I just found out I got an honorable mention for an international Black and White photo contest. 😁
There were 8,942 submissions from 87 countries! Wow! I am very honored to receive an award for this prestigious event. I submitted 3 photos so am thrilled one was selected.
My winning photo was one of my all time favorite photos: Dream Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado.
During the last week of December, I was able to take a trip to Bosque del Apache. I try to visit there every December as that’s when the winter bird count is pretty high.
I left well before sunrise. As I was driving down, I started getting into thicker and thicker fog. At one point I had to slow down to 40 mph on a 75 mph interstate.
It was difficult to bird first thing due to the thick fog, so I took a few scenic shots.
Boardwalk through the marsh
A lone American Coot walking through the marsh area
Quiet solitude
I was pleased to see a beautiful coyote in his handsome winter coat.
Beautiful coyote among the hoarfrost
Fortunately, the fog cleared up once the sun rose and I was able to start hunting for birds.
I first noticed a Great Blue Heron grooming.
Great Blue Heron
Great Blue Heron
There were lots of raptors about. Most of them seemed reluctant to move from their morning perch.
Northern Harrier
Cooper’s Hawk
American Kestral
Northern Harrier
American Bald Eagles
Red-Tailed Hawk
I started driving around the ponds to see what waterfowl was about. I happened to notice two Northern Harriers squabbling. They were quite a ways away but I managed to capture a pic.
Northern Harriers fighting
I was surprised to find that there really wasn’t very many waterfowl about. I had to really search the ponds to find any. Not sure where they were all hiding.
Bufflehead – male
Northern Pintail
Bufflehead – female
Pied-Billed Grebe
Ring-Necked Duck
Northern Shoveler
Of course there were lots of Snow Geese about. But every time I made it around the circle to see them, they were flying.
Snow Geese
I always hear there are wading birds that winter at the refuge, but I rarely see them. But on this day I saw three Lesser Yellowlegs feeding in the shallows of a pond.
Lesser Yellowlegs
I saw a few songbirds about that day. There were a couple of rare sightings for the area, but I never saw them. Drat!
Song Sparrow
Gambel’s Quail
Marsh Wren
White-Winged Dove
House Finch
One of my favorite sightings of the day was a Crissal Thrasher singing his little heart out atop a bush. Surprisingly he let me get pretty close singing the whole time.
Crissal Thrasher
I sat and watched a roadrunner look for lunch. They are always entertaining. He hunted for awhile before he noticed me watching. I took this pic the moment he realized he wasn’t alone. 🙂
Greater Roadrunner
My last sighting of the day was a grebe off in the distance. When I zoomed in and took a pic, I was delighted to see it was a Clark’s Grebe. These are considered a rare sighting for the area, so that was a real treat.
Clark’s Grebe
I left around noon and decided to drive a different route home. I took the Quebradas Scenic Route home. I had heard a lot about this road. But to be honest I couldn’t really see why it was considered so beautiful. But there was one place on the road I found very picturesque, so I got out a took a pic.
Quebradas Scenic Route
Just before leaving that highway, I came across some deer feeding in the fields.
Mule Deer
I still had some light left in the day, so I stopped in at the Bernardo Refuge. The Sandhill Cranes seem to prefer this area over Bosque del Apache.
I got there near sunset, and all the cranes were coming in to the pond to drink. It was a beautiful sight seeing and hearing the cranes flying overhead in the soft light of sunset.
Sandhill Cranes
Sandhill Cranes
While photographing the cranes, I happened to notice the Super Moon had risen. It was big and blue!
Super Moon
I had a wonderful day birding. It had been quite some time since I had been able to take a whole day to bird.