View allAll Photos Tagged BosquedelApache
I really enjoyed the light on this morning. There was just enough dust and cloud cover to make the sunrise quite vibrant and golden. The wind could have been from another direction but that's nature and wildlife photography. You get what you get! Images tend to be grainy in such low light and I've never been a fan of grain in photography (single malt Scotch is another story) so I will sometimes sacrifice some detail for a more pleasant and to me more natural to the eye editing style. We imagine much greater detail than we can see in the beautiful dimness of dawn.
Sandhill Cranes leaving their nightly roost for the day.
Bosque del Apache, NM. Frankly, I'm way lucky to have gotten this shot. Franco and I were watching this eagle in a tree near one of the Bosque ponds which was wall-to-wall ducks. The eagle, however, had some rude ravens hounding it. So I put my 2x and cable release on my 500 for some you know portraits. When bam, the eagle flies off just over a slight incline out of sight. Not to mention, I totally lost following it with the single-point focus I was left with by the 2x on the 500. So, a few other folks moved up the dirt road and the eagle seemed to be up and down in the brush. I frantically took the 2x off and put the 1.4 back on, then lumbered up the dirt road to where the others were now shooting. Sure enough, the eagle had gotten a duck meal and was making quick work of it. One of the rude ravens followed - I've cropped it out of this image, but it's just out of sight over the eagle's right. Definitely an all-time heart-pounding experience.
Check it out Large, btw. It holds up pretty good even with crop.
Sandhill Cranes are just amazing birds! They mate for life....Are incredibly social....Are absolutely beautiful.....Like to kick each other in the face.......Like to dance......Like to talk a lot!!! Here is another series from my trip to Bosque Del Apache National Wildlife refuge and Bernardo wildlife management area in New Mexico winter of 2025.
Every so often, nearly every duck takes flight, circles the tree once, twice or more then lands again. What triggers them to do that is a mystery to me.
The Mid-Week Marauders took an uncharacteristic mid-morning trip to the Bosque del Apache and stayed until sunset. This Kestrel spent his tome chasing a Red-Tailed Hawk that was circling overhead.
This is the time of year that the Sandhill cranes migrate north to their summer breeding grounds. In honor of their great journeys, I am sharing some more of my favorite images. These were all captured in New Mexico at Bosque Del Apache National Wildlife refuge and Bernardo wildlife management area in December of 2023. The never ending fun interactions between these incredibly social birds is what keeps many of us going back....and back.....and...
Snow geese in flight while the sandhill cranes continue roosting before day breaks at Bosque Del Apache National Wildlife Refuge.
Snow geese take flight before dawn from a pond at Bosque Del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in New Mexico.