More Photos from the Bosque del Apache

These male Northern pintails cruised one of the flooded farm fields immediately adjacent to the car so it was an easy photograph. 

Male Northern pintails...

This is a raptor I have found it extremely difficult to photograph.  Here in the Skagit area the main photographic opportunities are when the birds are found on power lines, but even then they usually fly if there is any discernable slowing of a vehicle in their vicinity.  I was very gratified to get this photograph... this is a beautiful bird!  

Male American kestrel...

The refuge is the winter home of thousands of Sandhill cranes.  Most fly off to adjacent farm fields to feed during the day but return to the refuge and spend the night in flooded farm fields for safety from coyotes and other predators. 

Sandhill crane family group...



Back to the Bosque!

My Northern Hawk owl photos have now been up for some time and I hadn't updated my blog site in several weeks, mainly due to a trip to Texas.  I've now got a large collection of photos from my Texas trip which will be debuting on the blog site at some time in the future.  However I wanted to try to finish posting some of my better Bosque del Apache NWR photos before moving on to the Texas photos. 

In the meantime I've sort of lost track of which Bosque del Apache photos I posted previously.  I tired to make some effort to insure that these weren't previously posted. 

A female Northern shoveler...

A juvenile White-crowned sparrow (I hope!).  These sparrows look very similar to the mature Chipping sparrows!  I keep hoping to get a really good photo of a mature and juvenile White-crowned sparrow in the same photo but thus far the shot has eluded me. 

A White-throated sparrow which my wife spotted and I managed to photograph a day later.  I've seen very few of these birds in my life and thought my chances of photographing one were rather small.  I've always associated these sparrows with being around water, but this one was in a desert garden feature near the headquarters/visitors' center with no water within several hundred yards. 



Can't Get Enough of that Northern Hawk Owl!

This Northern Hawk owl is too good for just one visit!  Today I returned to Reifel Refuge for more photography.  The owl was there when I arrived, but it was backlit and so high up in a tree that good photographs were almost impossible to obtain.  I watched the owl preen for awhile then retired to the vehicle to see if it would hunt.  After about 45 minutes I gave up and continued to the refuge. 

I again had a disappointing day at the refuge... it was cold and the sunny weather that was forecast for Seattle failed to materialize in BC.  The next time I come up I'm going to have to check Vancouver's weather forecast! 

When I returned there was a large group of photographers along the road and I saw the owl land on a power line... not what I wanted!  It soon returned to its usual haunts around the yard by a house and I was able to get another 40-50 photos... and this time many were with it having prey in its beak.  My hands were cold and when it returned to near the top of a tree I called it a day. 

So here are a few shots I got today...