Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
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restaurant rambles through three rooms and is anchored by a classic wooden bar in the
back. Service is good. For lunch, locals seem to prefer burgers in a variety of types or
salads such as the Asian chicken, with mandarin oranges, chow mein noodles, and sesame
vinaigrette. At dinner, the steaks are a good choice, served with soup or salad, vegetable,
and potato or rice, as are the Cajun dishes (the restaurant owner's relations cook at many
venues in Louisiana, so he's pulled recipes from them). The shrimp étoufée is quite nice.
A brief but international wine list and a selection of brew pub beers accompany the
menu. Thursday through Saturday nights, live music—ranging from folk to country to
blues to jazz—plays.
Bernard and Abeyta (just north of Plaza).
&
575/835-2403.
www.stagedoorgrill.net. Reservations rec-
ommended Fri-Sat. Main courses $7-$20. AE, DISC, MC, V. Daily 11am-10pm.
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BOSQUE DEL APACHE
16 miles S of Socorro; 85 miles S of Albuquerque; 100 miles N of Las Cruces
By Ian Wilker
The barren lands to either side of I-25 south of Albuquerque seem hardly fit for rattle-
snakes, much less one of the Southwest's greatest concentrations of wildlife. The plants
that do find purchase in the parched washes and small canyons along the road—forbid-
dingly named hardies such as creosote bush, tarbush, and white thorn—serve notice that
you are indeed within the northernmost finger of the great Chihuahuan Desert, which
covers southern New Mexico and southwestern Texas, and runs deep into Mexico.
However, to the east of the interstate is the green-margined Rio Grande. In the midst
of such a blasted landscape, the river stands out as an inviting beacon to wildlife, and
nowhere does it shine more brightly than at Bosque del Apache's 7,000 acres of carefully
managed riparian habitat, which includes marshlands, meadows, agricultural fields,
arrow-weed thickets on the riverbanks, and big old-growth cottonwoods lining what
were once the oxbows of the river. The refuge supports a riot of wildlife, including all the
characteristic mammals and reptiles of the Southwest (mule deer, jackrabbits, and coyotes
are common), and about 377 species of birds.
A visit here during the peak winter season—from November to March—is one of the
most consistently thrilling wildlife spectacles you can see anywhere in the lower 48 states,
especially if you're an avid bird-watcher. Bosque del Apache is, you might say, the LAX
of the Central Flyway, one of four paths that migratory birds follow every year between
their summer breeding grounds in the tundral north and wintering grounds in the south-
ern United States, Mexico, and even as far away as South America—and many of these
birds either stop over here to recharge their batteries or settle down for the winter.
It's not enough to say that hundreds of species of birds are on hand. The wonder is in
the sheer numbers of them. In early December the refuge may harbor as many as 45,000
snow geese, 57,000 ducks of many different species, and 18,000 sandhill cranes—huge,
ungainly birds that nonetheless have a special majesty in flight, pinkish in the sun at
dawn or dusk. Plenty of raptors are also about—numerous red-tailed hawks and north-
ern harriers (sometimes called marsh hawks), Cooper's hawks and kestrels, and even bald
and golden eagles—as well as Bosque del Apache's many year-round avian residents:
pheasants and quail, wild turkeys, and much-mythologized roadrunners (
El Paisano,
in
Mexican folklore). Everyone will be mesmerized by the huge societies of sandhills, ducks,
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