Weekend before Thanksgiving: 21st annual Festival of the Cranes
<center><img src="http://steppinoutnewmexico.com/images/BosqueTheGangsAllHereSM.jpg" border=1><br><font face="Arial Narrow" size=3><b>Elli Sorenson's "The Gang's All Here" is 2008's award winning Festival image.</b></font></center><br>
<img src=http://steppinoutnewmexico.com/images/Miler_art1.gif align=right border=1 alt="Leon Miler's art won this pretigious award last year">Socorro, NM – There’s something for everyone at the 21st Annual Festival of the Cranes.
The sandhill cranes are just beginning to arrive at the Bosque del Apache, but it isn’t too early to start signing up to attend this year’s Crane Festival.
The 2008, Festival begins Tuesday, Nov.18 and runs through Sunday afternoon, Nov. 22, with events at a variety of venues, from the Bosque to Elephant Butte Reservoir, the VLA to Trinity Site, the Quebradas and Sevilleta, and in Socorro itself.
There are workshops, tours and activities for those interested in the birds: seeing them, identifying them by sight and sound, attracting them, studying their habits and their habitats, learning their evolutionary history. There will be activities for non-birders: photography, painting, writing, gardening, as well as tours and lectures on geology, Native American and early New Mexico history, geocaching, and Tai Chi.
Thursday night Dr. Penelope Boston, Associate Director of the National Cave and Karst Research Institute and New Mexico Tech professor will describe her (sometimes dangerous!) experiences exploring the Fort Stanton Cave and its mysterious, crystalline Snowy River. The amazing animals and geomicroorganisms that inhabit or visit the cave system play vital roles in surface and subsurface ecosystems and may some day be key to the creation of life-saving pharmaceuticals.
<a href="http://steppinoutnewmexico.com/images/BOSQUE_FALL_07_1777_11X14_lg.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://steppinoutnewmexico.com/images/BOSQUE_FALL_07_1777_11X14_sm.jpg" align="right" border="1" alt="Jana Svobodova - Dancing Cranes Gallery, Luis Lopez" hspace=5></a>Saturday night our guest is Dr. Peter Raven, President of the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis. Dr. Raven is a renowned expert in the preservation of endangered plants, while being a staunch advocate for conservation and a sustainable environment. He will focus on habitat destruction and climate change and its impact on species survival in the 21st century.
There will be guided hikes, family activities, and weekend experiences with kids in mind. Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge will be featured in 3 tours, and the Gordon S. Ladd Waterfowl Complex near Bernardo will have volunteers on hand Saturday to show visitors the new decks and viewing areas available at the Complex.
Schedule brochures can be picked up at the Chamber of Commerce, the Heritage and Visitors Center, Socorro Public Library and the Skeen Library on the New Mexico Tech Campus. The schedule also is available online at: www.friendsofthebosque.org/crane (http://www.friendsofthebosque.org/crane). For more information call 835-2077.
<center><a href="http://steppinoutnewmexico.com/images/Bosque_08_Spring_478_11x14_lg.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://steppinoutnewmexico.com/images/Bosque_08_Spring_478_11x14_sm.jpg" align="center" border="1" alt="Spring 08 478 - by Jana Svobodova - Dancing Cranes Gallery, Luis Lopez, NM" hspace=5></a><br><font face="Arial Narrow" size=3><b>Spring 08 478 - by Jana Svobodova - Dancing Cranes Gallery, Luis Lopez, NM</b></font></center>
<center><img src="http://steppinoutnewmexico.com/images/BosqueTheGangsAllHereSM.jpg" border=1><br><font face="Arial Narrow" size=3><b>Elli Sorenson's "The Gang's All Here" is 2008's award winning Festival image.</b></font></center><br>
<img src=http://steppinoutnewmexico.com/images/Miler_art1.gif align=right border=1 alt="Leon Miler's art won this pretigious award last year">Socorro, NM – There’s something for everyone at the 21st Annual Festival of the Cranes.
The sandhill cranes are just beginning to arrive at the Bosque del Apache, but it isn’t too early to start signing up to attend this year’s Crane Festival.
The 2008, Festival begins Tuesday, Nov.18 and runs through Sunday afternoon, Nov. 22, with events at a variety of venues, from the Bosque to Elephant Butte Reservoir, the VLA to Trinity Site, the Quebradas and Sevilleta, and in Socorro itself.
There are workshops, tours and activities for those interested in the birds: seeing them, identifying them by sight and sound, attracting them, studying their habits and their habitats, learning their evolutionary history. There will be activities for non-birders: photography, painting, writing, gardening, as well as tours and lectures on geology, Native American and early New Mexico history, geocaching, and Tai Chi.
Thursday night Dr. Penelope Boston, Associate Director of the National Cave and Karst Research Institute and New Mexico Tech professor will describe her (sometimes dangerous!) experiences exploring the Fort Stanton Cave and its mysterious, crystalline Snowy River. The amazing animals and geomicroorganisms that inhabit or visit the cave system play vital roles in surface and subsurface ecosystems and may some day be key to the creation of life-saving pharmaceuticals.
<a href="http://steppinoutnewmexico.com/images/BOSQUE_FALL_07_1777_11X14_lg.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://steppinoutnewmexico.com/images/BOSQUE_FALL_07_1777_11X14_sm.jpg" align="right" border="1" alt="Jana Svobodova - Dancing Cranes Gallery, Luis Lopez" hspace=5></a>Saturday night our guest is Dr. Peter Raven, President of the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis. Dr. Raven is a renowned expert in the preservation of endangered plants, while being a staunch advocate for conservation and a sustainable environment. He will focus on habitat destruction and climate change and its impact on species survival in the 21st century.
There will be guided hikes, family activities, and weekend experiences with kids in mind. Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge will be featured in 3 tours, and the Gordon S. Ladd Waterfowl Complex near Bernardo will have volunteers on hand Saturday to show visitors the new decks and viewing areas available at the Complex.
Schedule brochures can be picked up at the Chamber of Commerce, the Heritage and Visitors Center, Socorro Public Library and the Skeen Library on the New Mexico Tech Campus. The schedule also is available online at: www.friendsofthebosque.org/crane (http://www.friendsofthebosque.org/crane). For more information call 835-2077.
<center><a href="http://steppinoutnewmexico.com/images/Bosque_08_Spring_478_11x14_lg.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://steppinoutnewmexico.com/images/Bosque_08_Spring_478_11x14_sm.jpg" align="center" border="1" alt="Spring 08 478 - by Jana Svobodova - Dancing Cranes Gallery, Luis Lopez, NM" hspace=5></a><br><font face="Arial Narrow" size=3><b>Spring 08 478 - by Jana Svobodova - Dancing Cranes Gallery, Luis Lopez, NM</b></font></center>