New Mexico Places

Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge.  This site is well-known nationally and attracts many visitors throughout the winter.  Most people come to see the sandhill crane and snow geese migrations.  This is also a good place to see raptors, deer, coyotes, turkey, herons, and javalinas, and if you are very lucky, bobcats and mountain lions.  Bosque del Apache also hosts an annual Festival of the Cranes.  ADVICE: Go in late December through early February to see the cranes and geese.  Be sure to enjoy the boardwalk trail.

Ladd S Gordon Waterfowl Complex.  Closer to Albuquerque, the Gordon complex is much smaller than the Bosque del Apache.  However, in my experience, it is a much better place to see cranes and snow geese.  While the flocks at the Bosque can be quite far from the road (depending on which fields have been flooded), the flocks at Gordon are usually very close.  As a result, you have a much better chance of photographing birds in flight, especially near sunrise and sunset when you would prefer to use shorter lenses.  Gordon also has several ponds, including one with blinds, to photograph the birds at dusk.  ADVICE:  Go in late December through early February to see the cranes and geese.  Don’t forget to check out the ponds at sunset.

Maxwell National Wildlife Refuge.  Maxwell sits on the beautiful grassland region of northeast New Mexico.  I believe it is a birdwatcher paradise, but I have had little luck here.  I did photograph a northern harrier once, but after three separate visits, that’s all I have to show for it.  ADVICE:  Do your research here.  I suspect this is a GREAT site for photographing a variety of birds, but you will need to figure out when to go and where to look.