Monday, January 25, 2010 - Bosque Birdwatchers RV Park, San Antonio NM
< previous day | archives | next day >
Birding the Bosque, Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, San Antonio NM, January 25, 2010
I've been walking down the highway to these Sandhill Crane roosting areas near sunrise or sunset for some exercise - this is the scene I'm usually greeted with. People come here from all over the world. I'm told the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge is a rare opportunity for birders to get this close to the birds so easily. It certainly is a treat for me.
An expensive treat for me I'm afraid - after much agonizing over whether I wanted to get this deep into photography (and encouragement from birders in this picture not to invest in a camera I'll soon outgrow) I took the leap and ordered the highly rated Canon EOS 7D 18 MP CMOS Digital SLR Camera with 3-inch LCD and 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM Standard Zoom Lens from Amazon. With overnight delivery of course - I'm getting antsy already!
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
Heliograph routes of the 1890 Practice
The date was May 15th, 1890, and the Army's Department of Arizona had just completed a major heliograph practice; it was, in fact, the largest the world had ever seen. I call it the "Volkmar Practice", after the man responsible for it, Col. Wm. J. Volkmar, the Assistant Adjutant General and Chief Signal Officer for the Department of Arizona. Although the practice lasted only sixteen days, preparations for it took months of reconnaissance and preparation. Involved in the long range signaling maneuvers were twenty-five heliograph stations stretching from Whipple Barracks near Prescott to Fort Stanton near Ruidoso, New Mexico. My guess is that close to two hundred men were involved, both cavalry and infantry.