The trip to Bosque was a fun one, it was quick but I still managed to capture a ton of images.  I’m just now getting around to processing another batch from the trip. 

This year I visited the refuge fairly early in the migration season. The sandhill cranes were not in the thousands but there were plenty of opportunities to capture some nice images.  

Most of the images below were captured at the observation area, located about a mile before you enter the refuge.  The past couple of years the pond was empty, the park worked hard to rebuild the levees and then filled the area with water. To me, this is a prime location to capture images at sunrise and sunset. 

I’ve captured shots of bald eagles, sandhill cranes, Canadian geese and snow geese all on this small pond. 

When the sunrises, the cranes are standing still and in most cases, standing in ice.  The sun tends to cast great color on the pond as you  can see with the first couple of images.  As the temps increase, the cranes become active. This is the time to capture the flying shots as they depart to feed in the fields.  

On to the shots. 

The snow geese appeared to outnumber the sandhill cranes at the time of my visit.  At times they would leave in mass and land on the gravel road. They blocked traffic a few times.  

You really never know what you will see when you make your way around the various roads within the refuge.  I didn’t run across any mule deer bucks within range of snapping shots this year however, the does were cooperative. 

The roadrunners were out and about, the shot below, the roadrunner was puffed up and keeping warm when I took the shot. 

On the southern end of the refuge, I’ve run across javelina in this area each time I’ve visited.  The little ones were really active and kept the parents plenty busy. 

The Cooper’s hawk sat for a little while so  I could capture a number of images. This particular shot was just as it was leaving.  I didn’t capture any shots of Harrier hawks this time around.  There were plenty out hunting in the fields but they were elusive and never close enough to capture decent images. 

The red-wing blackbirds are always fun to photograph and a sight to see when they erupt in flight. 

I hope you enjoyed the images and I appreciate you visiting the site. 

Best wishes for 2023! 

Frank