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Welcome to The Festival of the Cranes 2008
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There are four major components to the Festival: tours, lectures, exhibits and the Refuge.
Elli Sorensen is our 2008 Festival artist and her painting "The Gang's All Here" is pictured above and will be used on all our Festival merchandise - T-shirts, tote bags, pins, magnets and the festival poster! Be sure to look for these fun items at the Bosque Nature Store online or in the actual Bosque Nature store at the Refuge.
Tours:
Tours are offered to introduce you to areas and topics not commonly available during the year. Birders will be out from dawn to dusk on and off of the Bosque. There is even a Birding Tour on Elephant Butte Lake. The management of local National Wildlife Refuges will conduct groups and explain in detail the operation of each refuge. During the Historic Socorro Open House photo galleries and historic buildings will be open for your inspection. New Mexico Tech and the Scientific community will also have displays and tours.
Caution to birders. Read the descriptions carefully - not all tours are for birding.
Lectures:
Lectures are offered for a variety of wildlife related subjects. Most lectures are given at the Macey Center in Socorro. Please see our maps page if you are not familiar with the area. Some lectures are workshops in photography, bird identification and wildlife painting. Workshops are conducted in the field or special facilities.
Exhibits:
On Saturday and most of Sunday the main Promenade, at the Refuge, will be filled with exhibits and demonstrations. This is where you will see animals up close, very close. Animal rescue groups will display mammals and birds along the perimeter of the Promenade. If you ever wanted a full head photo of a Flammulated Owl, this may be your only opportunity.
In the Visitor Center and the art and exhibitors tents, you will find educational activities as well as items for sale.
The Bosque del Apache NWR:
We are here to celebrate the return of the Cranes so don't miss them! The Fly-Out in the morning and the Fly-In in the evening are memorable events. You are free to experience this on your own or you may join one of the tours listed in this brochure.
Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge
In the 1930s, the Rocky Mountain population of greater sandhill cranes was severely declining. Habitat loss in wintering and breeding areas, land use changes and other factors had taken their toll on the population. In 1941, fewer than 20 sandhills wintered on Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge (NWR).
Since 1939, refuge staff, volunteers, cooperators, and other agencies have worked to restore wintering habitat along the Rio Grande for the cranes. Intensive management on the refuge, including moist soil management (growing natural wetland foods), cooperative agriculture, and crop manipulation have helped the population recover dramatically. Bosque del Apache NWR hosts about three-quarters of the Rocky Mountain sandhill crane population each winter, totaling up to 15,000 birds.
In addition to the sandhill cranes, the refuge is also a wintering stopover or home for snow geese, Ross’ geese, pintails, shovelers, mallards, and a host of other waterfowl. The spectacular wildlife viewing opportunities contribute to the fact that Bosque del Apache NWR is consistently recognized as one of the top birding areas in the country. Enjoy our trails, observation decks, and tour loop during your Festival visit.
Bosque del Apache NWR offers year-round wildlife viewing. Spring brings shorebirds and neotropical migrants through the valley and is the breeding and nesting season for our resident birds. Although dependent on seasonal rains, there may be spectacular wildflower viewing along the Chupadera and Canyon trails in spring. In the summer, hummingbirds swarm outside the Visitor Center and it is common to see young coots, pheasants, Gambel’s quail, geese, and others. Year-round residents include mule deer, elk, coyotes, porcupines, turtles turkeys and roadrunners.
This is our 21st year of celebrating the return of the sandhill cranes and our 69th year of managing the refuge for the benefit of wildlife and their habitat. Throughout the year the Bosque is host to meetings, seminars, international film crews, tours, visits by groups of school children and, in November, the Festival of the Cranes.
Bosque del Apache NWR is open daily from one hour before sunrise to one hour after sunset. There is a $3.00 per vehicle entrance fee for the tour loop.
The Friends of the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge
Since 1994, the Friends of the Bosque del Apache NWR (Friends of the Bosque) have supported the biological, educational, and research activities of the Bosque del Apache NWR. The Friends operate the Bosque Nature Store in the Visitor Center and proceeds from the Nature Store benefit various refuge programs, a variety of research efforts, a wonderful educational program and proceeds also help to fund special events.Friends volunteers promote Refuge and Friends events, conduct workshops and programs, provide labor for special projects, and support the Refuge in thousands of ways each year. They provide funding for local schools to visit the refuge and have successfully accomplished several major capital campaigns- one resulted in a lovely educational wing at the Visitor Center, and in 2007 Chupadera Peak and a surrounding 140 acres was purchased with contributions from hundreds of Friends and was deeded to the Refuge. The Friends were honored this year, too when one of our own, John Bertrand, was awarded the prestigious National Volunteer of the Year for 2008 for The National Wildlife Refuge Association (NWRA) & The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF)
The Friends are ardent financial supporters of the Festival of the Cranes. For more information and details on the Friends of the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge and how you can join us, please click here: Friends of the Bosque
All Photos & Graphics are under copyright by the Photographers & Artists, All Rights Reserved web site donated by Sandy Seth
