January 12, 2011
Sandhill Crane Landing at Bernardo

After leaving Albuquerque, we headed south and stopped at the Bernardo Wildlife Area of the Ladd S. Gordon Wildlife Complex in Bernardo, New Mexico. It's part of the same flyway and wintering area as Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge. The settings for photographing birds on the ground are much better at Bernardo than at Bosque because the fields at Bernardo are at the same level as the roads, and there aren't as many irrigation ditches lined with impenetrable vegetation to block the view. The wind was from a good direction in the morning so that the sandhill cranes were landing almost into the light. I set up at a field where they were coming in and photographed from the Jeep, using it as a blind. Every once in a while, a crane would land in the right place, i.e. close enough and away from most of the cranes already in the field.

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