Bosque del Apache

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Sometime when we are young we learn that birds fly south for the winter.  So I’ve known that somewhere deep in the recesses of my mind, but haven’t really contemplated it or given it much thought.

Yet when we went to Bosque del Apache outside of Socorro, New Mexico that very principle is live and in your face.  Thousands of sandhill cranes, white geese, canadian geese, and other waterfowl fly from Alaska – south, to Bosque del Apache wildlife refuge.

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Even though it was a ‘light’ year for the birds flocking to Bosque, it was still a sight to see, watching these numerous birds of all different kinds spiraling into the ‘crane pools’.

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We watched them early morning (6 am sunrise) and evening (5pm sunset) as they would ‘lift off’ and go to safe ground in the ‘crane pools’.  During the day they would flock to the farm fields and feed off the grass.  It was definitely good cheap entertainment.

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Snow Trees

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The Forest Service seems to close the roads the minute we get snow… and keep them closed until Spring.  So we jumped into action immediately after our first snow storm, and went directly to the Mogollon Rim to see if we could capture the Rim in snow.  Unfortunately, the fog rolled in, and the view over the rim was a complete whiteout.  Check out my First Snow pix on kritterspaw.com.

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What do they say… one closed door leads to another open door.  In my case fog lead to some very cool Snow Trees with the last remnants of fall color on pristine snow in an eery fog.  It reminded my of an enchanted forest.

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Fall Colors

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We were quite anxious to go out and get Fall Color photos this year… but we have been so consumed by our projects that it nearly passed us by.  We had friends come up from U.K., and they gave us the excuse and opportunity to make the journey to the rim to enjoy Fall and it’s gorgeous bounty.

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Actually, the leaves were nearly gone.  I think they snapped into color just as we got that big cold front and wind that moved through… then brushed them right off the trees onto the ground and against trees making for interesting juxtaposition.

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Every year brings something new.  Now that we live somewhere with 4 seasons we can take full advantage of it and enjoy all it has to offer.

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