The Sandhill Cranes

So we always knew that there were some Sandhill Cranes that wintered here in ABQ, right along the banks of the Rio Grande. We were aware they arrived sometime in November and is a hallmark in the change of the seasons and arrival of winter. What we didn't know is that there were fairly easy to find if you know where to look. (If you are in ABQ, we saw them north of Montano just east of the river on the Los Poblanos fields here).

Just by chance we saw these birds when driving home on Friday morning. We immediately turned around and stopped to watch these guys do their thing. It was pretty amazing to see these fairly large birds fly up and land as they hopped between feeding areas. They look very graceful on the ground and when flying, but in transition they look like awkward aircraft with oversized landing gear.



We subsequently read up on the cranes, and found out they migrate here from northern Canada and winter here in the Southwest, and parts of California and Florida. The city's website has all kinds of details here, there is a really cool NPR story of it here, and a neat and concise website about the birds here. Now that we have a little shaver, I think one of these years we will head down to the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, about 100 miles south of the ABQ and apparently where you go if you are serious about seeing these fellows (check out some of the photos on this website). Pretty cool!