Bosque Del Apache is a National Wildlife Refuge near Socorro, New Mexico. Every winter, thousands of sand hill cranes and snow geese spend the winter here. The majority of them are here from late October/early November until February/March. The above image is of hundreds of snow geese who were spending the afternoon enjoying the autumn sun in one of the marshes in the Bosque. They did leave this spot shortly after I took this shot, but returned overnight for a magnificent sunrise show the next morning!
Here are a couple that I think of as the Royal Pair. Don't they look regal? I love the reflection of them in the still waters of the marsh, too. Sort of an idyllic moment. Very calming and peaceful.
We were at the observation deck set up on the side of the marsh, waiting for sunset (and the sand hill cranes), when I happened to notice what bird experts around me said was a golden eagle perched on the top of the dead tree in the marsh. No wind meant great reflections in the water, and I couldn't resist capturing this lovely late autumn scene. A reward for patiently waiting.....Enjoy!
It was a very chilly (read cold!) morning, but if we wanted to see the birds, we needed to get up with them.....or actually before them, so we could be there when they woke up! The above image is one of several that I took of literally hundreds and hundreds of snow geese taking off at the beginning their day. The Bosque's count of snow geese when we were there was about 31,000 !! Yikes! The funny thing about this shot was just a few seconds before this (literally!), we heard a bird squawk, and I jokingly said to Jeff that it sounded like a call to arms - I guess it was, in a way, because within 2-3 seconds after I said that, this occurred! The most amazing thing about this moment cannot, unfortunately, be captured in this image. That was the incredible sound of all of those wings as these wonderful creatures took flight - it was beyond amazing.
A little while later, at a different marsh in the Bosque, we saw some sand hill cranes beginning their day. What amazes me about these birds is that, while on the ground, they look a bit gangly and awkward......but then, they take off, and it's all flowing grace. Beautiful.
These are the snow geese again - I had several opportunities to get some great images - after all, it takes a while for hundreds of them to truly take wing! And, we were lucky enough to be here for a magnificent sunrise. This image really captures my sentiments about this morning. The beauty, power and grace of Nature.Enjoy!
Bosque Del Apache is a National Wildlife Refuge near Socorro, New Mexico. Every winter, thousands of sand hill cranes and snow geese spend the winter here. The majority of them are here from late October/early November until February/March. The above image is of hundreds of snow geese who were spending the afternoon enjoying the autumn sun in one of the marshes in the Bosque. They did leave this spot shortly after I took this shot, but returned overnight for a magnificent sunrise show the next morning!
Here are a couple that I think of as the Royal Pair. Don't they look regal? I love the reflection of them in the still waters of the marsh, too. Sort of an idyllic moment. Very calming and peaceful.
We were at the observation deck set up on the side of the marsh, waiting for sunset (and the sand hill cranes), when I happened to notice what bird experts around me said was a golden eagle perched on the top of the dead tree in the marsh. No wind meant great reflections in the water, and I couldn't resist capturing this lovely late autumn scene. A reward for patiently waiting.....
