Bosque del Apache New Mexico Report 2014

After nine years of leading tours at Bosque I have seen more than my share of unforgettable moments that keep me coming back. This year the conditions were not all time but Bosque still delivered really great moments for all my tour participants. Be sure to click on any image below if you would like to launch the viewer and see a larger version on the image.

Early morning crane display. Sigma 150-600 Sports lens and Nikon D810, 1/1250 s, f/6.3, 600mm ISO 640, EV + .3, Manual mode with Auto-ISO, Jobu MK3 gimbal head and Jobu Algonquin Carbon Tripod.

The weather at Bosque this year was different (this seems to be common theme with all of my tour reports this year). The weather was so warm we no snow and only a couple of mornings with temps below freezing. The upside to the warm temps were some unusual bird behavior. The cranes would display and dance in large groups in the mornings, not as much as other crane species but for sandhills it was pretty special. One afternoon my group watched a large group of cranes bath for about an our. This might not seem like anything special but in my nine years of spending lots and lots of time on the reserve I have seen a sandhill bathe there once before. Unfortunately the bathing was too far away to shoot but it was interesting to observe.

Early Late evening fly in speed blur. Sigma 150-600 Sports lens and Nikon D810, 1/20 s, f/6.3, 600mm ISO 72, EV + .7, Manual mode with Auto-ISO, Jobu MK3 gimbal head and Jobu Algonquin Carbon Tripod.

The cranes pools have always been reliable at Bosque and one of my favorite spots of all time. This year was different, the pools really were the place to be since they were the only reliable location to shoot on the reserve! My favorite spot, the north crane pool was overgrown this year, really limiting the spot's opportunities but management has promised me the north crane pool will be trimmed and back to normal in 2015!

All of the images in this post were made with the new Sigma 150-600 sports lens. This year I decided not to bring a big prime lens for the first time. How did the lens perform at Bosque? Superb, even wide open at 600mm. This trip to New Mexico was my first chance to shoot with this lens so I will post a field report on the lens performance once I am done my current trip in Hawaii. I am looking forward to sharing more images and my experiences on this new lens! Sigma really did an amazing job with the lens.

Pintails bathing in morning light and mist at the flight deck pool. Sigma 150-600 Sports lens and Nikon D810, 1/1250 s, f/6.3, 280mm ISO 900, Manual mode with Auto-ISO, Jobu MK3 gimbal head and Jobu Algonquin Carbon Tripod.

The main or flight deck pool is past its prime by the time my groups were there since it is flooded in October but still the pool was had lots to offer in December with ducks and great light most mornings like in the image above.

Lots more coming in part two of this report coming as soon as I can finish up editing images.

If you would like to join us next year my 2015 tour dates will be available really soon, you can email me anytime to be placed on the interested list.

Any questions or comments? Leave a question below or send me an email.

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