Bosque del Apache, December 2020: Evening

Spending some time with a mixed flock of geese was a great start to my visit to Bosque del Apache.  But what I had really come for were Sandhill Cranes.  After driving most of the Tour Loop I found them, and just in time as golden hour had begun and the birds were starting to head from their feeding grounds to their sleeping sites.

I found a good spot to park off to the side of the road where cranes were regularly flying overhead and light was coming from the right angle, and waited.  My patience was regularly rewarded with flyovers.

I actually had cranes fly by with the sun behind me and with the sun behind them, giving me some variety in my shots.

And being golden hour, the light was generally nice and warm.

I didn't have my D750 on my visit five years earlier, and my flight shots now were crisper with the new body.

For herbivores, Sandhill Cranes can still look pretty majestic in flight.  Not menacing like a raptor, but still impressive.

Most of my shots were, frankly, terrible.  Out of focus, or cutting off body parts, or just otherwise uninteresting.  But when you shoot a high enough volume, some of them are bound to be solid.

I really was pleased with the light.  Most of the flybys were at just enough of an angle so the sun  didn't wash out the birds.

The closer a bird flew by the more challenging it was to get that bird fully in the frame, and with a sharp eye.  Fortunately, I was able to pull it off on a few occasions.

Having gotten my fill of flight shots I packed up and started to head out of the refuge.  But on the way out I passed a pond where a number of cranes had clearly decided to spend the night.  I was happy to hop out of my car and capture this pair in the day's waning light.

My track record with ducks isn't great.  I find them to typically be pretty skittish and reluctant to let me close enough for especially good shots.  So I was shocked that a Northern Shoveler seemed perfectly content to swim idly by at a fairly short distance.  I wonder if the sun was so low at this point that the birds couldn't make out shapes on shore?  Whatever the case, I took my attention off the cranes long enough to take this guy's portrait.

I spent a very relaxing for hours or so at the refuge, and saw what I had come for.  But I still planned a return trip in the morning to catch the sunrise!