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!
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.
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.
There were two mating pairs swimming along the same channel. In this image, the female was swimming ahead of the male.
Soon the male came into view…
This was a great location to capture these teal ducks. We were really lucky to get really close, capturing some great images as well.
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.
In the distance, water had frozen during the night. But in the foreground, the cranes were contemplating flying out for the day.
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.
In this image, one of the cranes was spreading its wings. Again I made several images until the crane had retracted its 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.