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Now that you’re ready to shoot, where can you find the birds? While the sky seems
to be continually crisscrossed by birds, you'll be far more productive if you understand
the birds’ behavior and daily patterns:
- At Bosque, overwintering birds feed by day in the refuge farm fields, and roost at
night in several pools, where they are safer from predators. Sometimes the geese return
to the pools at midday to rest or in response to coyotes hunting in the fields.
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The best place to photograph geese at sunrise is usually along the two-way section of
the auto tour route reached by making your first left after entering the refuge. The
geese can choose from many locations over a wide area of impoundments; on good mornings
they will be right in front of you.
- Geese and cranes generally cross the north end of the auto tour route to get to and
from farm fields in the north of the refuge. Positioning yourself here in early morning
or late afternoon can give you great flight opportunities.
 The
refuge personnel periodically "bump down" areas of the corn fields –
that is, they cut the plants down to heights that encourage the birds to enter the fields
and feed. The principle is simple: geese and cranes prefer fields cut low enough that
they can see over the plants to scan for predators – relatively high for cranes,
much lower for geese. Check with refuge personnel or other photographers to find out
where the active feeding areas are during your visit.
- A good location for afternoon shooting when the wind and sun are aligned is the marsh
at the north end of the short two-way section of the drive, reached by making your first
left after entering the refuge. Snow Geese often return here in the afternoon to bathe
after feeding.
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To photograph Sandhill Cranes taking off in the morning, position yourself along the
highway, upwind of their roosting pools with the sun behind you. With luck, they will
fly by you in perfect sun as they take off into the wind.
Bosque has more than Snow Geese and Sandhill Cranes. Look for smaller Ross's Geese mixed
in with the Snows; each species tends to stay together (birds of a feather ...); virtually
all the Ross's Geese at Bosque are white phase, and adults can be identified by the blue
patch at the base of the bill and absence of the Snow Goose "grinning patch."
On the other hand, there are substantial numbers of "blue phase" or dark morph
Snow Geese here. And immature geese and cranes look different from their adult congeners,
and are handsome in their own right. Canada Geese occur regularly, and keen observers
may find rare White-fronted Geese mingling.
If you're lucky, you may see and photograph a rare Whooping Crane. Raptors are common.
Keep your eyes peeled for Bald Eagles perched nearby, resting between feeding forays.
Beautiful American Kestrels patrol the refuge, as do a variety of other raptors.
Waterfowl are abundant, but wary. You should see Roadrunners crossing the road; try photographing
them from your vehicle. And a variety of seed eating birds birds frequent the feeders
by the informative visitor center.
But it is the spectacle of the abundant and photogenic Snow Geese and Sandhill Cranes
that draw nature photographers again and again to the beauty of Bosque, making it one
of the premier locations for winter bird photography in North America.
Just remember to bring plenty of film or memory cards. See you at Bosque!
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