Bosque del Apache NWR

Al Hansen

Well-known member
This refuge is packed with guests eager to get looks at the many birds that are now coming here. The latest count had ducks at 59,000, light geese at 37,000, and close to 7,000 sandhill cranes.
Just as you enter the refuge, on the northern border there are two ponds on the west side of old highway #1. The second pond which is the larger of the two was holding what looked like 5000 birds or more. Here are a few shots of them. I love listening to them when they are in large groups and within seconds it will all of a sudden become almost deathly quiet. Then all hell seems to break loose as the flock will explode into the air for no apparent reason, fly around for a minute or two, then land and "normalcy" prevails once again. What is so sweet is that it takes me 12 minutes to drive here from our home.

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A good looking juvenile snow goose

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The blue goose will show you how quickly things settled back to normal.

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I then proceeded to another part of the refuge where they just opened up a new road for visitors. I saw a great many sandhills in this area. While I was looking at my photos this morning on the computer I happened to notice this one unusual looking bird in the flock. Unfortunately I did not see it yesterday when taking pictures of the cranes. Does anyone know what this bird is? I would appreciate your help. I know that it is out of focus and a long ways away.

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A few last shots of light geese before I headed home.
Al

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Interesting that the collared Snow didn't have a leg band. That's also a great comaprison of the difference between Snows and Ross geese.
 
I like that Blue that is with the collared Snow. He has a mohawk. Cool flying close up also.

I think the brown bird is just a very stained young Sandhill. Strange there aren't more stained birds in there.

Tim
 
I like that Blue that is with the collared Snow. He has a mohawk. Cool flying close up also.

I think the brown bird is just a very stained young Sandhill. Strange there aren't more stained birds in there.

Tim


And here I was thinking spur winged goose.
 
Might be if he was at the Bosque del Africa. Maybe it's daddy was a mallard and it's a rare Park Crane.
 
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I think you might be right TimJ probably of a different subspecies than the Rocky Mountain Greaters at BdA, the only thing else there is even a remote possibility would be a small juvy stained whooper. There was a non-essential experimental flock that they tried to start that would winter in BdA.
 
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