Posts in Category: Bosque del Apache
Crane coming in…
Sandhill Crane, Bosque del Apache NWR, Socorro New Mexico
Yesterday morning, before the winds came up, the light was beautiful at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge south of Socorro, New Mexico. A large group of Sandhill Cranes was feeding along the north end of the Tour Loop, where the refuge staff had knocked down standing corn for them. It was next to a field of winter wheat, planed by one of the families that farms the Bosque on shares, and there was much coming and going between the fields. I caught this Sandhill coming in above the wheat. You get a real sense of the power of these big birds which their matching wingspan.
Sony RX10iii at 600mm equivalent field of view. My specialized Birds in Flight Mode, using Continuous Focus, with the Auto ISO set to provide a minimum 1/1000th second exposure. Processed in PhotoShop Express on my Android tablet.
Snow Geese at dawn
Snow Geese, Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge south of Socorro, New Mexico
One of the most popular activities at the Festival of the Cranes at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge is, believe it or not, to get up at 4am to be at the Refuge in time to stand in the cold beside a body of water in the dark and wait for the sunrise. Generally, if you have picked your spot correctly, just before the sun crests the horizon, the Snow Geese will rise from the water and fly off to feed in fields deeper in the Refuge, followed shortly but the Sandhill Cranes. Seeing the Geese and Cranes rise in the dawn light is what brings the folks out that early, and it is indeed an experience not to be missed. I do it once at least on each visit. Yesterday I actually taught a workshop and had 4 other intrepid souls with cameras beside me at the pond in the dark, and were amply rewarded.
This is a small flock of Snow (and Ross’) Geese moving just as the first light came into the sky. Sony RX10iii. Program Mode. Processed in PhotoShop Express on my Android tablet.
Snow Geese Rising
Snow and Ross” Geese, Bosque del Apache NWR near Socorro New Mexico
After my morning workshop at Bosque del Apache’s Festival of the Cranes (Intro to Point and Shoot Nature Photography) I went out for a quick drive around the Refuge Tour Loop. There are not a lot of Snow and Ross’ Geese in yet (too warm still north of here), but what there were were all on the main Flight Deck Pond near the entrance station. I pulled over to get a few pics. I was isolating a Snow Goose with 1200mms (using Clear Image Zom) when the Geese suddenly rose and took flight. I swung the camera up and caught this close up of the rise. The circled long enough so I got many more shots of them in the air, but this one catches the sheer energy better than most. 🙂
Sony RX10iii at 1200mm equivalent field of view. Program Mode. Processed in PhotoShop Express on my Android tablet.
Redwings in the Cattails
Young male Red-winged Blackbirds, Bosque del Apache NWR, Socorro NM
This is a rather odd photo…but I like it. There were 30 or more young male Red-winged Backbirds in the stand of cattails along the boardwalk over the diving duck pond at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, just before dawn, making a total racket. They were well hidden, so this is the best I could do for a shot. Still, I think it is effective, capturing the situation pretty well…and a graphics…as an image…it has a lot of visual interest, between the colors, textures, and shapes. Or that is what I think 🙂
Nikon P610 at 600mm equivalent field of view. 1/80th @ ISO 400 @ f5.6. Processed in Lightroom.
Cloud peppered with Snow Geese
Snow Geese, Bosque del Apache NWR, Socorro NM
Our first day at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge for the Festival of the Cranes, there were very few Snow Geese. I saw a few hundred during the day. The next morning it was no better, but as I arrived back at the Visitor Center to begin my day’s work, at about 8:45 am, I heard geese coming in from the north and looked up to see the sky literally full of Snow (and undoubtedly many Ross’) Geese. And I mean full. Thousands. Maybe 10,000 Geese coming in a huge flock. At first it looked like they might overshoot the Refuge, but they did spiral down and settle on the ponds inside the tour loop. I grabbed the closest camera and took some stills and video from the parking lot. This relatively wide angle shot catches a bit of the feeling.
Nikon P610 at 30mm equivalent field of view. 1/1600th @ ISO 100 @ f5. Processed in Lightroom.
Crane in Millet
Sandhill Crane, Bosque del Apache NWR, Socorro NM
Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge is managed for wildlife. The Refuge has enough area to grow crops to feed the thousands of birds that winter there. Along the backside of the tour loop, they plant millet, and then flood the fields so that Sandhill Cranes, Snow Geese, and dabbling ducks of all kinds can feed on the seeds. This year, the corn crop failed, so the Cranes are depending more on the millet. Generally the millet is knocked down so it will be more accessible to the birds, but a small stand was left standing along the edge of the field, and it was interesting to watch the big cranes delicately picking millet seed above their heads. They seemed to have most success coming in from underneath. It has to take a lot of millet to feed a Sandhill Crane. 🙂 (The corn crops both north and south of the Refuge did not fail, so the Cranes are spending more time off the refuge, feeding in the fields where the NWS has contracted a portion of the crop.)
I love the light of early morning here, picking out all the details.
Nikon 900 at 1400mm equivalent field of view. 1/640th @ ISO 100 @ f6.3. Processed in Lightroom.
Blue Goose on Top
Snow Geese (one Blue), Bosque del Apache NWR, Socorro NM
I spent a lot of time, relatively speaking, at Bosque del Apache attempting flight shots. It is a lot of fun…a bit of challenge…but with the proper settings on your camera, it is quite possible to have enough success to make it satisfying. I experimented all week with settings, and finally resorted to Target finding Auto Focus and Shutter Preferred Auto Exposure. That seemed to work best. This group of Snow Geese, with one Blue variety at the top of the frame, was taken when a large group of geese were in the process of moving down the refuge a few fields. There were geese in the air continuously for close to an hour. I got lots of practice. 🙂
Nikon P610 at 1440mm equivalent field of view. 1/800th @ ISO 100 @ f8.2. Processed in Lightroom.
Evoking Cranes in the Dawn
Sandhill Cranes before dawn. Bosque del Apache NWR, Socorro NM
This is, to my eye, an “evocative” image…it evokes the experience of watching the Sandhill Cranes taking flight in the pre-dawn light at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge more than it “portrays” it. High ISO, low shutter speed, and a rapid pan with the birds in flight leads to an impressionistic background…water (including the two cranes standing) and landscape suggested rather than detailed…stripped down to a basic layering of color and texture. The relatively sharp cranes are laid over the background, but even they have a bit of the motion blur. Overall it looks more like a painting than a photograph. Generally I do not like that…but here, I think, it works. This would stand up to a fairly large print…and viewed from normal viewing distance, it would be quite striking on the wall. Evocative!
Nikon P900 at 400mm equivalent field of view. 1/60th @ ISO 560 @ f5. Processed and cropped slightly at the bottom for composition in Lightroom.
Bosque Dawn
Snow Geese and Sandhill Cranes, Bosque del Apache NWR, Socorro NM
There is a somewhat famous photograph by another photographer called “Bosque Dawn”. If you go to Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge you will see it…far faded from its native glory these days…on a billboard on the way out of the refuge on the left a mile or so before you get to San Antonio. When it first went up, years ago, it was impressive! This shot is nothing like it actually…but it catches some of the unique atmosphere of Bosque del Apache at dawn in November when the Geese and the Cranes are in. As you can see this is just at dawn. The sun is already touching the tops of the mountains behind on the left, but it has not reached the birds on the water. There is a dawn glow in sky, reflected subtly in the water. And the Geese are on the wing. They had settled in this pond with the Cranes (who had been there all night) for a few moments on their way out of the refuge (or further down the refuge) for the day…and to give the gathered photographers a treat. I was there leading one of my Point and Shoot Nature Photography workshops, and enjoying every moment of it.
Nikon P900 at 135mm equivalent field of view. Shutter preferred. 1/250th @ ISO 140 @ f4. Processed in Lightroom.
Geese Away!
Snow Geese (and a few Ross’), Bosque del Apache NWR, Socorro NM
We return, this morning, to Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge and the Festival of the Cranes. Snow Geese (and a few Ross’ undoubtedly) taking off in mass for another field. It is hard to capture the effect without the sound of hundreds of wings beating and dozens of geese calling. 🙂
Nikon P900 at 800mm equivalent field of view. Shutter preferred. 1/640th @ ISO 100 @ f7.1. Processed in Lightroom.