Birds at Bosque del Apache New Mexico

pathfinderpathfinder Super Moderators Posts: 14,708 moderator
edited March 11, 2005 in Wildlife
I just returned home this evening from travelling in Colorado and New Mexico. I spent a few days in the Bosque del Apache wildlife preserve and I saw a few Great Blue Herons...

16978068-L.jpg


It was cold and they were drying their feathers in the wind and the sun...

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Suggestions/criticisms for improvement are always appreciated. :):
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  • AndyAndy Registered Users Posts: 50,016 Major grins
    edited March 6, 2005
    welcome back pf :D

    the second shot, he looks like one of those dirty old men, flashing, y'know? hehehee

    nice to see a heron that's not white, and not harry's lol3.gif
    Andy

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  • HarrybHarryb Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 22,708 Major grins
    edited March 6, 2005
    pathfinder wrote:
    I just returned home this evening from travelling in Colorado and New Mexico. I spent a few days in the Bosque del Apache wildlife preserve and I saw a few Great Blue Herons...


    It was cold and they were drying their feathers in the wind and the sun...

    Suggestions/criticisms for improvement are always appreciated. :):
    Hey Pf,

    I hear that Bosque del Apache isa fantastic place to shoot with incredible light. Nice shots. I've seen Anhingas spread their wings to increase their body heat but I've never seen GBHs do that before.
    Harry
    http://behret.smugmug.com/ NANPA member
    How many photographers does it take to change a light bulb? 50. One to change the bulb, and forty-nine to say, "I could have done that better!"
  • NirNir Registered Users Posts: 1,400 Major grins
    edited March 6, 2005
    Beautiful!!
    __________________

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  • pathfinderpathfinder Super Moderators Posts: 14,708 moderator
    edited March 6, 2005
    andy wrote:
    welcome back pf :D

    the second shot, he looks like one of those dirty old men, flashing, y'know? hehehee

    nice to see a heron that's not white, and not harry's lol3.gif

    Flashing :D - That was kind of my impression also, but then I figured out that Harry was on the right track and that the poor bird was increasing his capture of solar radiation. Note the wind on his feathers though, I guess he was gaining more solar radiation than he was loosing through conduction through the wind.
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  • ruttrutt Registered Users Posts: 6,511 Major grins
    edited March 6, 2005
    Yeah, the "flasher" is really really great. Call it "Dirty Old Man Flashing" if you have the stomach for it.
    If not now, when?
  • John MuellerJohn Mueller Registered Users Posts: 2,555 Major grins
    edited March 6, 2005
    #2 is mint.Thanks for sharing.
    John
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  • pathfinderpathfinder Super Moderators Posts: 14,708 moderator
    edited March 8, 2005
    I have a couple more images to share as I begin processing the RAW files I brought home...

    16976430-L.jpg

    17107495-L.jpg
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  • Steve CaviglianoSteve Cavigliano Super Moderators Posts: 3,599 moderator
    edited March 8, 2005
    andy wrote:
    welcome back pf :D

    the second shot, he looks like one of those dirty old men, flashing, y'know? hehehee

    nice to see a heron that's not white, and not harry's lol3.gif

    OMG rolleyes1.gif I was thinking the same thing on this second one. He's even got that "old man" leer on his face :lol4 What's that they say about deranged minds thinking alike? :lol

    Nice shots PF and it's nice to see you made it back safe clap.gif


    Steve
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  • pathfinderpathfinder Super Moderators Posts: 14,708 moderator
    edited March 9, 2005
    Bosque has lovely light in the early morning and nice muted orange and ochre colors....and geese and cranes in flight.

    17203281-L.jpg

    17203279-L.jpg



    There were a few pelicans hanging around in the desert too....

    17203277-L.jpg

    And a solitary GBH in the straw
    17167759-L.jpg
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  • pathfinderpathfinder Super Moderators Posts: 14,708 moderator
    edited March 9, 2005
    And of course there are eagles - Bald and Golden Eagles. But wary and hard to approach...

    17213322-L.jpg


    17214207-L.jpg
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  • ginger_55ginger_55 Registered Users Posts: 8,416 Major grins
    edited March 9, 2005
    I'll bet you felt like you had died and gone to heaven. That is the way I would have felt.

    And it is too bad we saw The Flasher so soon, you have some really great photos in there.

    The Poor Flasher, he hasn't got anything to brag about. I don't think I will ever forget that bird, so proud of nothing.

    ginger
    After all is said and done, it is the sweet tea.
  • pathfinderpathfinder Super Moderators Posts: 14,708 moderator
    edited March 9, 2005
    ginger_55 wrote:
    I'll bet you felt like you had died and gone to heaven. That is the way I would have felt.

    And it is too bad we saw The Flasher so soon, you have some really great photos in there.

    The Poor Flasher, he hasn't got anything to brag about. I don't think I will ever forget that bird, so proud of nothing.

    ginger


    Thank you for your kind comments Ginger. I do enjoy New Mexico. That is what has kept me returning for the last five years.

    Just for you - a pair of pelicans

    17203276-L.jpg
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  • ginger_55ginger_55 Registered Users Posts: 8,416 Major grins
    edited March 9, 2005
    Beautiful Pelicans, nicely positioned.

    Did you bleach them?

    You know when those birds are flashing, they not only have nothing, they look deformed. I think birds are beautiful, but only in the pictures am I close enough to see how deformed looking a bird's body really is. Don't you think?

    ginger
    After all is said and done, it is the sweet tea.
  • pathfinderpathfinder Super Moderators Posts: 14,708 moderator
    edited March 10, 2005
    ginger_55 wrote:
    Beautiful Pelicans, nicely positioned.

    Did you bleach them?

    You know when those birds are flashing, they not only have nothing, they look deformed. I think birds are beautiful, but only in the pictures am I close enough to see how deformed looking a bird's body really is. Don't you think?

    ginger


    No Ginger - no bleaching?! Just processed from RAW and watched the numbers so that the whites retained detail.
    The GBH that looked like a flasher was doing that to absorb heat from the sun - it was sunbathing, in effect, to dry out its feathers.

    The beauty of birds is easier to see and study in photos, I think, because they are more permanent to examine than a living bird which rarely holds still for critcal examination. You are right that a birds body retains beauty better in action rather than in a static state.
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  • HarrybHarryb Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 22,708 Major grins
    edited March 10, 2005
    pathfinder wrote:
    And of course there are eagles - Bald and Golden Eagles. But wary and hard to approach...
    Great shots PF. thumb.gif I know folks who went there for a Resnick workshop and they all raved about the light there at daybreak and sunset.
    Harry
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    How many photographers does it take to change a light bulb? 50. One to change the bulb, and forty-nine to say, "I could have done that better!"
  • pathfinderpathfinder Super Moderators Posts: 14,708 moderator
    edited March 10, 2005
    Harryb wrote:
    Great shots PF. thumb.gif I know folks who went there for a Resnick workshop and they all raved about the light there at daybreak and sunset.[/QUOTE
    Thank You Harry for your kind comments. The light at sunrise and sunset can be magical there - That is kind of what I was trying to demonstrate with the birds in flight against the ochre and orange brush.

    I thought I had posted this sunrise image, but then realized I had skipped it- I think it shows what you are referring to.....
    16977802-L.jpg
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  • ShakeyShakey Registered Users Posts: 1,004 Major grins
    edited March 10, 2005
    Great set pathfinder. As always you continue to impress.thumb.gif

    Tim
  • ian408ian408 Administrators Posts: 21,949 moderator
    edited March 10, 2005
    Very nice! I've heard some very good things about Bosque del Apache.
    I must visit...must.

    ian
    Moderator Journeys/Sports/Big Picture :: Need some help with dgrin?
  • pathfinderpathfinder Super Moderators Posts: 14,708 moderator
    edited March 11, 2005
    ian408 wrote:
    Very nice! I've heard some very good things about Bosque del Apache.
    I must visit...must.

    ian


    Yes you must Ian. You'd have a great time. Harry said I needed flight shots and I could not find them when I got home - they were misplaced on one of the DVDs I wrote the RAW files too, but I found them tonight, SO..... All these flight shots were done with a 20D and a 100-400 lens too

    17271247-L.jpg

    17271253-L.jpg

    17271254-L.jpg

    This was a planned shot - but it takes quite a while to convince a sand crane to fly at the correct height and into the light and in front of the mountain and the 20D to focus on the bird in the air rather than the mountain in the background........ rolleyes1.gif
    17271256-L.jpg

    17271257-L.jpg

    And one getting ready to launch....
    17271258-L.jpg

    That all ... Good night all!!
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  • HarrybHarryb Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 22,708 Major grins
    edited March 11, 2005
    pathfinder wrote:
    Yes you must Ian. You'd have a great time. Harry said I needed flight shots and I could not find them when I got home - they were misplaced on one of the DVDs I wrote the RAW files too, but I found them tonight, SO..... All these flight shots were done with a 20D and a 100-400 lens too


    clap.gifthumb.gif :cheer bowdown.gif

    outstanding
    Harry
    http://behret.smugmug.com/ NANPA member
    How many photographers does it take to change a light bulb? 50. One to change the bulb, and forty-nine to say, "I could have done that better!"
  • pathfinderpathfinder Super Moderators Posts: 14,708 moderator
    edited March 11, 2005
    Harryb wrote:
    pathfinder wrote:
    Yes you must Ian. You'd have a great time. Harry said I needed flight shots and I could not find them when I got home - they were misplaced on one of the DVDs I wrote the RAW files too, but I found them tonight, SO..... All these flight shots were done with a 20D and a 100-400 lens too


    clap.gifthumb.gif :cheer bowdown.gif

    outstanding

    Praise from the master, is praise indeed! Thanks Harry!! You are an inspiration to us aspiring bird shooters! :D
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  • ian408ian408 Administrators Posts: 21,949 moderator
    edited March 11, 2005
    PF, these are really nice.

    Time to surf the web for some more detail on the place.

    Ian
    Moderator Journeys/Sports/Big Picture :: Need some help with dgrin?
  • pathfinderpathfinder Super Moderators Posts: 14,708 moderator
    edited March 11, 2005
    ian408 wrote:
    PF, these are really nice.

    Time to surf the web for some more detail on the place.

    Ian
    Bosque is just about 10 miles south of Socorro off of I-25. Just follow the signs - ya canna miss it, matey!thumb.gif The are only a few motels in Socorro, and the Holiday Inn is probably the best. The is an old historical hotel - The Val Verde - that looks interesting too, but I didn't want to park my truck on the street with the bed full of stuff while travelling. You can read about the Val Verde and other interesting stuff here:D:Dhttp://www.sgha.net/evidence.html
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  • GraphyFotozGraphyFotoz Registered Users Posts: 2,267 Major grins
    edited March 11, 2005
    Akkkkkkkkkkk
    I had to cover my eyes on that 2nd photo! 11doh.gif

    Even nature has dirty ole men!! rolleyes1.gif
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  • AngeloAngelo Super Moderators Posts: 8,937 moderator
    edited March 11, 2005
    Hey PF these are all really nice shots and thanks for the chuckles with #2.
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  • pathfinderpathfinder Super Moderators Posts: 14,708 moderator
    edited March 11, 2005
    Angelo wrote:
    Hey PF these are all really nice shots and thanks for the chuckles with #2.
    Thanks Angelo and thanks Karz. Everyone seemed to get a kick out of the poor little fella trying to gather some sunshine.:D
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  • AngeloAngelo Super Moderators Posts: 8,937 moderator
    edited March 11, 2005
    pathfinder wrote:
    Thanks Angelo and thanks Karz. Everyone seemed to get a kick out of the poor little fella trying to gather some sunshine.:D
    That's what the old man in the raincoat said to the judge! Or was that Michael Jackson?

    ne_nau.gif
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  • pathfinderpathfinder Super Moderators Posts: 14,708 moderator
    edited March 11, 2005
    :Deek7.gifhuheek7.gifroflrolleyes1.gifrofl
    Angelo wrote:
    That's what the old man in the raincoat said to the judge! Or was that Michael Jackson?

    ne_nau.gif
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  • ginger_55ginger_55 Registered Users Posts: 8,416 Major grins
    edited March 11, 2005
    Angelo! So Funny!

    g
    After all is said and done, it is the sweet tea.
  • snapapplesnapapple Registered Users Posts: 2,093 Major grins
    edited March 11, 2005
    Great bird shots Pathfinder
    As I scrolled down to #2 I burst out laughing. rolleyes1.gifLooks like he's holding out his towel to dry his back, or "flashing" as the other guys said. More likely he's spreading his arms out, like we do, and saying, "Ahhhh nice warm sunshine!!!"

    All of the shots are wonderful, I couldn't find anything I would change. thumb.gif
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