We spent a month at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, New Mexico, in part of October and November of this year on our way home from Yellowstone. Today I got to thinking about something: Every spring we leave southeast Texas and drive to Bosque del Apache, stay there a few weeks and then go to Yellowstone. In the fall we reverse the trip. We see sandhill cranes around the area we live in southeast Texas in the winter, in Bosque del Apache in the fall and in Yellowstone during the summer. They migrate along the same path as we do! I think that is pretty neat! There are other sandhills in North America that migrate along the Pacific, Mississippi, and Atlantic Flyways. But “our” sandhils and us migrate along the Central Flyway.
We usually beat them to Yellowstone in the spring and to Bosque del Apache in the fall. But then we drive and they have to fly under their own power. It is about 1,700 miles by road, a little shorter as the crow, or the sandhill crane flies. We have made the trip 40 times for a total of 136,000 miles. Sandhills can live from 20 to 40 years so they fly somewhere between 68,000 and 136,000 miles in their lifetime. That should also mean that a few sandhills have made the trip with us 40 times.
When we first got to Bosque del Apache this fall there were about 100 or so sandhills. When we left just before Thanksgiving there were over 10,000. In early October a leucistic sandhill crane was discovered at Bosque del Apache.
A leucistic animal doesn’t have as much color as it should but it is not a true albino because it does have some color. This one had some gray feathers, the red on its head and normal colored eyes. But it appeared to lack all pigment in its legs and bill and most of its feathers. It was pretty easy to spot in October but by the middle of November it was much harder to find amongst all of the other sandhills. We talked to a couple of the guys who work at Bosque del Apache about the leucistic bird. You could tell they were quite proud the bird appeared to be planning to spend the winter there. They do a super job of managing that refuge so I was really happy for them.
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You and the sandhills, flying south. Such a nice thought, and 40 times – as long as you head back north in the spring. Very interesting about the leucistic sandhill and I would bet that it was exciting for the refuge.