Belted Kingfisher in flight against amber autumn foliage

This is another Belted Kingfisher (female) image from my recently concluded Better than Bosque Workshop. There were great opportunities over the duck pond as they flew back & forth from a garbage can to a signpost.

Belted Kingfisher Flying (Megaceryle alcyon, Martin-pêcheur d'Amérique, BEKI) from my Better than Bosque workshop. Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA. Image Copyright ©Christopher Dodds. Sony Alpha Alpha 9 III Mirrorless camera & Sony FE 600mm f/4 G Master OSS Lens with Sony FE 2X Teleconverter @1,200mm ISO 16,000, f/8 @ 1/5,000s. Manual exposure.

Belted Kingfisher in flight against autumn colors

This female Belted Kingfisher put on quite a show during my recently concluded Better than Bosque Workshop. (Females are blue-gray with a chestnut belly band and flanks.) This image is courtesy of the Sony a9 III pre-capture feature. I was tracking her as she flew away from me, and she suddenly banked and landed on a sign over a garbage can.

Belted Kingfisher Flying Head On (Megaceryle alcyon, Martin-pêcheur d'Amérique, BEKI) from my Better than Bosque workshop. Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA. Image Copyright ©Christopher Dodds. Sony Alpha Alpha 9 III Mirrorless camera & Sony FE 600mm f/4 G Master OSS Lens with Sony FE 2X Teleconverter @1,200mm ISO 16,000, f/8 @ 1/5,000s. Manual exposure.

Hooded Merganser Top-side flight

It seemed like this Hooded Merganser came out of nowhere and flip-flopped to lose altitude quickly right before me. I was lucky to get a few frames, and I especially love this one with the autumn colours in the background courtesy of the cottonwood tree.

Hooded Merganser Top-side Flight (Lophodytes cucullatus, Harle couronné, HOME) from my Better than Bosque workshop . Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA. Image Copyright ©Christopher Dodds. Sony a9 III Mirrorless camera & Sony FE 600mm f/4 G Master OSS Lens with Sony FE 2X Teleconverter @1,200mm ISO 2,500, f/8 @ 1/5,000s. Manual exposure. Full frame image.

Sandhill Crane Landing above Autumn Cottonwood Foliage in Golden Light

CRANES ARE BIRDS OF SUPERLATIVES. They are one of the oldest groups of birds, dating back to the Paleocene, some 60 million years ago. They are also long-lived, with captive cranes surviving into their seventies and eighties. They are the tallest flying birds; some species stand up to 1.8m (6ft) high!

Sandhill Crane Landing above Autumn Cottonwood Foliage in Golden Light (Grus canadenis, Grue du Canada, SACR) from my Better than Bosque workshop. Bernardo Wildlife Area, Bernardo, New Mexico, USA. Image Copyright ©Christopher Dodds. Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless camera & Sony FE 600mm f/4 G Master OSS Lens with Sony FE 2X Teleconverter @1,200mm ISO 1,600, f/8 @ 1/5,000s Manual exposure. Full frame image.

Sandhill Crane Landing in Golden Light against out-of-focus Cottonwood Autumn Foliage

A Sandhill Crane landing in golden light against magical out-of-focus Autumn foliage (Cottonwood trees) from Dec. 9, 2023, during my Better than Bosque Workshop in New Mexico. We had some off-the-charts magical light last December!

There are still a few spots left for my Dec. 5-9, 2024, Better than Bosque workshop!

Sandhill Crane Landing in Golden Light against out-of-focus Cottonwood Autumn Foliage (Grus canadenis, Grue du Canada, SACR) from my Better than Bosque workshop. Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, San Antonio, New Mexico, USA. Image Copyright ©Christopher Dodds. Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless camera & Sony FE 600mm f/4 G Master OSS Lens with Sony FE 2X Teleconverter @1,200mm ISO 3,200, f/8 @ 1/5,000s Manual exposure. Full frame image.

Autumn's Fire Abstract

I just sold a giant (40” X 60”) print of this abstract image of brilliant fall (autumn) Maple leaves, so I am sharing the memory with you. Standing on a logging road on the edge of the mash in Northern Maine, waiting for Moose can sometimes be quite dull. When the light is right, and the fall (autumn) colours glow like the embers in an inferno……

We adjusted our camera’s exposure to slow our shutter speed to only 1/5 of a second and quickly moved our cameras up and down while making multiple exposures. This was the only keep I made, but I love it, do you?

Autumn’s Fire Abstract (Autumn Silver Maple Leaves) Sept. 27, 2011, Baxter State Park, Maine Image Copyright ©Christopher Dodds www.chrisdoddsphoto.com All Rights Reserved. Canon EOS 1D MKIV, Canon 7-300mm zoom @300mm. ISO 200, F36 @ 1/5s Manual mode. Full frame image.

Northern Harrier in flight in nice light

My group had some pretty awesome views of Northern Harriers yesterday. This is a female against autumn Cottonwood tree foliage. Things are starting to dry out after the near record-breaking rain the other day. Bosque del Apache was photographically slow with many Cranes and Geese, but very far from the road. I took the group to another reserve that had just reopened after the rain made the roads too muddy to drive without getting stuck. I have such a great group that I am really excited things are getting back to normal.

Snow Goose Autumn Flight

I just love the bright orange foliage on the cottonwood trees!

There are still a couple of spots available for my Dec. 5-9 Best of Bosque workshop. We will spend five full days with tons of Sandhill Cranes, Geese, Ducks and other birds with the hope of Coyotes and Bobcats as well. Learn more and sign-up for my Dec. 5-9 Best of Bosque Workshop HERE.