Snow Geese started flying into the Sandhill Crane roost area before the sun peeked over the horizon.

First color in the sky

Jan, Mary and Steve, bundled up for the 20-something-degree weather

Jan and Steve were on the 'firing line' when the sun came up on the marsh where Sandhill Cranes were roosting for the night.

The moon was still up in the clouds overhead.

The moon above the geese coming to roost

Some of us got back in the car to warm up for a while.

Many of the Sandhill Cranes still had their heads tucked in from a night of sleep when Snow Geese started coming in to roost with them in the marsh.

As the sun rose over the eastern horizon, it began to catch the birds as they took off from the marsh.

Morning sunlight on the wings of the Sandhill Cranes lifting off from the marsh north of the entrance to Bosque del Apache NWR, NM

The geese came and then left again before many of the cranes ever took off.

A few Green-winged Teals taking off

Female and male Northern Shovelers

Some went north and others went south.

Fog hung in the low area near the lake.

Jan and Mary

It was finally time to leave for Jan and her Sherpa.

Jan took the direct route from the berm to the car...

...but Sherpa Mary was very cautious with her important payload.

Mary, carrying a tripod and one of Jan's cameras on the path to the parking lot

Mary

Several people said they thought the cranes would lean forward like this in anticipation of taking to the air, so they wait on them to get a 'takeoff' photo.

And here goes one.

Next we went to the Visitor Center where we saw several Gambel's Quail--and other birds.

White-crowned Sparrow and Quail

White-crowned Sparrow

Gambel's Quail conclave

This Crissal Thrasher looked as if it had lost an eye.

Crissal Thrasher with damaged right eye

White-winged Dove

Immature White-winged Sparrow taking flight while an adult looks on

From the Visitor Center, we moved on to the lake where we saw these male Buffleheads.

Ring-billed Gull

A Bald Eagle sat on a snag in the middle of the lake.

Bald Eagle in lake at Bosque del Apache NWR, NM

We stopped at the 'Flight Deck,' a boardwalk on the lake where we had stopped the day before and saw some of the same birds, like these feeding Northern Pintails.

And this Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Bald Eagle

Dark-eyed Junco

Say's Phoebe

Habitat around the North Loop

Trees along the lake

Jan, looking for the Ruby-crowned Kinglet near the Flight Deck boardwalk

Two-fisted photographer Jan

Mary at the entrance to the Flight Deck

American Pipit

Then there were two

Wilson's Snipe along the shore of the lake

Killdeer

Killdeer and Wilson's Snipe

Western Meadowlark

Thousands of Snow Geese flying over the lake at Bosque del Apache NWR

A refuge worker mows down another row of grain for the cranes and geese on the North Loop.

Two ravens nuzzling in a tree

Mary thought they were acting like parent and child.

Song Sparrow

On the north side of the north end of the North Loop, we saw Wild Turkeys in a field.

There were also turkeys on the south side of the road and they wanted to cross.

Another large group of Wild Turkeys were headed south next to a path on the south side of the road.

A small subgroup

American Wigeon in the 'Mallard marsh' at the NW corner of the North Loop

Wild Turkeys and Sandhill Cranes

Turkeys on the road on the west side of the North Loop headed south

Grasses along the road

Mary and Jan out to photograph the turkeys

Les Nessman was right after all.

A cloud of Snow Geese

Say's Phoebe

Song Sparrow going for a drink in one of the canals

Two Bald Eagles

Northern Pintail

We had lunch at the Owl Bar and Cafe again before taking an afternoon break.

History of the Owl Bar and Cafe

Late in the afternoon, we went back to the nighttime crane roost to watch them fly in. Some of the early arrivers seemed to be calling in the others.

As the sun went down, the colors in the sky changed from moment to moment and the cranes kept flying in to roost.

Steve catching another change in the evening sky over the crane-filled marsh

Jan, Mary and Steve, celebrating the end of another successful day