Bosque del Apache, December 2020: Sunrise

My sunrise time at Bosque del Apache on my visit five years earlier had honestly been a little disappointing.  I saw almost no cranes, and the one flock of geese I came across was a little too far away and at a poor angle to the light to get truly dramatic pictures.  I was hoping for better this time.

My first instinct was to head right back to where I had left off the night before since I had seen Sandhill Cranes apparently bedding down for the night there.  Even in the dim predawn light I could tell I'd made the right choice, as the pond had both cranes and geese in abundance.

The cranes began departing before the sun had risen, leaving in small groups.

Standing on the west side of the pond as I was, silhouettes were the order of the morning.

Blast-offs are always enthralling.  The most interesting aspect of the geese's departure was that it didn't build gradually as I'd expected.  As if an alarm inaudible to humans had gone off, the flock rose en masse.  Also interestingly, they didn't really go anywhere.  They just milled about in the sky for a bit before landing right back on the same pond.  Go figure.

Color is mostly in the clouds, and there were at least a few that took on a nice cotton candy hue as sunrise drew closer.

Tough choice on the right composition.  This portrait orientation doesn't have the vast expanse of empty blue sky that the landscape version does, but it also doesn't include any birds.  Still probably the one I prefer of the two.

The moment of sunrise itself was magical as it almost always is.  Just an experience that always makes me glad to be alive.

Even with the earlier blast-off some geese still decided to fly around a bit.  More opportunities for in-flight silhouettes for me!  I took a chance following this small group until the just-risen sun nearly blinded me with its brightness.  But given the shot I was able to get it, I'd say it was totally worth it.

I decided to keep shooting straight into the sun, really enjoying the full effect of golden hour.

This particular goose was wonderfully stationary, anchoring both my wide and close shots of the scene.  I loved the shots I was getting so much I literally jumped up and down and giggled with glee.  Not too many things in life can elicit that sort of a reaction from me, which is why I still love nature photography so much.

As the sun continued to rise and the gold faded, beautiful reflections became visible on the mirror-still surface of the pond.

I caught sight of a Bald Eagle perched on a tree a good distance away, and wasn't able to get any decent shots of it.  But I did take some rare telephoto lens landscape shots that turned out pretty well.

Just a beautiful, calm morning that yielded everything I had hoped for.  I don't know if I'll ever return to Bosque del Apache, only because it would be hard to top my experience this year!

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!

Bosque del Apache, December 2020: Afternoon

My third and final Tuesday stop was the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge.  I had a great albeit chilly initial visit to the refuge five years earlier to see the migrating Sandhill Cranes and Snow Geese.  I was hoping for a comparable experience this time around.

I got three different things right upon my arrival -- warm temperatures, clear skies, and a huge flock of geese at the first pond on the Tour Loop Road.

I had the right ingredients for some great pictures.  All I needed to add to the mix was patience.  So I waited and kept an eye out for birds who were landing or diving in the hopes of special moments.

A small flock of Red-Winged Blackbirds would occasionally take wing as a group.  Not enough to probably call them a true murmuration, but still enough to be interesting.

An even smaller collection of Canada Geese all took wing at once.

Blackbirds again, but I like this shot because of the geese on the ground and the namesake trace of red in their wings they show at this angle.

Ross's Goose coming in for a landing.  I honestly don't know the difference between Ross's Geese and Snow Geese, but I'm confident that iNaturalist does and it says this is a Ross's Goose.  So, Ross's Goose.

The geese had done a full blast-off before I was at the actual pond.  I heard it first, then I watched them circle around for a while as I drove up.  And in the hour I spent there they never did it again, although there was a period when small groups would take flight in progressively closer and closer bunches.

The reason soon became clear -- a coyote just sauntering by, looking for all the world like it had no interest whatsoever in all the birds around.  The birds, for their part, were quite interested in the coyote.

After my hour with the geese I drove the loop looking for cranes, and eventually found them on the North Loop.  Not close enough for great shots, but enough for documentation.

All in all, a really terrific afternoon!

Bosque del Apache Cranes & Geese

I had two main reasons for adding a detour to Bosque del Apache NWR to my winter break road trip with Zak: sandhill cranes and snow geese. Fortunately, I was able to see and shoot both.

The cranes were first on Saturday afternoon and evening.  I set up at the end of the John P. Taylor, Jr. Memorial Trail before sunset and watched a small flock eat and gradually take off to head for their sleeping pond.  They left individually or in small groups, giving me plenty of opportunities for in-flight shots as some passed overhead.

I'm not sure why this one would have been apparently carrying nesting materials in its beak.

All too soon the sun dipped below the horizon and silhouettes became the best remaining option.

The frequency of their takeoffs and size of their groups grew as darkness continued to descend.

But even then, I was occasionally able to isolate an individual.

The golden glow to the west provided a beautiful backdrop to the birds as they headed to sleep.  I was very pleased with what I'd been able to get here -- a slight improvement over my efforts three years ago at Monte Vista NWR.

As Zak and I left the refuge in the dark, I'd stop periodically and listen for the sounds of snow geese squawking.  I made a mental note of where they sounded the loudest, and that's where we returned the following morning hoping to catch them "blasting off."  While I was right about the location, they flew off to eat 45 minutes before sunrise -- much too early for me to have enough light for a decent shot.  Fortunately, as we continued our drive we found where they were headed -- just a few miles north to a field right off the loop.

I stopped and began shooting their arrival, as small groups continued to join the large flock already on the ground.

I had hoped for another blast-off eventually, but instead like the cranes the night before they left this area in drips and drabs.  And I hadn't picked an optimal spot to park, being a little farther away and with the sun directly behind me.  So on my third attempt at snow geese in my third different state, I didn't quite get the shots I'd hoped for.  But I do have great memories, and look forward to returning for another attempt. :)

A whirlwind week had come to an end.  Well, it would come to an end after we drove the 10 hours back home.  But the photo part was over with more than 2,000 images to go through.  And here I am, nearly a month later, finishing up my final blog post about the journey.  My overall expectations had most definitely been met.  But now I'm out of photos to go through!

I guess I'll just have to head out shooting again soon.  Hardly a bad problem to have. :)

Bosque del Apache NWR

I knew from the moment Danelle suggested it that my winter break road trip to Colorado would be fantastic. When I realized I could take a slight detour on the return trip home and drive down to Bosque del Apache, that just took my anticipation to another exciting level.

For the first seven hours of the drive from Denver the skies were fantastic -- mostly sunny with just a few puffy clouds.  When we were just 40 miles away, the clouds got thick.  Way too thick.  We arrived at the visitor center a little after 1 p.m. with time running out for an improvement in the conditions.  For our first few hours there, the best shot I could muster was a somewhat abstract image of the wind blowing through some reeds along the Boardwalk Trail.

Eventually we could see things starting to improve to the west.  And fortunately, the wind was blowing east.  The visitor center volunteers had recommended the John P. Taylor, Jr. Memorial Trail as a good place to potentially find sandhill cranes or snow geese.  The universe aligned as we got to the end of the trail and we got all three things we were looking for -- sunlight, cranes, and geese. :)

A favorite tactic of mine -- turning around to see what's behind me -- worked fabulously after shooting the cranes and geese.  This lone tree stood on the edge of an irrigation canal with a beautiful mountain backdrop.

I made a mental note of the location where we saw the cranes and geese as a possible location to return for sunset, and we continued driving the loop road around the refuge.  The clear skies and light winds were now yielding lovely reflections in the various waterways.

Dabbling ducks dabbling in their best synchronized-swimming style.

As the sun continued its descent and golden hour began, the landscape took on a delightful warm hue.

I did indeed return to my earlier vantage point at the end of the Taylor Trail for sunset.  One pleasant surprise was this huge flock of red-winged blackbirds ....

... and another was a small family group of javelinas who emerged from the corn field and literally headed off into the sunset.

After gorging on shots of sandhill cranes until well after the sun went down -- which I'm devoting another entire blog post to -- we headed for home.  But the reflection of this tree off of open water between two frozen sections caught my eye and required an unscheduled stop first.

Sunday morning was devoted to geese, which I didn't do so well with.  From there I got a tip that the feeders at the visitor center would likely provide some good opportunities -- and definitely some warmer ones.  So that was our final stop.  We did see lots of action, including Gambel's quail, which was a first for me.  But shooting through the window went very poorly.  In the end, this house finch capture was my only decent effort.

More to come!