For 40 years, I had heard and read about this autumn gathering-place for America's sandhill cranes, but for reasons unknown I thought it was in Texas. That thought was the impetus for packing my spotting scope and window-mount for our trip to Big Bend; it wasn't until we were well into New Mexico on our return from Texas that I realized I'd been wrong for decades. We had a delightful day, using the car as my blind, watching cranes, a variety of ducks, a few grebes, and thousands of snow geese. My photo equipment isn't up to the requirements of bird photography by any means, so only a few avians made it to these pages, but their calls will echo throughout the winter in my mind.
