Posts in Category: New Mexico
Parking lot birding. American Robin in Santa Fe
American Robin, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA — Needs must. After breakfast at our hotel in Santa Fe I had a poke around the parking lots of the adjacent buildings to see what I could find for today. I saw a couple of uncooperative butterflies and this Robin singing in the top of a tree. Nikon B700 at 1440mm equivalent. Program mode. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.
Cranes and sun dog…
On my one fly-in at the Festival of the Cranes at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge (Socorro, New Mexico, USA) this year, we were graced by a sun dog in the sunset. It was subtle, but there. I waited patiently for at least a few Sandhill Cranes to fly by it on their way into the shallow pond for the night. It was low on the horizon and most of the cranes came in too high or too low. Patience was eventually rewarded. 🙂 Sony Rx10iv at 475mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds in flight and action modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.
Mini Panic, Bosque del Apache NWR
Socorro, New Mexico, USA. As I said in yesterday’s post, I never did see a full scale panic of Snow Geese this year at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge while I was there for the Festival of the Cranes. But I did see several mixed mini panics, involving both Sandhill Cranes and Snow Geese. And that is really odd because Cranes do not startle like that very often, at least in my limited experience. Generally Cranes are very deliberate, even about moving from one field to another. They go family by family after much apparent consideration. They don’t leap into the air in a bunch. Who knows what was up at Bosque this year. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds in flight and action modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.
Snow Geese flying
I realized this morning that I have not yet posted a close up photo of the other stars of the Bosque del Apache Festival of the Cranes from this year. As well as 14,000 Sandhill Cranes, between 30,000 and 40,000 Snow Geese winter at the Bosque. This is the first year I have visited Bosque without seeing a Snow Goose panic…when several thousand geese take to the air, calling and circling for between 5 and 15 minutes before settling. The geese were dispersed this year…feeding in several newly flooded fields, and not congregating in very large numbers in any single place. Perhaps that is why I saw no panics. I saw the geese rise in potential panics…but never enough at a time to pull the whole flock into the air. They always settled within seconds. ??? There were still lots of geese in the air as they moved in small flocks from field to field, so there were still opportunities to practice my birds in flight skills on Snow Geese, and I got some decent shots. You will want to view this one at as large as your screen allows…or maybe I should say, “I would like you to.” 🙂 Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds in flight and action modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.
Lesser Goldfinch
It is not all birds in flight…not all Sandhill Cranes and Snow Geese…at the Festival of the Cranes at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge (Socorro, New Mexico, USA). This shot of a Lessor Goldfinch was taken right behind the Expo Tent in the Cactus Garden at the Visitor Center. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds in flight and action modifications (just testing how it worked for stationary birds). Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.
Cranes against the sunset
I have to get out for the sunset at least once during any trip to Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge (Socorro, New Mexico, USA) during the Festival of the Cranes. This year it was not the best sunset ever, but the Sandhill Cranes performed up to their usual excellent standard. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds in flight and action modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.
Dancing Cranes
We were out at the “Crane” ponds along Rt 1 north of the visitor center at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge (Socorro, New Mexico, USA) to catch the Sandhill Cranes flying in to their night roost in the shallow water. The sun had already set, 15 minutes before, and the high desert river valley New Mexico dark was descending fast. We were already in ISO 6400 territory and shutter speeds too slow for comfort for the active birds. But when these two cranes decided to have a go at each other right in front of me, of course I swung the camera around and got off a burst. This ritualized combat, or dance, is part of the mating ritual and, though Sandhill Cranes mate for life, and only breed once a year, the courting goes on all year long. You are likely to see this happening somewhere in the flock any time of day. The trick is be looking at the right birds at the right moment, as the whole interaction only lasts, at least outside mating season, a few seconds. Since the colors were not strong this late in the day, I decided to process this image as a black-and-white. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds in flight and action modifications. Processed in Polarr.
Synchronized flight: Sandhill Cranes
Once in a great while you catch two Sandhill Cranes who are flying together in almost perfect synchronization, wing beat for wing beat. These two are at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in Socorro, New Mexico (USA). Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds in flight and action modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. (From a technical standpoint this is an interesting photo because it shows off the amazing tracking auto focus of the new 2.0 firmware on the Rx10iv.)
Geese against the rainbow
Sometimes it is hard to believe how very blessed we are when we go out in search of nature’s wonders. We were out early to catch the Sandhill Cranes as they rosed from the pond where they spent the night in shallow water, and in hopes that the Snow Geese would come in to the pond to stage for the day, as they often do. The sun had only a small gap between the mountains to the east and the cap of cloud that promised rain for most of the day, and as it bridged the gap to magic things happened at the same time. The geese arrived, winging in in flocks of 20 to 100, circling the pond several times before settling, and a rainbow sprung up off to the north, up the valley. Of course I had to try to catch the geese as they passed in front of the rainbow. Again, how blessed! Sony Rx10iv at 175mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds in flight and action modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. And here is landscape view.
Cranes in the dawn
The Sandhill Cranes at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in New Mexico, USA spend the night standing in shallow water to protect themselves from predators as they sleep. They wake before the sun comes up and just as it does, they rise and move off to fields where they feed during the day. Generally they leave in groups of 3, a family unit, but sometimes several families will decide to fly out at the same time. Dawn light on the mountains to the west of the Refuge and on the Cranes can make for some spectacular sights…though the light levels are a challenge for any camera. This shot is at ISO 6400 on the Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds in flight and action modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.