Bosque del Apache

I've been working on a rather lengthy post with LOTS of pictures from the Salinas Pueblos, and while I had intended that to be my next blog, today was a truly magical day.

We got up early and took a drive down to Fort Craig, an old civil war fort located some 20 miles south of Socorro. Then we visited an incredible museum, the El Camino Real Historical Center, but that's a whole blog in itself.

The magic came when the sun began to set over at the Bosque. Everything came together perfectly and I was enchanted. The cranes have arrived in force, the weather was a mild 50 degrees and the planets seem to have been in some kind of alignment.

Please bear with me here, there are a LOT of pictures, and while some are not as sharp as I would like, these all mean something special to me. Some will have captions, and some will just speak for themselves. Remember that you can always click on a photo for a larger image.

I'll start with a wide shot so you can get a feel for the Bosque.

The Bosque teems with wildlife,
but the geese and the cranes are the true stars of the show.

The water is surrounded by lush foliage,
setting the scene for these amazing panoramas

The water was so still, I just kept shooting reflection shots.

I love the way the greenery looks, reflected in the ponds

I ALMOST caught this one landing . . .

The cranes love to stick their heads in the water,
there must be something really yummy on the bottom

I loved the light on this pair

These two seemed to be doing some kind of a dance,
following each other in such a straight line.

I liked the way they all look so peaceful.

I was entranced with the reflection of the sky on the water,
the birds,
the smell,
the sounds,
the feel of the soft breezes . . .

The cranes do seem to preen and enjoy themselves to such a degree

More reflections.

It's getting darker, I like the silhouettes

More silhouettes

This arrangement appealed to me

As did this shot

The mountains here in New Mexico
continue to amaze me,
Will I ever grow tired of them?

I've never experienced light like this anywhere else
New Mexico is really
the Land of Enchantment

Another wide shot

Even as it's getting darker, I continue to take pictures.
The light seems to change every minute

I manage to catch a few cranes in flight

This fellow reminds me of those old flamingo pictures from the 1930s

These next two shots show some of the cranes landing and taking off

And again, there's the light

This is some of the delicate foliage that surrounds these ponds

The sun continues to set

Don't these mountains look like an Eyvind Earle painting?

If you enlarge this next one, you'll see I got a few more birds in flight.
These guys are really quick, and with the fading light,
I really couldn't catch many of them.

One final shot as the sun dips below the mountains

Days like this one will stay in my heart forever.

My Life is Really Good.