The Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge

The Bosque del Apache Wildlife Refuge is located 15 miles south of San Antonio, New Mexico, in a preserve of 57,191 acres along the Rio Grande. It is managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. There are miles of marshes and wetlands, as well as manmade canals which divert the water. It’s really something to see -- an oasis in the desert of central New Mexico with the Chupadera Mountains on the west and the San Pascual Mountains on the east.

The name means “woods of the Apache” and it is said the name comes from the times when the Spaniards observed Apache Indians camped in the area.

Tens of thousands of birds--including sandhill cranes, Arctic geese, and many kinds of ducks--gather each autumn and stay through the winter.

We visited last weekend. There is a very nice visitor center and compound, and you can drive the circuit around the refuge looking for wildlife throughout the bosque, stopping at observation points and taking pictures. Most of the migratory birds had already left when we visited, but we saw many kinds of small ducks and birds, some egrets and geese … and even a skunk meandering along the bank at one of the marshes.

We are looking forward to a trip back when the wildlife population has returned in the fall.