On every trip to Bosque del Apache for the Festival of the Cranes it is mandatory to get out at least one dawn to see the geese rise…and to experience the Bosque dawn itself. That means leaving your hotel in Socorro before 6am. But it is almost always worth it. You have to decide whether to stop at the ponds on the way into the refuge beside the road, where the geese rest for the night, and try to catch them when they rise. They are closer there than anywhere else on the refuge. Or, if you want the sunrise across the water, you continue on the the main tour loop and drive out to the Flight Deck Pond. It seems as though there will masses of people there already no matter which you choose or how early you get there…but there is always room for one more, if you are willing to park and walk.

These are shots from the Flight Deck Pond. As it turned out, most of the geese were else where this particular dawn…but the dawn itself was typical of one of the November cloudless days on the Bosque.

And the geese did rise. I wanted to catch them against the dawn sky, but most of the flocks came up further north. Still.

And of course once the geese are gone, you still have the Sandhill Cranes wading in the reflection of the sunrise in the water.

All shots Canon SX50HS. 1) and 3) are Sports Mode. 2) is Hand-held Night Shot Mode (the camera takes three very rapid exposures and combines them…I am finding that it comes as close to capturing the real visual range of a sunrise or sunset as I have yet been able to do.) 4) is just a long tel-shot with –1/3 EV exposure compensation.

Processed in Lightroom for intensity, clarity, and sharpness.  2) cropped as needed for composition.