Bosque (meaning 'woods' in the American Indian Apache language) comprises the terminal point for Sandhill Cranes and Snow Geese migrating down from the north during Winter. They come in their thousands! Many photographers from all over the world come to this place to watch the morning 'fly-off' when the birds lift off en-mass at dawn to begin their foraging for food in the surrounding fields. The photo on the left captures a sense of the large number of birds (in this case Snow Geese) taking off at the same time - with loud sounds of wing beats and honks!
 

Bosque itself consists of several large ponds only a few inches deep created by overflow of the nearby Rio Grande river. In the past the overflows used to be quite natural, but nowadays the water flows are controlled by a series of small canals and water gates. The birds roost overnight in the ponds for protection from coyotes that view them as ideal meals!
 

The Cranes are beautiful birds that stand about 4 feet tall with a wingspan of about 6 feet. Unlike the Snow Geese, the Cranes fly very gracefully. (The Snow Geese have a higher wing loading and so have to flap a lot faster!). The photo on the right shows a Crane flying a few feet above the water shortly after taking off. I panned the photo in an attempt to keep the moving bird in focus - hence the blurry background. The blurry background serves to both focus attention on the subject (the flying Crane) and also conveys a sense of movement. I also like the low contrast throughout the image.
 

There were plenty of opportunities to photograph birds in silhouette as most of the action was either at dawn or dusk. Here's a Crane coming in for landing - undercarriage fully extended and wings generating lots of lift as the bird looks down intently trying to identify a suitable landing spot. Again, the low contrast soft background I find very pleasing and forms a nice backdrop to the descending bird.
 

Bosque is about 70 miles southwest of Albuquerque, the capital city of New Mexico. The morning were very cold in mid-December - typically about 20F (-7C). The birds didn't seem to mind, but it was a bit of a challenge for the photographers - especially this one, who managed to forget his gloves one morning!