A New Mexico sunset

There are so many great opportunities to see beautiful sunsets in New Mexico. While visiting the Bosque del Apache during the Festival of the Cranes (Nov 17-22, 2009) there were a couple of beautiful sunsets. Here is one worth sharing. You can click on each of the photos to enlarge them.

Note the sandhill crane flying in this photo. I think this one is my favorite of the three photos here.

And this one I was trying to get what is called a "sun dog" where there is a rainbow of sorts in the clouds.

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.

Sandhill Crane Behavior - part 2

Following our sunrise visit to the pond, we all climbed back into the vans and headed back to the Bosque for a nice warm breakfast, New Mexican style. While eating we also saw some film on the various behavior and communication styles of Sandhill cranes. Shortly afterwards we headed out to one of the cornfields on the Bosque, and we were to watch the cranes to see how they reacted to possible threats or how they communicated with each other. This was really fun, because we saw how the male and female were always together. While one would eat, the other would stand guard as the photo below indicates.

Notice in this next photo one of the cranes is standing guard while the other three are eating. If you can enlarge this photo (by clicking on it), you will also notice the same behavior in the cranes farther out in the field.

This crane is in a very alert stance, and notice the red coloring on the front part of his head. We were told that this is a featherless part of their heads. And when these birds feel threatened in any way the red coloring deepens and possibly gets larger. This is a part of the cranes' behavior that is still being studied. But the "experts" realize that their heads turn quite red when they feel threatened.

Here's another view as the crane turned toward us.

Here is another photo of a group eating corn in the field. Notice there are four standing alert out of the dozen or so we see here.

I couldn't resist to add a couple more photos here.

While in the field I also took other photos that were not of cranes which I'll share in my next post.

Sandhill Crane Behavior class

Wednesday, Nov 18th was a class we chose to take that was all morning long (5:30 - 11:30 am). It started in the classroom at the Bosque del Apache, but quickly led to an area just north of the Bosque's property on the highway that leads to the refuge. The class was limited to 20 people who wanted to learn about the behavior of Sandhill cranes. We met in the classroom to meet the leaders who were going to show us what to look for. We were driven to the "pond" by vans around 6 am. And it was quite chilly and still dark at that hour. I dressed in layers, but I still didn't have enough to keep myself warm. Hot coffee and hot cocoa were served at the end of one of the vans. And that helped a little. Nevertheless, the desire to see the cranes in such close proximity and to learn about their various forms of behavior was well worth being cold. Our leaders were Paul Tebbel, the former director of Audubon's Rowe Sanctuary on the Platte River (Nebraska); Keanna Leonard, the present director of the Rowe Sanctuary; and Robert Kruidenier, who has served as a full-time volunteer for the past 15 years at the Bosque del Apache, another very knowledgeable person when it comes to Sandhill cranes.

The following photos were all taken just before sunrise, around 6:45 a.m. The birds were aware of all the human gawkers, but did not feel threatened in any way. This first photo shows how the birds are still hunkered down, pretty much beginning to wake up and get ready for the day.

This second photo shows how the cranes are now spreading out a bit and wandering towards the field ready to eat a few bits of grain before taking off to a drier field with more grain available.

This group of cranes would be a family, possibly dad (with the red head), mom, and two youngsters. Since cranes usually have only one chick per year, it is possible to have two that will survive. Or another possibility is that one of the "youngsters" is a year older than the other. Sandhill cranes are very family oriented.

And although it's not a really clear photo, this is a shot of a family or two in flight, heading for the corn fields for the day. As you can probably tell by the color of the sky, this was just about the time when the sun was about to rise over the horizon.

Next post will be more on this morning long event of Sandhill Crane Behavior, but we will go to the corn fields next after a nice warm breakfast back at the Bosque.

Bird Photography Weekly # 22

These are northern pintails found at the Bosque del Apache in November.

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Bird Photography Weekly # 21

One of the most fun things I look forward to each year is my vacation in New Mexico. And it always includes the Festival of the Cranes at the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge. It's always held the week before Thanksgiving, and the attendance has been increasing every year. Appropriate for this Bird Photography Weekly # 21, I present to you some of my best photos of sandhill cranes taken during the 21st anniversary of the Festival of the Cranes. Be sure to click on any or all of the photos to see a larger image.

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Skywatch Friday #27

We had a beautiful sunset one evening during the Festival of the Cranes at the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge. Actually, New Mexico has many beautiful sunsets throughout the year. So to see this beautiful sunset while on the refuge was an added bonus to what we had already seen earlier in the evening.

Amazingly enough, I took these photos within a few minutes of each other. But the big difference, as you can see, is in the coloring. The first photo was taken with my Canon Rebel Xsi, and the second photo was taken with my Kodak point and shoot.

Take the time to go visit other posts for Skywatch # 27. You won't be disappointed.

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
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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.

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Bosque del Apache - part 2

Bosque del Apache has to be one of the most easily accessible refuges around. They provide at least 2 auto tour loops and many walking trails. The auto trails provide the ability for one to carry more equipment for photos and for viewing. I'm a lazy sort and don't like carrying too much equipment around with me. But while driving around the loops I had the opportunity to put my spotting scope up on a car window mount. I used it mostly to see the sandhill cranes farther out in the field.

But my favorite activity is to walk the various trails. The ones I walk are very easy. They are all level, and some even have "boardwalks" provided so one can cross over some of the irrigation canals, etc. One of those trails provided not only natural beauty, but also a few of God's creatures. Below is a western grebe floating around the pond all by himself. I guess he wanted some solitude. Don't we all want that now and then?

A little farther down the trail my husband pointed out a few turtles. They blended in with the environment so well that I did not see them at first. I thought these turtles must be out sunning themselves in the beautiful sunny fall New Mexican day. Anybody know what species these turtles are? You can click on any image to enlarge it. The reflection in each of these photos looks like we could reverse them, don't they?

Also, the plant life in these ponds are typical with their grasses and such. This particular bunch of grass was submerged, whereas most of the grasses were above the water level. Anyway, I thought it was pretty and I wanted to not only remember this form of beauty, but also wanted to share it with my blogging friends.

Now these next two photos of these white birds had me confused. First of all, I thought they were egrets, but I knew they were not snowy or great egrets. And the only other egret I could think of was cattle egret, but I did not remember they would be found surrounded by water. I always thought cattle egrets would be found out in the fields, much farther from a water source this large. And I've never seen cattle egrets at Bosque del Apache before, much less anywhere else. Yes, these are lifers for me. The last photo I'm posting here is to show that white blob to the right of the other two cattle egrets is another cattle egret taking flight. It's obvious that I did not have my camera set to a faster speed to get the bird better focused. But then, mother nature does not wait for us to get our cameras ready for great shots.

Great Blue Heron - Bird Photography Weekly # 19

Found standing at one of the irrigation canals on one of the auto tour loops at Bosque Del Apache National Wildlife Refuge - during Festival of the Cranes, November 2008.

This first photo above shows his feathers very nicely.

And this photo seems to show a very handsome profile.
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