Another day at the Bosque.
I crawled out of bed this morning at 5 AM not because I needed to, that was just the time I woke up since I'm anxious to see the Sandhill cranes again.
Between my need of a cataract operation, my poor night vision, and my truck headlights that aren't very bright, I don't feel safe driving anywhere until the sun comes up. So I got my camper furnace going, it was 36° inside the camper, made a cup of coffee and started putting stuff away so I can leave for the Bosque at first light. I figure on being at the Bosque all day, cruising around the different lakes seeing what I could see and what would stand still long enough for me to take a picture.
One of the benefits of having my home on my back is everywhere I go my home is with me, so there's no need to drive back to the campground during the day. So I can make lunch while I'm parked somewhere at the Bosque, I can kick back and rest when I get tired of walking around, and I can unload pictures from my camera and charge my batteries while I'm sitting in the camper at the Bosque. In other words the only thing I can't do while at the Bosque is spend the night.
And even that is somewhat questionable because a lot of people especially during December and January when all the birds are here, get to the Bosque very early in the morning to get all their equipment set up to catch the Snow Goose liftoff as the sun is coming up, which actually occurs a little before the sun comes up. So what constitutes spending the night, or getting here really really early in the morning is unclear to me but sounds like a good question for the Rangers.
Theboondork
Sandhill cranes flying over the hills.
Many Bosque birds.
Sandhill Crane is watching me carefully. Mama is keeping an eye on me while her Youngster feeds. Notice how the youngster doesn’t have a red patch on his head yet.
Cranes heading for their nighttime roost.
Sandhill Crane keeping a lookout for bits of grain, bugs, and frogs… m m m m frogs!