Mostly Mallards and Sandhill Cranes at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in New Mexico

Snow Geese panics are one of the spectacles that draws people back to Bosque del Apache National Wildlife in New Mexico each fall and winter. When 2000 geese come up off the water all at once and circle it is something to see, and to hear. This looks like a Mallard panic but it is not. These Mallards were just all inspired to move down the field at the same time. They are flocking birds, and when one (or at least a few) go, they all tend to go. Sony RX10iv at 540mm equivalent field of view. Program mode. 1/640th @ ISO 100 @ f4. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.

Sandhill Cranes, Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, Socorro New Mexico.

With my new Sony RX10iv, action shots are easy. 🙂 This Sandhill Crane at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in New Mexico is caught showing off for his mate, or trying to intimidate a rival. Program mode, with action settings. 1/1250th @ f5 @ ISO 100. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.

Sandhill Crane, Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, New Mexico

I took my Basic Field Techniques for Point and Shoot Photography class out for the dawn flyout at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in Socorro New Mexico during the Festival of the Cranes this year. This is just as the sun was coming up. I like the subtle light in the clouds and the bird in full flight. Sony RX10iv at 600mm. Program mode with my custom Flight and Action settings. 1/1000th @ f4 @ ISO 640. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.

Chickadee, Kennebunk Maine.

As I mentioned in one of my Day Poems already, all the birds are eating the meal-worms I put out for the Bluebirds in this cold weather. They need the fat and protein. This chickadee has one, gripped between his foot and the twig, and it took him several minutes to tear it apart and eat it, one morsel at a time. Taken out the back deck door at about 12 feet. Sony RX10iv at 600mm. Program mode. -.3 EV. 1/320th @ ISO 100 @ f4. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.

American Bald Eagle, immature, Roger’s Pond Park, Kennebunk Maine

Despite the temperatures hovering just above zero all day yesterday, I got out to check for Bald Eagles at Roger’s Pond Park on the Mousam River in Kennebunk and for Snowy Owls at the beach. The road to the beach was drifted in pretty badly so I did not stop, (there were no owls anyway) but I was rewarded with this immature Bald Eagle circling over Roger’s Pond Park. The light was excellent with all the reflection from the snow and I managed several bursts of shots before the eagle flew off to the south. Sony RX10iv at 600mm. Program mode. +.3 and .7 EV. 1/1250th @ ISO 100 @ f8. Processed in Photoshop Express and Photos. Assembled in FrameMagic.

Sandhill Cranes, Bosque del Apache NWR, New Mexico

The Sandhill Cranes were very active at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge when I visited last November…and by that I mean that there was a lot of mating behavior going on. Cranes mate for life, and travel in family groupings, and there is some mating behavior going on all year…the theory is that it maintains the pair bond. (Humans do the same thing…at least they do in healthy marriages 🙂 These are two males issuing a challenge. The morning light, as only in New Mexico, pics out every detail. Sony RX10iv at 600mm. Program mode with my “flight and action” settings. 1/1000th @ f7.1 @ ISO 100. Processed in Polarr and Photos.

I have not gotten out much this month (or last) around home, so for today’s pic I am dropping back to the Festival of the Cranes at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in November. We had great New Mexico skies, and great birds, and I had the new Sony RX10iv to play with. Flight shots were suddenly easy! This Snow Goose coming almost head on is a case in point. Sony RX10iv at 600mm. My custom flight settings, in Program mode. 1/1000th @ f6.3 @ ISO 100. Plus .3 EV (to get the bird against the sky).

Common Buzzard, Mértola Portugal.

The Common Buzzard was one of the few birds that would sit and allow close approach in the car for us in the Alentejo of Southern Portugal. Buzzards are close relatives of our common Buteo hawks, like the Red-tailed Hawk. This bird was on the fence and we got within range of my 600mm zoom before it flew down to the ground just beyond the fence. I was able to catch it landing. Sony RX10iv at 600mm. Program mode. 1/1000th @ f6.3 @ ISO 1000. Processed in Photoshop Express.

Bald Eagle, Roger’s Pond Park, Kennebunk Maine

I check the trees along the Mousam river at Roger’s Pond Park, just off Maine Street in Kennebunk Maine frequently, pretty much year around, for Eagles. They are more common there in winter, especially when the river freezes right up to the foot of rapids below the dam, just opposite the park. This year, with our unusual 10 day run of below zero night-time temperatures and highs only in the single digits, the river has frozen several hundred yards above the rapids, almost to the foot of the dam. There are only open pockets where the water is roughest. Just what Eagles like…as the fish (and Mallards) concentrate in the openings. We have a pair of Eagles on this section of river, and most years they have the immature of the year with them in winter. At least the two adults were seen at Roger’s Pond yesterday, but only this one was there when I got there, sitting in it’s favorite perch, high in a tall pine up the bank on the other side of the river. It is a long shot (it is a very tall pine) even with 600mm to work with. Sony RX10iv at 600mm. Program mode. 1/1000th @ f4 @ ISO 100. -.7 EV. Processed in Polarr.

Eurasian Hoopoe, near Mértola Portugal.

The Hoopoe is one of the stranger looking birds of Europe. They are quite common and, even in winter, we found several along the road-sides in the Alentejo of Southern Portugal. They exist pretty much everywhere where they can find short grasses or bare earth for hunting, and cavities for nesting. There has been a lot of debate over the years as to where the Hoopoe should be classified. It was once considered a member of the kingfisher, bee-eater, roller clan, (it is still grouped with these birds in the Collin’s Guide) but more recently a consensus has developed that it is more closely related to the hornbills and it has been moved in with them. The Hoopoe was once considered a single species, but it has now been broken into 4 species, one of which is extinct. The migrant Eurasian Hoopoe is common across, as you might suspect, Europe and Asia, though declining at the northern edge of its breeding range, and there are two resident African species, one on the mainland and one on Madagascar. Like the Bee-eater and the Roller, they always impress me as being just slightly too exotic for Europe. But that might say more about me than about the Hoopoe. Sony RX10iv at 600mm and Program Mode. Processed in Photoshop Express and assembled in FrameMagic.