Expected departure 720 AM

That’s not my departure; my departure started at 500 this morning.  I have a 90 minute drive to the Bosque del Apache to catch the morning exodus of snow geese.  I have visited the Bosque several times; always catching their return at the end of the day.  It is a sight to see but the return is not as organized as the mass flight out in the morning.  Since my visit to the Bosque two weeks ago I decided to make the extra effort to see the morning flight.

It’s cold with spotty fog, I’m not certain what to expect at the other end – clear skies and lots of birds; or fog and the sound of distant geese.

Since this is a weekday the road is empty, not many birders, or anybody else.

The eastern horizon brightening as I approach the Bosque.  The ponds along the road to the Bosque entrance are quiet of birds and birders.  Gotta keep going, I don't want to drive all this way to miss them by a few minutes.

I arrive at the gate at 650.  After entering I’m not certain where to go other than following the few vehicle tail lights; I sure hope they know where to go.

There are a few cars parked here and there, so I just keep going.  As I continue I know I have arrived by three indicators; the boisterous calling of geese which I hear even through my closed windows, many parked cars, and people walking towards the sound and pond.  Winter coats are the order of the day although there are a few people wrapped in blankets looking cold.  Others are prepared; mainly those with cameras connected to large lenses setting on tripods.  It looks like they have been set up a while; relaxed visiting with coffee in hand.

Viewing the birds on the pond reminds me of a gate at an airport terminal; the birds are noisy; resembling people waiting for the boarding call.  Some arrive just before the mass exodus, many are patiently waiting swimming back and forth while others are edgy; flapping wings and stretching.  I can tell the excitement is building. 

About 720 a few dozen birds take off – a second or two pass then the entire flock erupts with a giant flapping of wings all heading to their feeding grounds.

Now the pond is empty and silent except for a few cranes; awaiting their turn.  I'm sorry to say that I had my DSLR set on a tripod and was shooting with my IPhone when they decided to take off, but I did get the exodus.

There are about 25 of us that witnessed this spectacle.  It is absolutely quiet once they have left.  It’s hard to believe that a few minutes before there were several hundred birds waiting for their signal to leave.

Once the geese are gone almost everyone witnessing the flight packs up their cameras and binoculars heading back to their warm cars and on to breakfast.  A few of us wandered around shooting the sunrise.  The sun has not been up long enough to warm the ground so the edge of the pond remains frozen along with the plants covered with hoar frost.  The shards of ice on the plants light up with the sun shining on them.

I stayed another hour shooting the icy display.  Take advantage of the opportunity to see such an event of nature.

Thank you for stopping by.

Mark