First day at the Bosque.
Thursday, 6:20 AM, and 25°. I arrived at the Bosque Del Apache in time to watch the sunrise over the horizon, but I was still half asleep. The birds were active, but I was not.
I walked around and drove around some of the lakes until it was time for breakfast. Then I pulled over next to one of the lakes and cooked myself an omelet. There are not many things I know how to cook, but I can cook an egg, and I also know how to make popcorn, so throw in a little cheese, and I can make a popcorn omelet.
I don't know why the birds get up this early, but the most logical answer is that if they stay in the water much longer, they will freeze to death, so they have to get up and fly around for a while.
The Bosque is beautiful and is wearing its fall colors. I'm seeing a lot of snow geese but not as many Sandhill cranes as I had hoped. It's still kind of early for the cranes to get here, which is why the professional photographers don't show up till much later. But I want to avoid the crowds, so the downside is I have to deal with less birds. Fortunately for me, by the time I get to Whitewater Draw, there will be tens of thousands of Sandhill cranes, and for some reason, Whitewater Draw doesn't attract as many professional photographers, so crowds aren't a problem.
I picked a nice spot beside one of the lakes and made lunch. Again, I had to stick with things that I knew how to cook, and since I had some leftover popcorn for breakfast, it was easy to put together a popcorn sandwich for lunch. Fortunately, I think I still have enough popcorn left over to make some popcorn soup for dinner.
Theboondork
I got to the Bosque just in time to watch the sun rise into the cold, frosty air. It was a beautiful sight and reminded me how much I wished I was still in bed.
All of the cranes I saw were far away, which is often the way the Bosque Del Apache is. Sometimes, they get close enough to get a good picture, but it's just a matter of luck if you’re there when that happens. At Whitewater Draw, there almost always close-up
Sunrise at the Bosque.
It was a clear, cloudless morning at the Bosque Del Apache. As usual, with no clouds to hold the heat in, it was freezing cold outside.
A few Sandhill cranes fly by, and you can barely see many more in the background.