A decade and a half ago I visited Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge late in the afternoon in late November or early December. When we first got there I took out my camera (an early digital Olympus with lower resolution then today’s cameras) and began taking photos of the spectacle. This is the first of 4 photos & a collage. In this photo the sandhill cranes and snow geese graze the flood plain area. “About 7,000 acres (28 km2) in the center of the refuge are made up of flood-plains watered by irrigation systems connected to the Rio Grande. These flood-plains provide an essential habitat for cottonwood and honey mesquite trees, Goodings and coyote willows, and four-wing saltbushes. The plains are flooded periodically to give these plants the best growing conditions. The flood plains also grow foods for the wildlife that need marshlands to grow. These plants include smartweed, millet, chufa, bulrush, and sedge. These marshlands begin dry, and are burned or turned over before they are flooded in order to produce fresh soil for the new plants. They are then flooded to become the breeding grounds for these marsh plants.” - Wikipedia Photo by me ok to repost with credit. #BosqueDelApacheNationalWildlifeRefuge #WinteringCranes #WinteringGeese #Waterfowl #WildlifeSpectacle https://www.instagram.com/p/CGbyvvMF8N2/?igshid=1qao4gsso538u
