Photographer in Colorado

A couple of weeks ago, we made a birding trip to Monte Vista to do some birding. At this time of the year, Sandhill Cranes stop over at the wildlife refuge on their return trip to summer nesting grounds. For the first morning, we were out at the ponds to view the cranes and geese fly out. Many birds typically roost at these ponds during the night. We found this pair of Canada Geese hanging out on the ice at the edge of the ponds. I managed to capture one bird flapping its wings.

American Coots may also be found in the ponds. Later in the morning, they may be found feeding in the ponds. Frequently, several coots spar with one another. This is a common sight that I have found at this location over several years. Here is one image from a sequence of images that I captured from one sparring pair.

During the course of the day, Sandhill Cranes fly over the wildlife refuge. Here is one image of a single goose in flight.

Sandhill cranes spend winter further south along the Rio Grande in New Mexico. During later winter and early spring, they head north to their summer feeding and nesting grounds. The wildlife refuge is one feeding location where they stop during their journey. Here is a single crane moving while grazing in the fields.

The cranes typically roost for the night where there is water, either at these ponds, or at other ponds in the refuge. This offers some safety against predators, such as coyotes, during the night. Soon after dawn, the cranes fly out in family groups to feeding grounds where they spend much of the daylight hours. Sandhill Cranes generally pair for life. Occasional single birds (with no partners) will also fly out. In this image, I captured a single bird when it called out soon after taking flight.

Early during the first morning, there was little wind. However, during the course of the day, strong winds developed during the day and persisted for the remaining two days that we spent in Monte Vista. Here is typical family group of a pair of cranes in flight that I capture during our first day, when the cranes were moving between feeding grounds in the refuge.

Here is another single crane in flight between feeding grounds on the first day.

During early March, the annual Sandhill Crane Festival takes place in Monte Vista. We typically visit the refuge either before or after the festival, to avoid the crowds and to find reasonable accommodation. We had really strong winds during the middle and end of the days we spent in Monte Vista. However, the weather forecast for the festival days included snow!

There is a Barrow’s Goldeneye that winters in the South Platte River every year. I don’t know whether this is the same duck that we have seen every year, or not. The male duck is very easy to identify, but the female is much more difficult. The female looks very similar to the female Common Goldeneye. Last week, I went on a quest to find the female(s).

After confirming that the Barrow’s is still here, I returned the next day in a quest to find the female. Of course, I found some other species. On arriving at the river, I found this pair of American Wigeons.

Soon, I found a group of female Goldeneye ducks. I worked my way downstream and upstream a few times, making several images along the way. In this image, I managed to capture a Common Goldeneye flapping her wings.

Now, were there any female Barrows? I found another female Goldeneye that started to flap her wings. Was it a Barrow’s? The bill has much more yellow than the common species. The head is a different shade of brown. This female had a different shape of head when compared to the common females; closer in shape to the male. Yes. Found the female Barrow’s Goldeneye!

Eventually the male Barrow’s Goldeneye, made his way upstream to the join the group of females. In this image, I managed to capture both male and female as they turned around and headed downstream.

Most of the Goldeneye ducks were swimming upstream and downstream, swimming and diving as they were foraging for food. They repeated this several times during my time observing them. In the following image, I captured the male with three females following behind; one Barrow’s female and two Common females. They soon passed the male Buffelhead (see below). The difference between the Barrow’s and Common can be seen here.

Occasionally, the ducks take flight to move upstream, instead of paddling against the water flow. I managed to capture this one female Common Goldeneye as she took flight.

There are several other specifies of birds in the South Platte river at this location. I found this solitary Canada Goose on a sandbar in the river.

As I was returning to the parking lot, a pair of Northern Flickers landed on a tree as I walked under the tree. I managed to get a very decent image of one of these Flickers.

Found the female Barrow’s Goldeneye. Mission accomplished!

One of the techniques for creating impressionist images with photography, is Intentional Camera Movement, or ICM. Here is a collection of some of the ICM images that I captured during daily walks through our neighborhood.

These images are made by moving the camera vertically, or horizontally, while make the exposure.

In the following image, the camera was moved diagonally.

The following images were made in Rosedale Park, before the last snow storm.

The most recent snow storm dumped much snow in Harvard Gulch. Here is one image that includes snow around the tree being captured.

I stopped by an area where there were several bushes growing close together along the gulch to capture this image.

In the following image, the bushes contained several curved branches. Since I moved the camera more slowly than the earlier images, these branches retained more of their curves.

Enjoy.

The morning of the third day, was the last opportunity to visit Bosque Del Apache Wildlife Refuge before heading back home. Leaving the hotel, I headed to the north loop of the refuge. I did find a Northern Harrier but it was too far away and spent a lot on time on the ground in the distance.

However, as I continued along the road, I noticed a Red-Tailed Hawk in a tree across from the irrigation channel by the roadside. I just waited to see what would happen and made several of images, including the following one. Red-Tailed Hawks have a very distinctive call that I heard several times from this hawk.

Later on, while we were reviewing images at home, we noticed that there was a second Red-Tailed Hawk hidden behind the branches to the left of this hawk. I never noticed the second bird, and therefore did not attempt to capture an image with two hawks. C’est la vie!

There were several reports of a pair of White-Tailed Kites at Bosque Del Apache. Soon, rounding a bend, I noticed several folks who had stopped along the road. They had found one of the kites. So I got my gear out and captured several images. This kite was a fair distance away, and so it was small in the frame. What luck!

The previous day, I had met a lady who was asking about the kites. Soon she arrived, so I pointed the kite out to her. We chatted a while, and then I left the refuge to make my way home.

One of the most interesting birds to watch and to photograph, is the Northern Harrier. In the early morning on the second day, visiting Bosque Del Apache, I headed along the north loop road, where I have seen Harriers many times in the past. Here I found a flock of Lesser Goldfinches that were feed from the thistles. This little guy was hanging from one thistle to feed from seeds of the second thistle below.

I had met several people who had mentioned that there was a pair of White-Tailed Kites in the wildlife refuge. While driving on the loop, I met a couple of photogs who had seen and captured images of one of the kites earlier in the morning. While chatting about the kites, this White-Crowned Sparrow flew by and then perched on a branch in a nearby bush.

The kite was no where to be found. Later in the day, I circled back to the north loop. The open fields were a popular location to find raptors hunting. I found this Red-Tailed Hawk perched on a tree at the roadside. It must have seen some prey and took flight to the opposite roadside. A few seconds later, it had landed in the grass, found nothing and flew off to another tree. However, I did manage to capture a couple of images as this hawk took flight from the perch.

Later that afternoon, I found another Red-Tailed Hawk perched on a tree, also on the north loop.

Bosque Del Apache is a well-known winter location for Sandhill Cranes and Snow Geese. This year, I did not see many Snow Geese on the first day; they had found roosting and feeding grounds at Bernado, another location about 40 miles north of Bosque. However, on this second day, I did see a flock of Snow Geese fly in during the morning.

Later that afternoon, I found the flock in the refuge captured some images, including the one above and below. I have made several images in previous visits, and so I did not spend much time with this flock.

Back on the north loop, I found another Red-Tailed Hawk. I captured the following image as it took flight.

As I mentioned earlier, the Northern Harrier is an interesting bird to watch. Even more difficult to photograph successfully. This Harrier flies close to the ground looking for prey. They are highly maneuverable and will suddenly turn as something catches their attention. Very soon, their flight takes them a long way from the camera and one loses track of them! Soon they may return by a different path, maybe passing really close, so patience is good habit.

I had found a location where there were sparrows feeding among the low bushes. Pretty soon this Harrier was weaving between the trees hunting for prey. This is one image where the Harrier was close enough and not obscured by the tree branches.

Birds in flight are the most difficult to capture, so I am happy with the results. To my mind, the Northern Harrier is the most challenging to capture, so it will keep me engaged for a long time!

Earlier this month, I made a trip to Bosque Del Apache National Wildlife Refuge for some birding and make photographs. This year it was windy, overcast and really cold when I arrived at the wildlife refuge. After a couple of days, the wind subsided but it remained cold for much of the days.

For the first time, I managed to get a decent image of an American Kestrel; the overcast weather softened the light so we can see a lot of detail in the shadows.

Near the entrance to the wildlife refuge, a Loggerhead Shrike was perched on a fence post.

Later that first day, I made this image of the shrike on a thistle. It may have been the same bird but was about a 1/4-mile away from the first image.

Alongside the south loop, I found a frozen pond where a group of Yellowlegs were waiting for the ice to thaw that morning. Later in the day, I returned to the same pond to find the ice had thawed. Several other birds had moved in during the day. While observing the birds, this male Buffelhead Duck spent much of the day, paddling downstream in the pond, feeding occasionally. Once he reached the end, he would fly to the other end of the pond, and repeat the process. I did manage to capture this one image as he was taking flight from the end of the pond.

There are several other animals that may be found in New Mexico. I found this Javelina crossing the road to join a group of Javelina grazing in the field to the left.

Towards the end of the day, a Roadrunner approached me. It seemed that this Roadrunner was working one stretch of road that runs between two ponds. This is one image that I captured close to sunset.

At the end of daylight, I headed out of the refuge for some dinner. The sun had set behind the mountains to the west of the refuge. However, the last rays for sunlight lit up the few remaining clouds in the sky.

More to come.

During our afternoon trip to Reynold’s Landing, we discovered a Lesser Scaup (a duck), that was diving for food in the river. I managed to get reasonably close to the Scaup as it dived below the surface. After watching the Scaup’s behavior, I decided to attempt a sequence of several consecutive images from the start of the dive until the the scaup was underwater. After many attempts, I eventually managed to capture a complete sequence from start.