THURSDAY, Nov 18, 2010 FESTIVAL OF THE CRANES Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge

THURSDAY, November 18, 2010

Walk Out to Fly Out
5:30 AM to 7:30 AM
TH25 - $5 Bus Stop, Bosque Visitor Center
It’s early, it’s dark, and it’s cold, but this is one event you shouldn’t miss. When thousands of cranes and geese take flight, the sight and sound is spectacular. Dress warmly and meet in the Visitor Center parking lot for a short bus ride and walk to the roosting area. Offered Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Limit 80.

Bosque Birding Intensive
5:30 AM to 9:30 AM
TH26 - $75 Bus Stop, Bosque Visitor Center
A tour for intermediate and expert birders. You will have the most experienced guides and birding assistants the Bosque has to offer for a morning of serious birding. Coffee and pastries are provided but the focus is on BIRDING. Your host will be Cecil Kimberlin, long-time guide at the Bosque del Apache NWR, ably assisted by volunteers Michael Hilchey, Sally Ginet and Cathie Sandell. This event is offered Thursday and Friday. Limit 12.

Sandhill Crane Behavior
5:30 AM to 11:30 AM
TH27 - $80 Bosque, Lannan
The most comprehensive training on cranes offered at any crane festival, this morning-long workshop will teach you many of the common vocalizations, body language and other characteristics of sandhill cranes. You’ll learn to recognize juveniles, tell subspecies apart, distinguish between dancing and aggression and many other details that will help you better understand and appreciate sandhill cranes. At first light we will listen to the cranes on their roosting spots to identify vocalizations and other behaviors. We then move to the classroom for breakfast and viewing many behaviors on film before traveling to different locations on the Refuge to watch and interpret crane interactions. Your instructors are Paul Tebbel, Keanna Leonard and Robert Kruidenier. Warm shoes and warm, layered clothing recommended. Limit 20. Offered Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday.

Land, Sea and Air
8:30 AM to 2:00 PM
TH28 - $90 Marina del Sur, Elephant Butte Lake
Sea birds, diving ducks, cormorants, grebes, white pelicans and more can be found in a dramatic geological setting at Elephant Butte Lake. Join Friends Board member Steve Green and Tamie Bulow, Conventions and Tours Manager of the American Birding Association, for this exciting trip aboard a 44-foot twin-engine houseboat, followed by birding on land. Breakfast snacks and a full lunch, featuring locally grown and produced foods, will be served. The boat will leave promptly at 9 am from Marina del Sur at Elephant Butte State Park and will return to the same location around noon. From there we caravan (5-10 minutes) to the riparian area at the base of Elephant Butte Dam for more birding. Take exit 83 on I-25 and follow signs to the State Park. As the park is a 90-minute drive from Socorro, you may want to stay the night before the trip in Truth or Consequences. We will be happy to send information on accommodations close to the tour site. The price of the tour is refundable if the weather is such that the trip has to be canceled. Be sure to note your dietary requirements on the meals page of the registration form. Warm clothing is recommended. Limit 14. Offered Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

Birding Sevilleta
8:30 AM to 3:00 PM
TH29 - $10 Sevilleta NWR
Discover another side of Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge! Explore grasslands, short grass prairie and Piñon-Juniper woodlands in search of some winged residents. Enjoy this rare opportunity to discover the magic of Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge and its many inhabitants. Wear sturdy shoes, dress for the weather, and bring a lunch. This tour includes some easy to moderate walking over uneven terrain. Take I-25 north from Socorro to exit 169, turn west and go ¾ mile to the Refuge Visitor Center. Limit 12.

Hope for the Whoopers
9:00 AM to 10:00 AM
TH30 - $5 Macey Center
Ken Lavish works with the whooping crane restoration efforts at Patuxent Wildlife Research Center in Maryland. As a volunteer there, he dons a crane costume each spring to help with rearing the crane chicks. His presentation will include background information about declines in whooping crane populations as well as current methods used to save the whooping cranes such as costume rearing, ultralight airplane guided migration, and a relatively new technique called direct autumn release.

Hike: El Camino Real
9:00 AM to 12:30 PM
TH31 - $5 El Camino Heritage Center
Join Lise Spargo and JR Seeger for a hike along a wellmaintained BLM trail that meanders through the high desert ridgeline overlooking the Rio Grande. The 6.2 mile (round trip) hike begins and ends at El Camino Real International Heritage Center and has excellent views of native Rio Grande riverine habitat and Mesa Contadera, Ft. Craig and the Val Verde Civil War Battlefield. The hike is moderately strenuous with minimal elevation gain. Wear comfortable clothing, light hiking boots or running shoes and bring water, sunscreen, insect repellent and lunch if you are planning to stay for the Heritage Center tour that follows (TH40). To reach the Heritage Center, take I-25 south to exit 115 and follow the signs. The Center is approximately 38 miles south of Socorro. Limit 15.

Refuge Birding Tour
9:30 AM to 11:30 AM
TH32 - $5 Bus Stop, Bosque Visitor Center
The Refuge Birding Tour focuses on the species that can be seen within the Bosque del Apache NWR. The exact tour route will depend on the distribution of birds on that day. Offered Thursday and Friday. Limit 40.

All About Raptors
9:30 AM to 1:00 PM
TH33 - $35 BosqueVisitor Center
Join an experienced raptor handler for this comprehensive course on the identification of birds of prey. Dr. Kathleen Ramsay will combine live education birds, photographs and field observation to help you learn to recognize such things as the plumage variations in red-tailed hawks to telling the age of an immature bald eagle. This workshop will focus on specific features of different species while also providing you with interesting information about their habitat needs and behavior. Dr. Ramsay has been doing wildlife rehabilitation for 30 years. Offered Thursday and Friday. Limit 20.

The Business of Photography
10:00 AM to 12:00 PM
TH34 - $35 Bosque Visitor Center
In this 2-hour session, National Geographic Photographer Joel Sartore will discuss the nuts and bolts of working for National Geographic: the gear he carries, the research he must do, the time he commits to it. He’ll talk about the future of photography as a way to make a living and suggest a mix of things you can do to support your photography habit and “make your own fun.” Limit 40.

Backyard Bird Feeding
10:30 AM to 11:30 AM
TH35 - $5 Macey Center
For beginners and old hands alike, Barbara May of Wild Birds Unlimited will discuss backyard bird feeding, ways to enhance your backyard birding habitat and the latest in feeding equipment.

Northern Aplomado Falcon: Back from the Brink
10:30 AM to 11:30 AM
TH36 - $5 Macey Center
As photojournalists, birders and adventurers, Erv Nichols and Sandra Noll have documented the story of their summer in the New Mexico desert reintroducing Aplomado chicks back into the wild. Their presentation will include an overview of North American raptors and an explanation of how the work of The Peregrine Fund and others is helping to save an endangered species.

The Refuge
12:30 PM to 4:00 PM
TH37 - $10 Volunteer Lounge, Bosque
Bosque del Apache NWR is ideally situated in a flyway ecosystem that extends from Canada to Mexico, and offers rest and food to migrating wildlife. Join our Wildlife Biologist, John Vradenburg, for a presentation and tour showcasing some of the ongoing habitat management projects at Bosque del Apache NWR. See how Refuge staff transforms the land: creating habitat, restoring natural processes, and manipulating land and water to benefit a variety of wildlife. You’ll understand why the Refuge is one of fourteen Land Management Research and Demonstration Areas in the country that are outstanding examples of how applied research and habitat management work together. Limit 20.

Hike: Ojo de Amado
12:30 PM to 4:30 PM
TH38 - $5 Meet at Macey Center
Naturalist Bob Merkel will lead hikers into a strange little canyon off the Quebradas Scenic Backcountry Byway before reaching a spring (“ojo” in Spanish). On the way through the desert, you’ll see Paleozoic fossils and other curiosities in rocks that have been folded, mutilated, and exposed by geologic rifting. The hike is not really strenuous but will involve some rock scrambling and a long uphill pull back to the cars. Sturdy shoes or boots necessary; hiking stick and camera recommended. Limit 15.

Jaguar!
1:00 PM to 2:00 PM
TH39 - $5 Macey Center
Are jaguars returning to New Mexico? These beautiful and enormous cats once wandered throughout the Southwest and were long thought extinct. Then in 2006 one was observed in the Peloncillo Mountains of southern NewMexico. Join presenter Kevin Hansen and learn about the natural history and management of the largest wild feline in the Western Hemisphere.

El Camino Real International Heritage Center
1:00 PM to 3:00 PM
TH40 - $5 El Camino Heritage Center south of Bosque
From Mexico City to San Juan Pueblo/Ohkay Owenge, El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro (The Royal Road of the
Interior) was a 1500 mile trade route and is one of the oldest trails in the United States. Join us for a guided tour of El Camino Real International Heritage Center as we explore the history of the trail through art and artifacts, first-person stories, and treasures from the frontier of New Spain. To reach the Heritage Center, take I-25 south to exit 115 and follow the signs. The Center is approximately 38 miles south of Socorro. Limit 30.

Nature Journaling: Painting Your Field Notes
1:00 PM to 4:00 PM
TH41 - $35 Bosque Visitor Center
Learn to see quickly and record your observations in pencil and watercolor. Take a crash course in drawing from nature and how to translate your observations onto paper. Spend time looking and remembering, then make the eye hand connection resulting in drawings, paintings, and illustrations from the field. Be prepared to have fun, work hard, and be surprised! Bring a small drawing paper pad, at least 8 x 10, any soft pencils, charcoal or conte crayon, and/or drawing pens and ink. Bring a kneaded eraser, a small pan or tube watercolor set with pallette, and at least 2 sizes of good watercolor brushes. Colored pencils are acceptable. Water and water holders will be provided. Limit 20.

VLA Tour
1:30 PM to 3:30 PM
TH42 - Free VLA, 52 miles west of Socorro
The Very Large Array (VLA) is a world-famous radio telescope consisting of 27 giant dish antennas spread across the Plains of San Agustin 50 miles west of Socorro. In this special tour, you will learn about the history, operation and mission of this National Science Foundation project while touring the visitor center and walking to the base of one of the 25-meter (82-feet) dishes. Take Highway 60 west from Socorro to Magdalena. Continue west for 19 miles. Turn south on Route 52 and follow signs to the VLA Visitor Center. Allow one hour travel time from Socorro. Offered Thursday and Friday.

Night Shift
2:00 PM to 3:00 PM
TH43 - $5 Macey Center
Come see and learn about owls, one of nature’s most mysterious raptors. Master falconer and wildlife rehabilitator Matthew Mitchell will speak on owl behavior, physiology, and mythology. Limit 80.

Walk In to Fly In
4:30 PM to 6:30 PM
TH44 - $5 Bus Stop, Bosque Visitor Center
As the shadows grow long and the sun begins to set, thousands of geese and cranes return to the nighttime safety of the marshes at the Bosque. Meet at the Visitor Center parking lot for a short bus ride and walk to the roost area to view this spectacular scene. Wear comfortable shoes and dress warmly. Offered Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Limit 80.

Friends Annual Dinner
6:00 PM to 7:30 PM
TH45 - $37 Macey Center, Mezzanine
The Friends of the Bosque del Apache NWR invite you to join us at the annual Friends Banquet on the Macey Center Mezzanine. Open to everyone, the banquet provides the opportunity to meet the Friends Board and Friends members in an informal setting, as well as National Geographic photographer Joel Sartore, our keynote speaker. Dinner is catered by Chartwells of New Mexico Tech. Be sure to make your dinner selection on the registration form. Dress is casual. Limit 75.

Keynote Speaker: Joel Sartore
Grounded: A Reflection on the Use of Life and Land
8:00 PM to 9:30 PM
TH46 - $5 Macey Center
Joel Sartore has been a contributing photographer for National Geographic Magazine for nearly two decades. He’s been nose-to-nose with animals with very large teeth, he’s intimately acquainted with flesh-eating parasites, he has been to places and had experiences most of us can only appreciate through his photographs. Sartore is a native Nebraskan who has experienced Sandhill Cranes as they stop to rest on their migration routes. He has photographed endangered animals in an effort to call attention to their plight and to help us do what we must to save them. Come listen as he recounts not only the years spent shooting for National Geographic, but how his wife’s recent battle with breast cancer refocused and reconnected him to his family and with the reason he takes pictures in the first place; to show people the natural world, get them to care, and save the Earth. Copies of Joel’s latest book RARE: Portraits of America’s Endangered Species will be available for purchase and signing following the lecture. It also will be available in the Bosque Nature Store.