The sandhill cranes that feed north of Montaño each winter are eating from a farm, and the farmers who work Los Poblanos Fields Open Space file their plans for its 138 acres with the City of Albuquerque.
The cranes usually reach the Albuquerque area around mid-October and stay until the beginning of March. That's according to Bill Pentler, visitor services supervisor for the Albuquerque Open Space Division, speaking to KRQE. He named "Poblanos Fields north of Montaño" first among the open spaces where they spend their days. By early November, the season is well underway on the field next door.
A Farm the City Bought So It Would Stay a Farm
Los Poblanos Fields is one of the largest remaining agricultural properties in the North Valley. The City purchased it in 1997 with money from a temporary quarter-cent gross receipts tax. The Village of Los Ranchos de Albuquerque, Bernalillo County and the State of New Mexico also helped pay for it. The City annexed the lower 48 acres. The upper 90 acres sit inside the Village. The City also counts the land among the oldest farm parcels in the valley because of its ties to one of the earliest Spanish Colonial settlements along the Rio Grande.
The property's management plan sets its priority plainly: "to maintain agriculture as the primary use of the property, and provide compatible wildlife habitat areas, public use programs and visitor facilities." Agriculture comes first in that sentence, and wildlife follows from it, so the farm's crop choices shape how much food is out there for the cranes.
What Went Into the Ground
The City contracts with partner farmers who file yearly crop plans. The plans posted on the City's farmer crop plans page are for 2025. They show the kinds of crops the City's partners have been raising on the property, though a new season's plan can differ.
| Farm partner | What the 2025 plan lists for Los Poblanos Fields |
|---|---|
| Rasband Dairy | Alfalfa across its fields, plus 16 acres of sorghum/Sudan grass in Field 2 |
| Rio Grande Community Farm | Wildlife plantings of grains, trees, sunflowers and flowering plants, with crops including alfalfa, sorghum, vetch, teff and barley |
| Southwest Soil Health | Six acres of buckwheat and yellow pea, and 19 acres of alfalfa and tall fescue in Field 5 |
Those crop choices matter for crane watching because cranes don't stay loyal to an empty field. "During the day, they fly to farm fields and stuff and look for food," Pentler told KRQE. "If the fields don't have a lot of food, then they're going to move to a different field." Los Poblanos Fields competes for the same flocks as farm fields in Corrales, Valle de Oro in the South Valley and the Open Space Visitor Center across the river, which KRQE's report listed as other daytime spots. On any given afternoon, crane activity at Los Poblanos Fields depends on how much food is left there compared with those other fields.
The Other Half of a Crane's Day Runs Through a Work Zone
Feeding is only the daytime half of the routine. "In the evening, they'll fly to the river where they'll be able to hear predators approach when it's dark," KRQE reported, summarizing Pentler. For neighbors, the river is the Rio Grande bosque a short walk southwest. This season the east-side bosque just south of Montaño is the City's busiest restoration site.
The Open Space Division and its contractors scheduled jetty-jack removal to start October 13, 2026, on the east side of the Rio Grande, south of Montaño Road and north of Campbell Road. The steel jacks date back to flood control. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Reclamation started installing them in the 1950s, and by 1962 there were 115,000 in the bosque. The City's reason for removing them now is fire response. Firefighters can't move effectively through areas with jetty jacks, especially at night. Crews first remove the wires and cables, then the jacks themselves.
The same stretch is also getting hazardous-fuels work. The City, New Mexico State Forestry and the Ciudad Soil and Water Conservation District plan to treat up to 126 acres between Montaño and Campbell. An 18-acre demonstration area was treated starting March 30, 2026. The rest is scheduled for "later this fall and into next year," after migratory bird nesting season. Crews are removing invasive trees and dead or downed wood. Follow-up work will clear resprouts and plant native vegetation. Biologists check project areas for wildlife habitat, and trees or areas identified as habitat are left alone along with a 50-foot buffer.
For an evening walk toward the river, the practical point is that trail closures will last as long as the project. The City posts them on its Rio Grande Bosque Projects page and along the trail. Check that page before heading toward Montaño or Campbell, and look for signs at the trailhead. If you missed the public meetings on June 3 and September 3, 2026, recordings are linked from the same page. Questions go to the Bosque Manager at (505) 768-4204.
Watching From the Field Edge
Since the riverside half of the routine comes with posted closures this winter, the field half is where crane watching is most dependable. Los Poblanos Fields is open for wildlife viewing, walking, jogging, bicycling, horseback riding and picnicking. Vehicle access is off Montaño Road west of 4th Street, with a gravel lot on the west side of Tierra Viva Road. A second lot near the Rio Grande Community Farm garden rows at the far northeast end is reached from Solar Road and Arbor Road.
Pentler's guidance on behavior is short. Photos are fine, but leave the birds alone and don't feed them. "Normally, if you go to fields and you start walking towards them, they're all going to take off," he told KRQE. "They're going to be nervous and not comfortable around people, and that's the way they should be." In practice, binoculars from the path work better than walking closer for a photo.
The Open Space Visitor Center at 6500 Coors Blvd NW, across the river, offers a different view. Its farm is managed as a wildlife preserve and closed to the public, but a land bridge reaches out into the fields and a viewing tower sits above the building, with the Sandias and the cottonwoods behind. The wildlife fields there rotate corn, sorghum, millet and alfalfa. The center is open Tuesday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. It closes on major holidays and the day after Thanksgiving, which falls on November 27 this year.
To the south, at the end of Candelaria Road, Rio Grande Nature Center State Park has a visitor pond, and the City lists sandhill cranes among the wildlife drawn to it. The grounds are open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and the visitor center 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The park is closed on Thanksgiving and Christmas. Parking is $5 per vehicle under the 2026 state fee table, and walk-in and bicycle visitors enter free.
November's Crane Calendar
Most of the month's organized events fall on two Saturdays, with one Sunday program between them, at sites within a short drive of Montaño.
- Saturday, November 7, 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. The free Bosque Wild Guided Hike leaves from the Open Space Visitor Center.
- Saturday, November 7, 10 a.m. to noon. Nature Art in the Park at Rio Grande Nature Center State Park. The regular entrance fee applies.
- Sunday, November 15, 10:30 a.m. to noon. Poetry in the Park at the Nature Center, also with the regular entrance fee.
- Saturday, November 21, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. The free Annual Crane Festival at the Open Space Visitor Center, with live birds, educational presentations, nature activities and crafts.
- Saturday, November 21, 10 a.m. to noon. Family Nature Club: Magnificent Migration runs during the festival. It's free and covers how to use binoculars, followed by viewing cranes in the fields next to the center.
Closer to home, the farm on the north side of Montaño is also on a winter schedule. Campo at Los Poblanos Historic Inn & Organic Farm describes its fall menu as moving toward winter squash, roots and hearty greens. According to Campo's posted hours, brunch runs Thursday through Sunday, and dinner and the bar are open daily. The inn's events calendar lists a Kermit Lynch wine dinner on Friday, November 6. The cranes and the restaurant draw on the same kind of land, irrigated North Valley fields still in production.
If you're curious how the farmland and bosque around Los Poblanos fit into everyday life here, from the fields north of Montaño to the river work south of it, The Lovely Home Company is glad to talk it through. Schedule a free consultation, and bring your questions about the North Valley along with your crane sightings.
