Festival of the Cranes – part 5
/On the third day in New Mexico, I had signed up for a morning of Point and Shoot Photography at Bosque del Apache. It was a 6 AM start so the sun was just beginning to come up.
The snow geese were spooked before sunrise and took off. I took a video but otherwise just enjoyed the drama of a lot of birds taking flight at the same time.
It was a time of color and silhouettes.
The light got warmer as the sunrise progressed. There were cranes overhead and I like the silhouettes against the brightening sky. I was experimenting with the ‘sports’ setting on my camera – good for bodies in motion…including birds.
A little later but still early enough to have great morning light, we saw a small group of cranes and I took multiple series as parts of the group took flight. It’s interesting to see how they move their wings to life themselves from the water; the powerful first strokes are different than the way the wings move once they are aloft. I’ve included 5 sequences with this post. This experience was probably the highpoint of the morning for photography.
Continuing around the wild life loop we spotted a killdeer near the edge of a pond…enjoying a bath and the looking around the debris for breakfast.
The highpoint for birding was the snipe that I finally managed to see. They blend in with their surroundings!
