Bird Club at Bosque del Apache

Panhandle Bird Club members watching the sunrise at Bosque del Apache

The Panhandle Bird Club traveled to Socorro, New Mexico for its first overnight field trip in January 2025. Thirteen intrepid birders braved several extremely cold mornings to watch Sandhill Cranes and Snow Geese at sunrise, but were rewarded with beautiful, warm desert southwest afternoons. Almost all the birders saw a "lifer" and the photographers were overwhelmed with the numerous opportunities to capture bird photos.

There is no such thing as a boring view at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge. Even in winter, the reds of the Coyote Willows, the dramatic skies, the soft browns of the dried sunflowers and the blue waters from the Rio Grande create landscapes that every photographer yearns to document.

And then there are the birds. Birds we rarely see in the Texas Panhandle, like Pyrrhuloxia, Phainopepla, Gambel's Quail, Western Bluebird and Verdin were spotted in the Refuge on this trip. And down the road at Bernardo Wildlife Management Area (Ladd S. Gordon), thousands of Sandhill Cranes and Snow Geese preened and posed for breathtaking photographs.

Other wildlife is also present at the refuge. Although we didn't see a Bobcat or Mountain Lion (no surprise there), we particularly enjoyed the Javelinas.

One of the most amazing things about that part of New Mexico is that the light just seems warmer and softer, making for spectacular photos. It is hard to choose just a few pictures that benefitted from the incredible light, but here were some that I really enjoyed.

Sandhill Cranes and Snow Geese

Sandhill Crane

Ross's Goose bathing

On the way to Bosque del Apache, several of us stopped off at Sandia Crest in Albuquerque to try to see the Rosy-Finches. All three species of Rosy-Finches gather at 10,600' elevation in the winter and can be seen best when it has recently snowed. Conditions were "perfect" to see the birds on this trip, meaning it was snowing and 14 degrees F. We froze for half an hour, but we were happy to see the finches at a feeder stocked by the local Audubon group.

Of course, the very best part of the trip was enjoying the wonderful friends in the Panhandle Bird Club. We ate green chili burgers and lifer pie together, we shared spotting scopes and discussed camera settings, we passed out hand warmers on freezing mornings and walkie talkies to alert each other to bird spottings, and we laughed until our sides hurt.