Sandhill Crane (Grus canadensis). Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refige. Socorro Co., New Mexico.

My photos aren't looking as sharp in large view on Flickr as they do on my laptop, so I resized this to 2048 wide which is their largest size, but it's still not helping. Does anyone have any tips/ideas?

jan 12 20-n-162 Sandhill Cranes (Grus canadensis) at flight deck, Bosque Del Apache National Wildlife Refuge - San Antonio NM

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Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) juvenile warming up on a cold morning. Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refiuge. Socorro Co., New Mexico.

Bosque Del Apache NWR

This is what we were treated to when we turned around and looked at the sunset behind us.

Bosque del Apache NWR, New Mexico. 1/21/2014.

A Sandhill crane taking off from the night's roost in early morning light amidst the surrounding Snow (and Ross') geese. The crane is heading out to the fields to feed. The Snow geese count was over 50 K and the crane count was over 9 K during my visit to the refuge. Truly a remarkable place to do photography or just witness the spectacle of nature during the winter months.

Bosque Del Apache NWR wide landscape in New Mexico, USA. As you can see, the terrain is beautiful, and there is life everywhere.

[Edited (9/15/2014 at 5:18 pm ET) : I replaced the original with a re-edited version of the same photo. I cropped it to 16x9 (original was 11x14), making it more panoramic; plus I adjusted the black level a bit, and played around with the color balance by selectively warming the foreground. I thought it made an improved presentation compared with the original, and the edited version was more true to what I saw when I was there.

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I enjoyed watching this heron hunting in a pond at Bosque del Apache NWR.

Snow Goose fly-in at the Flight Deck at the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge.

The joy of being on their wintering grounds is hard to miss

Digiscoped using manual focus

Sandhill cranes fly across the horizon of an autumn like field, on the eve of the first snowstorm to hit southern New Mexico this season . Clouds are building on the horizon, a prelude of what is to come. Blustery winds have changed some of the flight patterns and resting places throughout the day. Many birds seek shelter in fields and ponds better protected from cold winds, rather than brave the weather. Just as we prepare for the anticipated storm, the birds, in their own way, do the same.

Female and male Mallard.

A sandhill crane (juve) lands at Bosque.

VIEW LARGE!!!! --- This bird was flying into the setting sun and was really bathed in 'orange-tinted' light.

To me it came out a little distracting, so I toned it down a little. Still, in all, a lovely close up of this truly amazing bird.

It would not be unfair to say that there were 200 + photographers stationed along the lakeshore with me shooting photos of these birds coming in to roost for the night.

Quite a sight to see. I recommend it for everyone to experience at least once in their lifetime. A definite 'bucket list' item!!!!!

Sandhill Cranes (Antigone canadensis). Early morning fly-out. Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge. Socorro Co., New Mexico.

Sandhill Crane (Grus canadensis). Flying in for a landing on a cold winter morning. Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge. Socorro Co., New Mexico.

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Lots and lots of tries to get a close Snow Goose in such wonderful light and light under the wings. Digiscoped using manual focus.

Bosque del Apache NWR, New Mexico

I couldn't have asked for a better perspective or timing. Just as the sun reached the water the group took off right over my head. This was taken about 15 minutes after the video of them landing. Something like 10% of the geese in this group are Ross's.

A juvenile sandhill was landing in the cornfield. I will start posting images from some other places soon as I could go on with Bosque for weeks but it becomes very redundant. But no place where I've photographed has the backgrounds that Bosque has.....

A sandhill crane glides gracefully on a breeze during the Festival of the Cranes celebration at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in San Antonio, New Mexico. They land in an open field to search for leftover grain and insects to eat. Sandhill crane plumage is grey in color, however, it frequently becomes stained giving them a mottled appearance. This staining can become even more prominent during the breeding season. Sandhills are large, graceful birds. Unlike herons, sandhill cranes keep their necks outstretched, and straight in flight, and their legs dangle behind them.

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As I stood in the early light, watching the cranes wake up, there was about a two minute period when the light from the not yet risen sun reflected off the clouds and made the red on the cranes' faces look an even more intense vibrance than normal.

1/30s at ISO 400 using manual focus.

Manual focus, 1/10s

What constitutes a good photograph when trying to capture the essence of motion? When is blur optimal and when is it obsessive? To a great extent the rules are always made to be broken, and many times they fit the need. In general, there should be relative focus in at least one part of the image. That is the anchor that draws one's eye. In this case it is the head of the snow goose as seen through the ghost of the wing. My eye is repeatedly drawn to the eye. If both geese were blurred like the one on the right the photo would lack an anchor. You're mind would not know where to look and likely soon lose interest. The photo was taken in the dim predawn hours at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in New Mexico, one of the premiere places to observe Sandhill Cranes and Light geese.

This buck Mule Deer was laying in the shade of a tree.

A Bald Eagle give a classical second look to see what it has caught while hunting at Conowingo Dam in Maryland. What seemed to be an unusual pose at first turns out to be fairly common. They frequently look to see what they've caught after the catch it. Watching their aerial displays is always a treat. I imaging the fish don't think so, however. Conowingo is one of the premier east coast locations for watching the official bird of America during the fall and winter seasons. Each day hundreds gather with cameras, binoculars, or just the naked eye for this bird, brought back from the verge of annihilation. They are becoming more frequent just about everywhere. #iLoveNature #iLoveWildlife #WildlifePhotography in #Maryland #Nature in #NorthAmerica #USA #BaldEagles #DrDADBooks #Canon #WildlifeConservation

We were not expecting any birds to be in the pond at midday but as you can see, the pond was full of Snow and Ross's Goose. There were very few people there but the footprints in the sand show how busy it had been earlier in the day - the sunrise crowd.

jan 12 20-n-102 Sunrise of Snow Goose, (Anser caerulescens) at the flight deck, Bosque del Apache NWR in San Antonio, NM. (11 degrees am)

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#SnowGoose #BlueGoose #Ansercaerulescens #Anatidae #geese #waterbird #marshbird

#bird #wildlife #nature #wild #jenniferrobingallery #flightdeck #BosquedelApache #NWR

American Crows (Corvus brachyrhynchos). Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge. Socorro Co., New Mexico.

Coming in from the feeding fields every night, they fill the sky and then the ponds.

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I said to myself on the way into Bosque del Apache that this time I would LOOK at the birds and NOT take pictures.

Yeah, right.

Once the fly-in gets underway the camera comes out and doesn't get put away again until dark.

So once again, there are lots of photos to wade through. But modern technology can be useful and in this case looking at pictures on flickr is better than sitting through one of your uncle's endless slide shows, you can just skip over the uninteresting bits. Skip away :^)

December 26, 2012 - Getting away for the holidays, and interrupting the posting of the Thanksgiving photos, which interrupted the posting of the summer photos. It's going to be a long Winter, maybe I'll catch up...

Pair of Sandhill Cranes returning to their roosting lake for the night - Bosque del Apache NWR, NM

jan 13 20-n-1998 A Mallard at Bosque Del Apache National Wildlife Refuge.

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Photographing geese and cranes at Bosque del Apache NWR provides ample opportunity to try out different techniques and processes. Motion blurring with birds is always an interesting concept. Too much blur and you don't know what you're looking at. Not enough blur and you might as well be shooting "stop action" shots. Most wildlife is photographed at shutter speeds above 1/500th of a second. For motion blur, slowing your shutter speed down to 1/40 of a second or so and panning with the moving animal is the way to go. Experimenting with a variety of shutter speeds is always fun. The end result conveys movement, even though you've got a still photograph.

For those of you on the move today and tomorrow, for this most travelled day of the year, take care and be safe. Remember, life's a blur. Take a few moments every day to enjoy the things around you. Try to anticipate problems. Travel with safety in mind.

#ILoveNature #ILoveWildife #WildlifePhotography in #NewMexico #Nature in #America #USA #SnowGeese #MotionBlur #BosquedelApacheNWR #Canon #Bringit #DrDADBooks #Photography #PIcoftheday #Photooftheday

Snow Geese (Chen caerulescens). Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge. Socorro Co., New Mexico.

This pair of Sandhills came screaming in to a field in an unusual "legs tucked" approach. I was relieved to see them both land with healthy legs. They had just come from overnighting in an icy pond, and I don't know if that had anything to do with their tucked legs.

Digiscoped using manual focus.

Bosque del Apache NWR, New Mexico

Snow Geese are just starting to arrive at Bosque, and I was thrilled to be able to isolate this goose coming in for a landing against a storybook sky.

Digiscoped using manual focus, 1/1000s.

Sandhill Cranes (Grus canadensis). Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge. Socorro Co., New Mexico.