First up, a female Northern shoveler. These birds were very common in the preserve in December, perhaps sharing the bottom of the population pyramid with Northern pintails.
The preserve is the home to several thousand Sandhill cranes in the winter. This family group was foraging through natural habitat (as opposed to the managed farm fields) when they weren't eyeing us.
While this is a real photographic rarity in Skagit Country (WA), all of the raptors we saw in the Bosque del Apache (including this Red-tailed hawk) were perched in REAL TREES!!!
This is a first winter White-crowned sparrow, probably the most abundant sparrow species on the preserve.
And finally, for this post but not for the blog as a whole, this is a Pyrrhuloxia, a close relative of the Northern Cardinal but limited to the dryer habitat of the Southwest. I felt very fortunate to be able to photograph this bird!
There are still more Bosque del Apache NWR photos to follow! And don't forget that I think you can click on the photographs to enlarge them and reveal more detail!
Love the Pyrrhuloxiaand and how they sit on the cactus,like my other favorite from down there the Cactus Wren. Nice work Joe.
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