View allAll Photos Tagged BosquedelApacheNWR
First, an enormous apology to all of my Flickr contacts - between a hurricane and then extensive trip preparations and a month in New Mexico, I've been completely absent from Flickr since the summer, and am so happy that I can finally catch up on all of your wonderful images that I've missed.
This is the first of many photos and videos captured during November at Bosque del Apache NWR.
White rump, owl-like facial disc is distinctive in all ages and both sexes. Male in grayish above. Female is brown above, whitish below, with black wing tips. Females are larger than males. Harriers generally perch low and fly close to ground, wings upraised in a shallow V-shape looking for food. The bird is a typical harrier in that it hunts by searching the ground in low, fast gliding flight.This method enables the bird to surprise small or disabled birds, small rodents, and large insects.
Nikon 200-400mm f/4G lens, x1.4m f/8, 1/2000s, ISO 640
Thanks to all you who fave and comment on the photograph!
Sandhill Cranes (Antigone canadensis). Bosque del Apache Naional Wildlife Refige. Socorro Co., New Mexico.
I was photographing Sandhill Cranes in flight when I glanced down to see a dance starting right below where I was following a pair of cranes. I quickly focused on the dancing pair and shot a burst of 20 raw photos. I wanted to share more than one, so I combined them into this short video. I've never seen Sandhills dance this high in the air.
Digiscoped using manual focus.
A Sandhill Crane taking flight as the sun's first rays reach his roosting pond. Digiscoped using 1000mm equivalence and manual focus, 1/400s.
If you love birds, please visit my Vimeo site: vimeo.com/channels/taratanaka
Snow Geese (Chen caerulescens). Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge. Socorro Co., New Mexico.
Bald Eagles were busy this weekend capturing fish at Conowingo Dam, even if some of the fish were no more than tasty tidbits. Many of the birds would pass the smallest fish to their bills, in flight, and return to capture more. Their large talons made handling these smaller fish a bit of a task. Many a fish was dropped. Contrary to popular belief, one eagle miscalculated its dive and ended up in the water. It managed to emerge from the water and fly away and didn't need to swim to shore, as has been so frequently written. Every day that I observe nature I learn something new! #iLoveNature #iLoveWildlife #WildlifePhotography in #Maryland #ConowingoDam #BaldEagles #DrDADBooks #OneNation #Canon #WildlifeConservation
9/10/15: I just found out that this photo has received a "Highly Honored" award in Nature's Best Photography's 2015 Windland Awards! It will be displayed in the Smithsonian Museum in Washington D.C. for a year, beginning in late October 2015. The display will feature this photo printed at 36"x24", with a plaque with text and then six more stills from the video at the bottom. I definitely feel "highly honored"!!
This is a frame from the 4K video that I shot of two Desert Cottontails playing a game in which I saw them touch noses at least 3 times. Each time they touched, they would make the "EWWWW, cooties!" face as if they hadn't really meant to touch. There is a video here www.flickr.com/photos/focused-on-birds/15894942932/ of them playing.
Small groups of Sandhill Cranes were arriving from the left, right and behind me at Bosque del Apache NWR after sunset, preparing for their evening rest. By this time there was only one thin cloud formation that still had color reflected in it, so I searched in the distance for a group that looked like it would drop in front of these clouds on their way to the water. Using the manual focus wheel of my scope, I maintained focus on this pair until I saw the cloud's colors in my viewfinder, and then shot a burst until I lost their silhouettes in the mountain behind them. I was surprised that the light through the nostril of the lead bird was captured at 1/1000 second on a bird in flight after sunset.
Digiscoped using manual focus, just slightly cropped. GH4 + 20/1.7 + Digidapter + Swarovski STX85 scope
Light geese take to the air at New Mexico's Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge. Light geese are a combination of the more notable Snow Goose and Ross' goose. Snow geese come in two color morphs; the traditional white snow goose, and the blue morph. The two morphs interbreed, and apparently a goose will pick a mate that is similar to the parent pair. So if a snow goose was born of a mixed morph pair then it is more likely to do the same when it picks a mate. Whether at a distance, or in close proximity, these birds put on a fantastic show when taking to the air. When they gather by the thousands and begin to fly it really can seem like it's snowing geese!
It is an old American phrase that appears to have origins in the earliest parts of the 20th century advertising. It had been falsely ascribed to old Chinese or Japanese proverbs. It is as American as the Bald Eagle. #APictureisWorth #AmericanPhrase #BaldEagle #Conowingo #Maryland #DrDADBooks #OneNation #Canon #WildlifeConservation
I just returned from a trip that included ten days at Bosque del Apache NWR. Every morning I would arrive before the first light and set up my camera in the refuge next to a pond where many of the Sandhill Cranes and Snow Geese were roosting overnight. On this morning I was the first person there, and about 500’ before I reached the spot I’d planned to stop I passed a family of Javelina, including a large boar. Even though they’re not usually aggressive, they are large animals and have long, sharp tusks. I parked and kept an eye over my shoulder as I set up to make sure they weren’t right next to me. Getting to photograph Javelina with a telephoto lens is a treat, but having them so close you can capture them full-frame with a 20mm lens, not so much. Just as I got set up it was starting to get just bright enough for me to see that I needed to move about 500’ up the road to have the best vantage spot for the birds. As I was walking I heard another car and it parked right in front of my van. As it got brighter the cranes began calling and I was really enjoying their chorus as I took photos and videos of them. I glanced to my right and did a double-take, seeing that the Javelina family was walking up right behind the man and woman who were photographing on the far side of my van. I yelled and yelled to alert them, but they never heard me. They left before I did, and when they drove past me I stopped them and asked if they’d seen the Javelina. Javelina?? The father and daughter were quite surprised when I showed them the video on my camera. When I asked I they minded if I posted it on-line, were good sports and gave me permission. The Festival of the Cranes starts this week, and I’m sure the refuge is packed with photographers now. Just remember, when you’ve got your lens pointed at wildlife, there may be wildlife with a snout pointed at you.
A group of Sandhill cranes move like inspectors through thousands of snow geese at Bosque del Apache NWR.
'Lesser Goldfinch Bokeh Batik Tighter Crop' Large On Black
I'm still up in the air on this crop, please let me know what version you prefer. This is the tighter crop suggested for the photo I've linked in the first comment below. This is about as tight of crop as I can manage with my resolution. I did up-size the original about 10% to get this crop.
I like how the bokeh here almost resembles batik fabric. Pictured is a female Lesser Goldfinch seen at Bosque del Apache NWR in New Mexico.
- Emily Dickinson
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Keeping up with the bird photography theme, today’s photo is of a sandhill crane I took at the Bosque del Apache NWR. When the sandhill migrations happen, there are so many birds in the popular viewpoints that it is challenging to get a single bird portrait without cutting off another bird. I had a few shots where parts of other birds were poking into the frame, and it distracted from the images more than I thought possible. The photo of this sandhill crane foraging was one of the few images where I managed to render the distracting elements out of focus.
jan 13 20-n-751 Two Sandhill Crane (Grus canadensis) begin to take flight at south pond, Bosque Del Apache National Wildlife Refuge
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Bald Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus). Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge. Socorro Co., New Mexico.
Snow Geese (Chen caerulescens). Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge. Socorro Co., New Mexico.
Sandhill Crane (Antigone canadensis) at First Light. Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge. Socorro Co., New Mexico.
When not at the Flightdeck for fly-ins and fly-outs, we toured the North and South Loops. When we were there the first week of December 2021, the North Tour Loop Extension was open and lots of Snow and Ross's Goose were feeding in the fields.
Last night I videoed hundreds of Sandhill Cranes arrive on their wintering grounds at Bosque del Apache NWR. When it was almost completely dark and I was photographing silhoutted cranes in the water, I noticed a leucistic Sandhill that looked different from the one I've seen a few times at the refuge. This morning when I arrived before sunrise the beautiful crane was among the many gray Sandhills, getting ready to leave to feed for the day. This is definitely a different bird, distinguished by the nude colored skin patches on the legs and face, and by the gray patch on the back of its head.
Digiscoped in 4K using a GH4 + 20mm/1.7 + Digidapter + Swarovski STX85 scope using manual focus.
Adult is grey overall, with dull red skin on the crown and lores; whitish chin and upper throat; blackish primaries. Cranes may stain their upper back feathers, lower neck and breast with ferrous solution contained in the mud while preening with muddy bills. In winter, they regularly feed in dry fields consuming corn (as above), insects, amphibians and rodents, returning to water at night.
Compare with Sarus Crane, Demoiselle Crane, Common Crane
Nikon 200-400mm f/4G lens, x1.4, f/5.6, 1/3200s, ISO 400, NPF
Thanks to all of you who fave and/or comment on the photograph!
Sandhill Cranes (Grus canadensis) on a frozen pond early in the morning. Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge. Socorro Co., New Mexico.
I just spent a wonderful week in New Mexico at the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge where thousands of snow geese and sandhill cranes over winter on the Rio Grande River. Such a magical place! Partly it is the great number of birds all rising up from ponds and streams in early morning to exit to feeding fields. Partly the magic is being on the northern edge of the Chihuahuan Desert.....exotic plants and animals mix to live there, Days there begin before sunrise, for the "fly-out," then driving the refuge roads for glimpses of wildlife, ducks, eagles and hawks. Afternoons are great for hiking the refuge and surrounding trails. Evenings end with sunset, and possibly en masse fly-ins. It's wonderful! Even though the fly ins and outs were different this year, the numbers were amazing.....Bosque never disappoints!
This group includes Blue Morph Adults. Snow Goose fly-in at the Flight Deck at the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge.
Snow Geese (Chen caerulescens) adult and juvenile. Bosque del Apache Naional Wildlife Refige.. Socorro Co., New Mexico.
Another Sandhill crane silhouette. Evening is the best time to try for this type of image, and it is always better if there are some clouds to help light up the sky. The cranes come in to roost over a substantial period of time and mostly in small groups numbering in single digits, hopefully giving opportunities for some of them to bank into just the right light for the image you are attempting.
Bosque del Apache NWR, New Mexico