Winter Migration at Bosque del Apache

Wildlife photography of birds.

I am waiting in the cold stillness of a winter morning. Darkness is barely lifting. There is a hint of the sun inching towards the tip of the San Pasqual mountains. I feel a hint of something about to happen. Is it a sound? A movement in the distance? No, I realize that I am feeling the vibration of wings. Hundreds of thousands of wings. Then the silhouetted cloud of hundreds, maybe thousands, of snow geese appears. They circle in a mad symphony overhead, both deafening and glorious. My heart is racing. I forget how cold my hands are, and I watch in amazement. The wetlands at Bosque del Apache in New Mexico offer an important winter stopping point for Sandhill Cranes, Ross’ Snow Geese, and many varieties of raptors and shorebirds.