A dark-eyed junco and a surprise

 



Yesterday was another banner day for mother nature. The morning light was perfect as the pictures of the dark-eyed junco above shows. This little gem is a type of sparrow and is often found in large groups darting around in the brush. The bigger news is that I came to an area where there is an opening in the brush that gives you a view of the Rio Grande and the opposite bank. Looking across the water, I saw there was a something of a grayish color at the far end of the bank. Setting up the tripod with the camera already on it, I stared into the eyepiece. There were 3 sandhill cranes standing on the bank. I was easily several hundred yards away though.  Snapping picture after picture I kept telling myself to be patient, something I'm not. The cranes might fly. Sure enough, several minutes later one of the cranes leaned forward and suddenly all three cranes decided to take flight. The camera, lens, and the settings were perfect and I was able to follow all three cranes from when they were standing to roughly 20 frames/pics later, capturing a large number of pics in flight. The quandary for me now is how to post this series of the cranes in flight on the blog. Stay tuned!

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