On Thursday evening, I met up with a local photographer I met online. We
decided to shoot at another smaller refuge close to where he lives along
the Rio Grande Valley. It was a fun shoot, and Sandhill Cranes were
numerous. We were working with excellent direct light with a bunch of mid
level clouds to provide nice backgrounds. Then, the sun went behind the
clouds to never reappear (except for a brief moment right around sunset).
Here are a few images from that shoot:
1739 combined total frames shot from the morning and afternoon/evening
shoot. It was another spectacular day highlighted by not one, but TWO
close encounter Snow Goose liff-offs. I was fortunate enough to
successfully capture both of them quite well. Other highlights of the
shoot included morning Sandhill Cranes in flight (shot with the 80-400mm
lens instead of the 600mm), male Shoveler in excellent light showing
iridescence in the head, and an interesting shot of Pintails splashing in
front light upside down under water with its webbed feet. The day was
capped off with a spectacular sunset as high cirrus clouds moved in. What
a day!
A little more about this shot-
This was photographed at a location called the South Crane Pond area that
is a part of the Bosque del Apache NWR. The typical routine at Bosque is
the morning (usually 10-25 minutes before sunrise) flyout of Snow Geese
from one of their traditional roosting spots around the Flight Deck area.
On this morning, I decided to focus my efforts on "birds in landscape" at
sunrise as morning light first hit the Chupadera Mountains west of the
refuge. Shortly before sunrise, a large flock of Snow Geese descended upon
the pool I was photographing. I was already set up for doing
birds-in-landscape shots, as I had my 80-400mm lens on the tripod with most
of my frames at the short end of this range. I was also shooting with a
large depth of field with the f-stop at f/13. So, I was already set up,
basically, for what was about to come my way. Without any warning
whatsoever (and this is usually the case), the large pile of geese shot up
in a thunderous wave. It's interesting how Snow Geese lift off. They all
don't lift off at once... they lift off in a wave... usually starting at
one end. At the time, I was focusing on trying to get some close Sandhill
Cranes in my landscape scene, but once I heard the initial "thunder" and
loud calling, I knew what was happening, so I swing the camera around on
the gimbal mount and went to work. I caught the liftoff fairly early,
capturing 7-frames per second. Since I was at f/13, every element of the
scene was pretty much in focus. I feel pretty lucky to have been at the
right place at the right time for this shot and capturing one of nature's
most amazing spectacles -- at very close range flying in my direction!
1461 frames combined from this morning and this early evening shoot at
Bosque del Apache. Again, it was mild with afternoon temperatures in the
upper 50s and not a cloud in the sky. SOME clouds will help enhance the
bird in-flight shots! Here are a few select keeper frames from today (in
addition to the -Snowbound- title I added earlier this evening):
*I* arrived in Bosque del Apache early in the afternoon. This first day of
shooting was much better than expected -- a success all around. I started
my shoot traveling the South Loop where I photographed some Pintails, a
Northern Shoveler, Mallards. I then came across some mule deer, including
one buck. The buck was quite active, as I photographed him doing an antler
rub on a tree branch. Then he started playing around with a couple of
does. I then headed north as the sun was getting lower, and it was time to
focus on the light geese and Sandhill Cranes. After initially
photographing some in flight shots near the Farm Deck, I headed to the
shore of the west pool just north of the Flight Deck. This was where the
fly-in was occurring. The geese and cranes were very tolerant of the
growing crowd of photographers and bird watchers. The scenes prior to and
at sunset were just awesome.
*I* shot 1359 frames today... all on the D7000 and with the 600mm f/4 lens.
3 of those frames are included in this post of Sandhill Cranes. Enjoy!
More to come later! -Mike
Everything is on track for my 6-day trip to the Rio Grande Valley to photograph wildlife: Sandhill Crane and Snow Geese, to be specific (as well as other attendant wildlife). My focus will be on the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge. I timed this particular trip around the approach of the full moon, which will be this Saturday (26th). I will be basing out of Socorro, NM, which is 20 miles north of the refuge. There are other smaller wildlife management areas that I will also photograph at along the Rio Grande. Wintering Sandhill Cranes use the entire Rio Grande Valley from Albuquerque down to El Paso, but are most concentrated from just south of Albuquerque to Bosque del Apache. I photographed Bosque 7 years ago in 2006, and it was an experience I will never forget. It was this trip that really got me hooked on wildlife photography. The incredible landscape with the mountain terrain, the phenomenal New Mexico sky, combined with flight of snow geese and cranes can make for amazing images. It is no wonder this is a destination for wildlife photographers. I decided to wait for my return visit to Bosque once I got my new 600mm lens. It was a long wait, but now that I have the lens and some other updated photography gear, I’m on my way back! Here’s hoping for some amazing images from the Bosque... (The image below is the NWS weather forecast; Highs in the 50s, lows in the mid/upper 20s works for me!)
Itinerary:
Sunday 20th... depart Dodge City after work (roughly 3pm) for Tucumcari, NM
Monday 21st... depart early morning from Tucumcari, NM for Socorro, NM (late afternoon/evening shoot)
Tuesday 22nd through Saturday 26th... Shoot days!
Sunday 27th... Sunrise shoot then depart Socorro, NM for Dodge City.
