Posted by Bill Bean on December 29, 2009 at 12:27 PM
3 weeks out from a visit to Bosque Del Apache. My kid goes to ENMU in Roswell and I have to deposit her back there on the 16th. Planning on spending the afternoon of the 17th and morning of the 18th shooting at the Bosque. This is my first visit there so any tidbits of information would be greatly appreciated.
Posted by bill meikle on December 29, 2009 at 4:51 PM
search this website and the bird photography forum and you will get a lot of info.
also the Bosque Friends website is useful.
Ponds north of the reserve are where the cranes and geese spend the night
dont miss the cactus garden behind the visitor centre for quail and thrashers etc
lots of photos on my website William
Hi, William. I've just returned from four days at Bosque. I can't stress enough how bitterly cold it is there this time of year, particularly since you'll be standing in one place with camera on tripod waiting for things to happen, both early and late in the day. Be well prepared for the cold weather, and you'll have a much better experience.
In years past, the best spot for sunrise photos has been the main impoundment from the area around the "Flight Deck." This year the water is quite clogged with weeds, making it much less attractive photo-wise and keeping most of the birds away as well. Since you only have one morning, though, I would still set up first at the Flight Deck. There is always a chance for a spectacular sunrise with geese in flight. Try to get there about 30 minutes before sunrise.
If this doesn't materialize, high-tail it back out to the main road and set up at the north crane pond. This is my personal favorite spot for crane photos, especially in the morning with golden light. A terrific place for flight photos as the cranes leave this night roost for their feeding grounds - easy to get them taking off with nice backgrounds.
In the evening, both the north and south crane ponds are good as the cranes fly in to roost for the night. Nice sky color, flight photos, and silhouettes. Geese are often on these ponds as well.
During the day, you can drive around the tour loops looking for photo ops. The car serves well as a blind, too. There were a couple of Tundra Swans hanging around while I was there, and I did manage to get them in flight, so scan the impoundments carefully as you drive the tour loops. And check out the farm fields ("Farm Deck" area) for cranes and geese feeding during the day, though the past couple of years have been poor for this since the corn crops failed. Even so, I had a thousand or so geese and about a hundred cranes there on Sunday. Watch for harriers and golden eagles on the wing in this area too.
Plenty of food and lodging in Socorro, and try to hit either the Owl Bar or the Buckhorn Tavern in San Antonio for the best green chili cheeseburgers around.
This is just a very brief overview, of course. If you'd like to send me your email address, I can email you a map with the best spots marked.
Have a great trip!
Cheers....Gail.
Posted by Bill Brennan on December 30, 2009 at 10:00 AM
The Heritage Center south of the Bosque preserve offers a history lesson about the Camino Real and its importance to the colonization of NM. Might consider a visit after breakfast. If you are interested in geology, the NM School of Mines has an extensive collection at their museum. Also, Gail does not exaggerate the bone chilling cold. Hand warmers for gloves work well. NM is truly the Land of Enchantment.
Bill Brennan
Posted by Don Grall on December 31, 2009 at 12:16 PM
If you're efficient and disciplined, you can first photograph each morning at the Flight Deck. Then after the geese take off, get in your car and drive to the ponds at the north entrance to photograph the cranes taking off. The cranes are late risers compared to the geese. For sunset the crane pools at the north entrance is much better than the Flight Deck. The balance of the day is a crap shoot, and luck plays a part in being at the right place at the right time. You can shoot all day if there are some clouds. But typically NM gets severely clear blue skies which causes very harsh lighting, so in that case mid-day usually finds me downloading images,processing images,etc. and photographing around the visitor center, quail, sparrows, towhees, etc.
Posted by Ken Wyatt on December 31, 2009 at 4:14 PM
Great advice so far... For an up to date and very detailed guide to photographing at Bosque, check out Arthur Morris' site.... http://www.birdsasart.com. He sells a downloadable guide based on -years- of experience photographing there.
Posted by Bill Bean on January 2, 2010 at 11:17 PM
Efficiency and discipline are normally not part of my lexicon but thanks, everyone, for the information. I did happen to stumble across Arthur Morris's site (I sorta remembered him as being the bird guy from having seen him on a Canon sponsored tv show some years ago) and the map Gail sent with all the circles and arrows is going to be invaluable. Went to the garage and dug out my ski pants, silk long johns, and Rocket J Squirrel hat and I'll pick up some glove warmers before I head down there.
I'm planning on rolling in there around noon on Sunday the 17th and will hang out till sunset then back for sunrise on the 18th before heading back to Denver. If any of you are around and see a white Murano with Colorado plates it's probably me. Stop by and say Hi.
Discussion
6 repliesalso the Bosque Friends website is useful.
Ponds north of the reserve are where the cranes and geese spend the night
dont miss the cactus garden behind the visitor centre for quail and thrashers etc
lots of photos on my website William
In years past, the best spot for sunrise photos has been the main impoundment from the area around the "Flight Deck." This year the water is quite clogged with weeds, making it much less attractive photo-wise and keeping most of the birds away as well. Since you only have one morning, though, I would still set up first at the Flight Deck. There is always a chance for a spectacular sunrise with geese in flight. Try to get there about 30 minutes before sunrise.
If this doesn't materialize, high-tail it back out to the main road and set up at the north crane pond. This is my personal favorite spot for crane photos, especially in the morning with golden light. A terrific place for flight photos as the cranes leave this night roost for their feeding grounds - easy to get them taking off with nice backgrounds.
In the evening, both the north and south crane ponds are good as the cranes fly in to roost for the night. Nice sky color, flight photos, and silhouettes. Geese are often on these ponds as well.
During the day, you can drive around the tour loops looking for photo ops. The car serves well as a blind, too. There were a couple of Tundra Swans hanging around while I was there, and I did manage to get them in flight, so scan the impoundments carefully as you drive the tour loops. And check out the farm fields ("Farm Deck" area) for cranes and geese feeding during the day, though the past couple of years have been poor for this since the corn crops failed. Even so, I had a thousand or so geese and about a hundred cranes there on Sunday. Watch for harriers and golden eagles on the wing in this area too.
Plenty of food and lodging in Socorro, and try to hit either the Owl Bar or the Buckhorn Tavern in San Antonio for the best green chili cheeseburgers around.
This is just a very brief overview, of course. If you'd like to send me your email address, I can email you a map with the best spots marked.
Have a great trip!
Cheers....Gail.
Bill Brennan
I'm planning on rolling in there around noon on Sunday the 17th and will hang out till sunset then back for sunrise on the 18th before heading back to Denver. If any of you are around and see a white Murano with Colorado plates it's probably me. Stop by and say Hi.