![\"3136-0037-Three-Greater-Yellowlegs-Bosque-Del-Apache-2024\"](\"https:\/\/matchgrun.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/3136-0037-Three-Greater-Yellowlegs-Bosque-Del-Apache-2024.jpg\")
There was a disturbance as a Northern Harrier flew in, hunting for prey. No luck this time, so the Harrier left quickly.<\/p>\n\n\n
![\"3136-0044-Northern-Harrier-Hunting\"](\"https:\/\/matchgrun.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/3136-0044-Northern-Harrier-Hunting.jpg\")
We also found several Northern Shrikes in the refuge. I approached on foot and managed to get reasonably close to make this image while the bird was perched near the top of a tree.<\/p>\n\n\n
![\"3136-0065-Northern-Shrike-Perched-Bosque-Del-Apache\"](\"https:\/\/matchgrun.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/3136-0065-Northern-Shrike-Perched-Bosque-Del-Apache.jpg\")
Nearby, we found a Great Blue Heron close to the edge of an irrigation ditch. This looked like an immature heron. These herons are often seen standing in water or close to water, where they typically hunt for fish. Unexpectedly, this heron was interested in something in the grass.<\/p>\n\n\n
![\"3136-0070-Immature-Great-Blue-Heron\"](\"https:\/\/matchgrun.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/3136-0070-Immature-Great-Blue-Heron.jpg\")
We were fortunate to find a Roadrunner that was waiting at the roadside. One of the Park Rangers’ trucks was passing by, so the Roadrunner snuck into the long grass. After a few minutes, the Roadrunner came out again and crossed to our side of the road. Here, I had the opportunity of making several images of this bird until it darted into the bush.<\/p>\n\n\n
![\"3136-0085-Road-Runner-Bosque-Del-Apache\"](\"https:\/\/matchgrun.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/3136-0085-Road-Runner-Bosque-Del-Apache.jpg\")
At the end of the day, we had moved to the same pond as the previous day. I made this image of a family of Sandhill Cranes that were returning to this pond for the night.<\/p>\n\n\n
![\"3136-0112-Sandhill-Crane-Family-Returning-At-Sunset\"](\"https:\/\/matchgrun.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/3136-0112-Sandhill-Crane-Family-Returning-At-Sunset.jpg\")
On the previous day, a few coyotes had visited the same pond, but we did not see any predatory behavior.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Continuing with our trip to the refuge… We made another visit to the pond where we found shore birds from the previous day. Three Yellowlegs were meandering through the pond. There was a disturbance as a Northern Harrier flew in, hunting for prey. No luck this time, so the Harrier left quickly. We also found […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[423,1462,1917,426,1756,1460,425,1983,1914,306,415,1766],"class_list":["post-10187","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-general","tag-bosque-del-apache","tag-great-blue-heron","tag-harrier","tag-ponds","tag-refuge","tag-roadrunner","tag-sandhill-cranes","tag-shore-birds","tag-shrike","tag-water","tag-wildlife","tag-yellowlegs"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t