View allAll Photos Tagged BosquedelApacheNWR
After the arroyo hike we still had enough time before sundown to make it to Bosque del Apache. If that name is unfamiliar to you, it's a National Wildlife Reservation on the Rio Grande managed for the birds - Sandhill Cranes, Snow Geese, and many others. During the winter season there can be many thousands of cranes and tens of thousands of geese, all chowing down on the crops grown for them and getting ready to fly back north in February.
This is a brief 15-second view into the refuge. Ya gotta turn the sound up some to get the full effect!
(After sundown, kind of dim, handheld, longish zoom, blah, blah, blah. No apologies, it gets the point across)
Unless you've got a camera to protect you from whatever falls from the sky :^)
(a bit of a flight study)
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We had no plans for Thanksgiving except to stay home in the unseasonable cold so Mrs M took a few personal days off. Armed with reservations via Hotwire (you never know what you're going to get) and a rental car, we set out for a new 6 days, 7 nights adventure.
First stop: Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge. It's an old favorite, especially when the cranes and snow geese are in town. This stop didn't disappoint, there were plenty of birds, and we hit it at the end of the Festival of the Cranes, which we usually seem to miss.
Ferruginous Hawk (FEHA) immature (first cycle), Farm Loop north end, Bosque del Apache NWR, Socorro County, New Mexico, January 18, 2014, by Stephen Fettig
A group of American coots leave a small patch of unfrozen water to venture out onto the ice on a cold day at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in New Mexico. Image captured using a Canon 7D and 400 mm lens; 1/1250 sec., f/5.6, ISO 200.
A rare bird indeed. Mistaken by many for a Whooping Crane. This bird is a genetic variant, partial albino. It does not get the characterisitc pigmentation in its feathers. Any brownish pigment is picked up from the soil as with all Sandhills. I was lucky enough to see and photograph this bird over several days.
Rufous-necked Wood-rail at Bosque del Apache NWR, Socorro Co., NM, 130709. Aramides axillaris. Gruiformes: Rallidae.
I think I see 18 Westerns and one Baird’s in this photo but, admittedly, I’m lousy at identifying Sandpipers. Can someone help? This was taken at Bosque del Apache NWR, south of Albuquerque NM, on September 22.
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Rufous-necked Wood-rail at Bosque del Apache NWR, Socorro Co., NM, 130710. Aramides axillaris. Gruiformes: Rallidae
This encounter occurred as we were driving towards the entry/exit point on our last morning at the Bosque del Apache NWR
The Coyotes in the middle of the picture, near the canal, were the reason for the uproar. They were hoping for lunch but came up empty mouthed.
The Bald Eagle was still in the grass watching the geese. Makes me wonder if it was on an earlier kill.
This group includes Blue Morph Adults. Snow Goose fly-in at the Flight Deck at the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge.