Continuing with our trip to National Wildlife Refuge at Bosque Del Apache, we arrived at the Flight Deck ponds at sunrise. The Sandhill Cranes and Snow Geese were leaving the safety of the ponds to find their daily feeding grounds. I managed to capture these three snow geese as they flew out for the day.
These five Sandhill Cranes were preparing to leave the pond. They had adopted the typical pose before they take flight.
Here is another crane considering taking flight. In the meantime, the crane in the background had just headed out.
The fall colors were late arriving in the refuge. I could not help but make some images of the autumn leaves.
Later in the morning we were looking out for a Northern Harrier that we had spotted. I made another image showing the fall colors.
That afternoon, we found a Northern Harrier hunting for small critters in the grass. These raptors fly a few feet above the ground and have highly maneuverable and unpredictable flight paths. We spent an hour or so, watching this harrier work the field.
We also found a Red-Tailed Hawk that had just attempted to catch a wild turkey without success. I made this image as it was perched and watching the flock of turkeys walking past.
Around sunset, we headed to the pond by the Flight Deck. The moon was close to being full. I made this image of the reflection of the moon in the pond.
We enjoyed the short visit to Bosque Del Apache, and returned home the next morning.