Snow Geese at the Bosque del Apache

One of the most spectacular birds in flight, especially en masse, would be snow geese. Their contrasting colors of black and white in large numbers can be so exciting to see. And if one has the opportunity to take photos of these birds in flight with a bright blue sky as background is more like icing on the cake. Below I am posting a photo of these birds in flight with mountains in the background at the Bosque del Apache in New Mexico. Back in November, during the Festival of the Cranes, following a morning class my husband and I took regarding Sandhill cranes, we decided to drive around the refuge and seek out our own sights. You can click on the photos to see a larger image.

In the photo below, these all look like snow geese. The differences between snow geese and Ross' geese are slight, but if you look closely at a large flock of geese you can possibly pick them out. Besides being slightly smaller, Ross' geese have rounder heads and their beaks and necks are shorter than snow geese. Probably one of the most noticeable features are the lack of a grin patch on the Ross' beak. They also have a straighter looking beak at the base whereas the snow geese have a more curved base.

Here is another shot of snow geese, especially the ones in the foreground. I really like this image; it looks to me like a mama, papa and two youngsters.

I think this is a golden eagle perched on a power pole. Someone please correct me if I am mistaken.

Last year my husband and I visited one of the prairie dog colonies that the refuge has maintained. It's only been a few years that the Refuge has reintroduced this species, and we visited the colony once again in November. This particular species is known as the black-tailed prairie dog. I have provided a link in case you would like to know more about these animals. On our way to visit the colony of prairie dogs we encountered another species that I am able to add to my wildlife "life" list. And that is the javelina. I have never seen these pig/boar-like animals before, and it happened so quickly that I didn't have the opportunity to get a snapshot. We were rounding the bend in the road and there were at least 7-8 javelinas at the edge of the road. We startled them and they took off up a steep hill into the more arid area of the refuge.

We saw these cranes eating in the field while driving around the refuge. If you click on the photo to enlarge it you will be able to see that some of the cranes have their heads up, literally looking to the sky. They are calling out to other cranes while the others are busy eating. I wonder what they are "saying." :o)

And here is a male-female pair in the foreground eating in the marshy field. Don't you just love those red heads?

Sandhill Crane Behavior - part 3

The photo below is another part or area of the Bosque del Apache. This marshy area was flooded before the festival began. Many of the fields throughout the Bosque are flooded to create wetland habitat. The marshes also provide food and protection for many of the resident birds as well as for the migrating birds. The Bosque has a total of 35 managed units, and this is a photo of one of them, one of those units that is open to the public.

As mentioned in my previous post, we were in the "field" (or better said one of the fields) observing the behavior of the Sandhill cranes. While observing them and their behavior traits, we also were given a beautiful display by none other than flocks of Snow and Ross' geese.

You may want to enlarge this photo (below) to get a better view. Among all those beautiful snow/ross' geese there is a Northern Harrier. He/she is located on the far left of the picture. I'm not sure if the harrier was "chasing" the flock or if it was just "sharing" the sky, but I felt it made a very interesting picture.

Shortly afterwards, we saw this harrier in the field not far from where the cranes were feeding. This was the best shot I could get since the bird was quite a distance away from where we were standing. Click on the photo to enlarge it.

The rest of the afternoon we had free to ourselves; we didn't sign up for any tour or hike, so we had the chance to get out to the Bosque again after lunch and look around on our own. More in my next post.

In flight - Bird Photography Weekly # 20

There are so many beautiful sights and sightings in New Mexico. One of them is watching the snow geese in flight. This photo was taken this past November (2008) during the Festival of the Cranes at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge. Snow geese in flight can show off their colors of black and white against a beautiful blue sky and mountains in the background.

This is my contribution to this week's Bird Photography Weekly # 20
Visit the link and see what others are posting.

Skywatch Friday # 26

Under a beautiful blue sky in New Mexico you can see snow geese in flight. This was taken at the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in November during the Festival of the Cranes.

Visit other Skywatch Friday posts.

Bernardo Waterfowl Management Area

After leaving the Festival of the Cranes my husband and I wanted to stop at another location while heading back to Albuquerque. I was given a tip to visit Bernardo Waterfowl Managment Area if I wanted to see more Sandhill Cranes and possibly get a closer look at them. Bernardo, New Mexico is about 25 miles north of Socorro on I-25. The waterfowl management area is managed by the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish. The staff here maintains the crops of corn and alfalfa as well as the irrigation operations. This place is a good spot for wintering ducks, geese, and sandhill cranes. Hunting is permitted, but I'm not sure when that applies, but bird watching is good during the fall and winter months.

We drove down a gravel road/pathway to the first pull-off spot where there was a deck to overlook the area. We could hear the cranes and geese but didn't see any in the fields around us. But I did capture the sight of a hawk. I think this was a Red-tailed - and an uncooperative one at that. He only showed his back, and then the next time I looked he was gone.

Below, I tried to get a panoramic type of photo of the sandhill cranes we saw as we drove on down the gravel road. There were cranes farther back, too. You might be able to see them if you click on the photo to see a larger image.

Here are some cranes in flight. In this photo you can see mountains in the distance. As you can see, this was a really pretty area.

Here is another "in-flight" photo. Isn't it amazing how flat (in a lateral sense) these birds seem to be while gliding in flight? These are such fascinating birds. They make weird gutteral sounds, both in the field and while flying. I find these birds to look so graceful while in flight, yet while they are feeding in the fields they do not appear to be so graceful - at least not like they do in flight.

The lighting here was not beneficial for taking a photo, but then it gives one an eerie feeling, or maybe it's a typical autumn look. Notice the mountains in the distance are quite hazy, yet the pond the snow geese are occupying has quite a glare on it. The birds in flight are a couple of sandhill cranes. And as far as I could tell, all the waterfowl on the pond were snow geese. Anyway, I like this photo - it seems to portray a pastoral feeling to me.

Friday workshops and Bosque del Apache - part 2

Friday's workshops were held at New Mexico Tech in Socorro. Most of the workshops are usually held there every year. The first workshop of the day was another type of photography session presented by John Shipman. This gentleman believes in "portability," yet believes in getting fairly good quality photos for documentation purposes. John does not believe in carrying extras, such as tripods, adapters, and spotting scopes. He'd rather carry a 500mm lens, yet still be able to get into tight spots without having to set up a tripod. So he has managed to rig up something to his camera that is similar to one carrying a rifle or shotgun. In other words, he is able to rest the rig which the camera is attached to on his shoulder, giving him stability much like a tripod. Very interesting presentation, and his photos were very nice.

Our afternoon session was learning about New Mexico's native Americans - when they arrived, how they may have arrived, and where and how they lived. Most of the native Americans in New Mexico were Puebloans. There were some Apaches and Navajos, but they arrived later, after the Pueblo tribes arrived. The Puebloans were hunter/gatherers. The Apaches and Navajos were known to raid the homes and fields of the Puebloans. The ancient ones who lived near the Bosque del Apache were known as Piro people.

Below are photos I took on Friday while touring the refuge, following the first workshop and before attending the second workshop of the day. Note: New Mexico Tech is located in Socorro about a twenty minute drive (on Interstate 25) north of Bosque del Apache. Although we had to allow ourselves time for lunch as well as for the drive each way, we still managed to get in a brief view of the refuge before having to attend the afternoon workshop. You may want to click on the photos to see a larger image.

Both photos above and below are of sand hill cranes and snow geese out in the field eating. You can also see crows flying around in the photo below.

Located in another area of the refuge I found these mallards, two males and one female.

Here is another field where there were just sand hill cranes feeding.

Here is a close-up of some of the cranes feeding in the same field.

And here is a flock of snow geese flying over.

Las Vegas National Wildlife Refuge, New Mexico, part 2

There was an abundance of bluebirds on the refuge - I think they were Western bluebirds. Here are a few photos of some. The second photo is a Loggerhead Shrike. There were a couple of them we saw there on the refuge in the same area as the bluebirds.

And here is another view of the southern Rocky Mountains in south central Colorado, the Sangre de Cristo range. That is Lake McAlister in the foreground.

A pair of bald eagles hanging around Crane Lake on the refuge. There was an abundance of waterfowl around these birds, namely Sandhill cranes, snow geese, and plenty of ducks, mostly mallards. The eagles had their choice of fare.

And here are the snow geese in flight over Crane Lake.