The Festival of the Cranes

The Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, Socorro, New Mexico
November 14-19, 2006 - See our Festival of the Cranes Photos here!

This is the 18th year that the City of Socorro, New Mexico and the Bosque del Apache NWR have celebrated the return of the cranes with this festival. We invite you to share it with us. There are four major components to the Festival: tours, lectures, exhibits and the Refuge.

Six days, over 100 events, every event planned with care and led by interesting, vigorous experts from around New Mexico, other states and at least one international expert. The Festival of the Cranes has grown from a weekend affair into one of the nation’s top wildlife attractions.

Birding has always been paramount at the Festival, and cranes are the centerpiece. Two superb experts, Paul Tebbel from The Wildlife Center in Espanola, and Keanna Leonard from the Rowe Audubon Center in Nebraska present Sandhill Crane Behavior on four mornings, sunrise to noon. They’ll teach the sophisticated vocal and body-language communication and behavior of these extraordinary birds.

Other birding events cater to beginners, backyarders, Black Belt experts and birding by ear, plus experts on ducks, raptors, falconry, mountain birding and the awesome fly-out and fly-in each morning and evening. A birding cornucopia!

Tracing the El Camino Real, (the Royal Road from Mexico City to Santa Fe,) used by the early Spanish explorers beginning in 1598, is a feature this year. Sections of the trail on the backcountry of the Bosque del Apache NWR, usually closed to the public, will be one of the Festival tours.

Long Lens Photography is a three-day course for intermediate to advanced wildlife photographers, given by two professionals, Jerry Goffe from Albuquerque, and Gregory Basco from Costa Rica. Lots of shooting is planned, plus plenty of technical instruction, and Photoshop right on through to printing The Bosque del Apache NWR has been consistently ranked in the nations top photo sites for birds.

Evenings offer Keynote Speakers. Julie Zickefoose, of Ohio, will present an evening program on Hummingbirds. Julie is a regular on NPR, and a widely published natural history writer and artist.

Joan Garland of the International Crane Foundation in Wisconsin, is another Keynote Speaker. Joan, a founder of a crane migration route from Wisconsin to Florida using an ultra-light airplane, has worked world-wide with cranes, particularly Whooping Cranes.

Other events include tours to areas usually closed, showing the operational workings of a National Wildlife Refuge; visits to the Very Large Array (one of the largest radio-telescopes in the world), and a trip to Trinity Site, the site of the first atom bomb test. Lectures and workshops delve into wildfires, water management, area buffalo, and local history. Exhibitors, an Arts and Crafts tent, and of course the wonderful wildlife of the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge round out the Festival. A six day extravaganza.

Programs are available from
The Festival of the Cranes
P. O. Box 340,
San Antonio, NM 87832.
Phone 505-838-2077
http://www.friendsofthebosque.org/crane

The Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge is in central New Mexico, south of Socorro. Take exit 139 from I-25.

Media Contact: Park Borgeson
Friends of the Bosque del Apache NWR
505-823-2331 (Abq)
hborgeson8129@comcast.net

To learn more at the Bosque del Apache and the Festival of the Cranes, visit the following websites:

http://www.fws.gov/southwest/refuges/newmex/bosque/
http://www.friendsofthebosque.org/