For years, I have wanted to visit Bosque (BOSS-key) del Apache, south of Socorro, NM, to see the concentration of sandhill cranes, snow geese, and dozens, maybe hundred of other birds and animals that winter there. The Bosque is a large refuge run by the National Fish and Wildlife Service and is managed to rejuvenate the fields, marshes, and water bodies that almost disappeared as the Rio Grande was harnessed. That provides a welcome wintering spot for all these creatures and is a major reason why the sandhill crane population has gone from a meager few in the 1930's to the many thousands that exist today.

I had that opportunity in mid-November 2008 and was not disappointed. While I was there, counts by the rangers were in excess of 5,000 cranes, 12,000 snow and Canadian geese, 2 bald eagles, and dozens of other species in varying numbers.

An added bonus was an opportunity to attend a long-lens photography seminar sponsered by Canon, my camera of choice. I learned quite a bit, met some highly interesting and talented people, and was able to photograph a number of captive birds that are often difficult to get close enough to in the wild for decent photographs.

They also had a number of experts there who gave presentations on their particular areas of expertise. I was bowled over by some of them. I like to kid myself that I'm a half-way decent phtographer but, compared to some of the work these folks displayed, I'm a complete novice.

One downside to a seminar such as this is I always come away thirsting to up-grade my camera equipment, especially longer and faster lenses. Unfortunately that thirst is always greater than my wallet's capacity to support it.

Anyway, here are a few of the photos I took. Most of these were taken of wild birds, in the wild. The few that are of captive birds are identified as such. Fair warning: I am not a birder. I have tried to make sure I have the species of all these birds correct but for those who know more than I, just chalk it up to my ignorance if you find a mistake.