Friday, January 15, 2010 - Bosque Birdwatchers RV Park, San Antonio NM
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Gathering at the roost, Sandhill Cranes, Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, San Antonio NM, January 14, 2010
Yesterday my friends Kate & Terry invited me along for a sunset photo shoot of the Sandhill Cranes gathering to roost in the shallow ponds along the highway at the north end of the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge. I've seen the cranes flying between their roosting and feeding grounds down at Percha Dam State Park, Arrey NM and at PanchoVilla and I've seen them feeding with the cows here and there but this was my first experience of them roosting. Ever have a preconceived notion dashed? Somehow I had the idea these birds roosted on dry land, or maybe in trees even. I guess I never really thought about it. They roost in these shallow waters away from shore - out where the coyotes can't sneak up on them snoozing. Well, duh!
Night camp
Site 16 - Bosque Bird Watcher's RV Park, San Antonio NM
- This is a basic, small Mom & Pop RV Park with full hookups.
- Verizon cell phone and Broadband service are available here with a strong signal.
- Locate Bosque Bird Watcher's RV Park on my Night Camps map
- Click for Google street view
- Check the weather in San Antonio NM
Skepticism is Helpful
If you want to notice things that seem wrong, you'll find a degree of skepticism helpful. I take it as an axiom that we're only achieving 1% of what we could. This helps counteract the rule that gets beaten into our heads as children: that things are the way they are because that is how things have to be. For example, everyone I've talked to while writing this essay felt the same about English classes-- that the whole process seemed pointless. But none of us had the balls at the time to hypothesize that it was, in fact, all a mistake. We all thought there was just something we weren't getting.
The Age of the Essay, Paul Graham, September 2004