened to be camping right near railroad tracks (pretty common to have campgrounds by railroads - sometimes very noisy!) and we noticed that the engines are painted black and red.  Thank goodness it is a single track and also that a train comes through about every 8 hours.  Phew!  Ferromex is the railroad company which runs from Mexico into Texas, New Mexico and to California,  is 74% owned by Mexico and 26% by Union Pacific.  We wondered - great way to hitch a ride if you are wanting to get into the US - not sure if Customs searches all the cars, but makes us wonder??

We leave tomorrow morning for Deming, New Mexico.  About 150 miles south and west of where we are now, right off Interstate 10.  Never visited Deming so not sure what there is to see and do.  We want to get back to Picacho, but we don't.  We don't want this summer's adventure to end.