Got to Bosque Del Apache this morning an hour before sunrise. There weren't any birds in the pond everyone said to shoot so I followed a few cars to some other ponds. No geese there either so it was back to the first pond. Got there just in time for the fly-in of a flock of Snow Geese. Fortunately we had just the slightest amount of clouds and they were located in a perfect spot. This first image was the first frame of the day. It is just so awesome to see the sky filled with these geese. According to the last count, on Dec 18, there were 13,800 geese and 5,130 Sandhill Cranes. There were also 41,855 ducks along with an assortment of eagles, hawks, owls and other birds.
The geese hung around at the pond until after sunrise. Then somehow the 'blastoff' was triggered and the all rose from the water at the same time. Once in the air they all headed straight for the fields. This image is the sky filled with departing geese.
Later in the day I was playing with a slow shutter speed trying to capture a sense of motion. With my camera still using 1/15th of a second for the shutter speed there was another 'blastoff' from the pond I was at. I was a bit dismayed with the slow shutter speed but was pleased to see the results this evening. I may have to try this technique again.
Tomorrow morning I will return to Bosque Del Apache for sunrise one more time before heading out for a long drive to Oklahoma City.
Roger
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Great shots, Roger! It sounds like you had a nice first visit to the Bosque. I can't wait until I can visit there again! If I get to take a trip later this winter I'll probably stop there... maybe early April. The snow geese and cranes will be gone, but the song birds will start showing up and there will be a greater variety of birds. I was there in April of 2004 and saw lots of birds that I had never seen before. Bosque is an amazing place!
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