I had to work for a few hours on Saturday, Nov. 24, 2007, but was able to leave early and hit the road for Bosque del Apache (Apache Forest), about 125 miles south of Santa Fe, and 15 or so miles south of Socorro. Friends had told me of the migration underway of the Sandhill Cranes and Snow Geese, as well as many other birds and animals that live there. Sounded like a good deal to me, but the week before had a “Festival of the Cranes,” a huge get together of birders and other tourists. I despise crowds, so waited a week hoping the crowds would subside. I guess they did, but there were still plenty of people there - along with 10’s of 1,000’s of birds. An advantage - I guess - is that with so many people going thru, many of the birds were habituated to humans and not so spooky or shy as usual.

A docent at the Visitor’s Center told me to look at a particular viewpoint for the Cranes to come in for the night after feeding, so I hustled on over there. On the way, just barely inside the Preserve, I glanced at a canal and stood on the brakes. Right in front of me was a normally very wary Great Blue Heron. He just stood there, with an expression that seemed to say, “Oh Migawd, another durned tourist with his idiot camera.” Hunched his head down, hooded his eyes and waited for me to go away……………

A good start and I was filled with optimism. The “stand” turned out to be a large platform about 100 ft long and 10 ft wide built out over a marshy area. A few birds were out on the marsh, and even a couple of Sandhills striding near the edge of a pond…………..

A little later a Coot paddled by and totally ignored me. Rare for these guys, too. They’re hard to photograph because their black body fools the camera into an incorrect exposure, making the white beak show up as a white blob. I was ready for this one, tho’ with an EVF setting of -.7, darkening the exposure……………

A hawk chased and caught something in the deep grass, geese and ducks took off and landed in the distance, people came and went, and ol’ Lar hung in there patiently, believing that idiot about the birds coming in more and more toward dark. Well, yah, some did - way off in the distance. I was nearly frozen by then, with temperature in the low 40’s F., and a cold, cold wind cutting across the marsh. I was dressed for it, but there are limits. Finally gave up and headed back toward a motel in Socorro (the camper is off the truck for the winter) and saw a large group of people gathered beside a pond right beside the highway. Pulled over and one of ‘em told me this was a good spot for incoming and outgoing birds because of the wind direction. Sounded reasonable to me, but it was too dark then to shoot.

The next morning dawned crisp (20º F ) and clear and I was out at that pond before sun-up……..and nearly froze to death. That thin, icy wind cut right thru and it Hurt ! ! ! There was already a flock of photographers out there with huge lenses set up on gimbaled tripods - especially those big white Canon 500mm things with a giant camera hung on the back of ‘em. Must be at least $5,000.00 per setup and there were legions of ‘em. I was one of the few with a “measly” 300mm and wasn’t spoken to by these godly souls. The cameras all obey the same rules, tho’, and you gotta have light to get pictures. I did try a bunch, but threw most away. 1/30 sec. for birds taking off just doesn’t cut it. I did get one “sorta” shot of Snow Geese getting ready for takeoff and flight to the feeding grounds, but it’s very iffy. Don’t hardly look real, do they ??………….

When the sun broke the eastern horizon, my numb fingers barely could push the button, (sob, sob) but I did manage to shoot a group of Sandhill Cranes taking to the sky………………

Except for this one. Maybe sick ?? He tried hard for about 100 feet, then splashed down face first and stayed in the pond…………….

I know these are very soft, but the light was very bad, so call it documentation. One bird silhouetted against the setting full moon, and I liked the shot…………

As the sun rose above the horizon, the light improved dramatically, and coupled with an ISO setting of 400, the golden light shone very nicely on these Crane’s plumage. Some noise here and not tack sharp, but much better than no shot at all…………..

Later on, I was over near the feeding grounds - fields specially planted for the birds - and was able to shoot them coming in on final approach. This was a whole ‘nuther story and conditions were good…………

One bird coming in slid by slowly (comparatively) and looked me over closely on the way by. I looked him over pretty closely, too. These are big birds, standing around 4 feet tall……………

The big Cranes were neat, but what really blew my mind were the hordes of Snow Geese. I’ve never seen the like. While on the loop around the Preserve, I came across a field that was carpeted with untold 1,000’s of them - solid white for acres and acres. “Wow,” I thought, “gotta get a shot of that.” About then something spooked them and the whole thing erupted as one and it was like a huge white blanket being flipped by a giant. By the time I got the Diesel Dodge stopped and jumped out with the camera these high speed flyers had already started to spread out. Have you ever heard 10’s of 1,000’s of excited Geese all squawking at once ??…………and the roar of their wings beating the air ?? Add in the croaking of 100’s of Sandhill Cranes and it was quite an event. VERY exciting and I was grinning from ear to ear. I’ll bet that field would be a mess to walk thru about now………….

Once the Geese were in the air, tho’, they were magnificent, but very hard to photograph. They are very smooth and it seems like the camera has trouble focusing on them. Here’s 2 passing by………….

……..and a loner. Beautiful………………

My favorite shot for the day ?? A little soft, but I really like these. Can’t decide if I like this one…………..

Or this one. What do you think ??………………

Traveling on around the Preserve, I hadn’t gone far, when a glance down a side road revealed a whole different kind of family. They were curious and not frightened at all. These are Mule Deer and much larger than the Columbian Blacktails I grew up around in the Pacific Northwest………….

Started to get back in the truck and movement right beside me caught my eye. This is a White Crowned Sparrow and is normally very quick, spooky and shy. So many birders come thru here that this guy is habituated to people and posed nicely for a shot - one of my favorites………….

Ain’t he cute ?? Not far away, around just a few curves in the road was the Sparrow’s arch enemy, a juvenile Goshawk. These birds are also normally very shy and very fast. Very difficult to photograph, but this one sat and watched me shoot about 15 pics from about 30 feet away…………….

To wrap up my little adventure, I was heading for the exit, along a canal lined with reeds and saw a flock of Red Winged Blackbirds feeding on the seed pods. Having had very little success with these birds in the past, I shut off the clattering engine of the Diesel Dodge about 100 ft away and coasted to a stop beside them and about 50 ft away. They have a bright flash on their wings that only shows when they flap, and I shot 22 (counted ‘em) pics trying for that flash, and always a fraction late. Did get one fairly nice, tho’ soft, shot of one……………

Then it reached way out for a seed pod and flapped for balance. Lightning Lar was ready, and got the shot, but the motion was so fast it blurred………..

Better than no shot, eh ?? Gives me something to aim for next time - and there Will be a next time. This made for a terrific weekend, and between 2 or 3 hours on Saturday and 4 hours on Sunday, I shot over 700 pictures, of which probably 400 or more I had to delete. Fuzzy. What Fun ! ! !

Posted: November 27th, 2007 under 07-11-24 Bosque del Apache, 08 New Mexico.
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