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Visit To Monte Vista

A couple of weeks ago, we spent a few days in Monte Vista to do some birding in the National Wildlife Refuge. It was great to go out to this great location. This was the last location where I stayed a few nights just before the Covid lockdown started!

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View Towards Blanco Peak, Monte Vista NWR.

Soon after arrival, we spent a few hours near one of the ponds in the wildlife refuge. This muskrat was spotted swimming up one of the channels adjacent to the main pond.

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Muskrat Swimming, Monte Vista NWR.

We counted about a dozen Cinnamon Teals, mostly male, farther down the channel. I managed to capture this male bird as he was spreading wings.

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Cinnamon Teal Spreading Wings.

There were two mating pairs swimming along the same channel. In this image, the female was swimming ahead of the male.

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Cinnamon Teal Female, Monte Vista NWR.

Soon the male came into view…

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Cinnamon Teal Male, Monte Vista NWR.

This was a great location to capture these teal ducks. We were really lucky to get really close, capturing some great images as well.

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Cinnamon Teal Pair.

The following morning we headed back to the ponds just before sunrise. The Sandhill Cranes were bathed in the dawn sunlight. This pond was a location where the cranes often spent the night to avoid predators.

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Sandhill Cranes Waiting At Sunrise.

In the distance, water had frozen during the night. But in the foreground, the cranes were contemplating flying out for the day.

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Sandhill Cranes At Sunrise.

Occasional birds and groups of birds slowly took off to reach the daytime feeding grounds. I managed to make several images of this crane as it left for the day.

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Sandhill Crane Take Off, No 2.

In this image, one of the cranes was spreading its wings. Again I made several images until the crane had retracted its wings.

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Sandhill Cranes And Spreading Wings.

This was the first time that we had spent a night in a hotel for over a year. Also, we got to have dinner in a restaurant, practicing safe distancing.

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