I made a visit to Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge a couple of months ago (mid-December, 2022). I went primarily to take photos of Sandhill Cranes and Snow Geese. Funnily enough, some of my favorite trip photos fwere of other species. Here is one set of them – this series of White-crowned Sparrows in one Refuge’s irrigation canals.
I was on my way to one of the Refuge’s blinds, thinking that maybe I could get some duck photos. The morning had so far been cold, and I was feeling a chill down into my bones. As I walked across the footbridge over the canal, the sun came out.
It felt wonderfully warm. I thought about how grateful the rotisserie chickens at the grocery store probably are…at least it’s not cold, right? I stopped to soak in some of the heat, and I noticed some White-crowned Sparrows flitting around in in the brush that lined the canal’s banks.
As I watched, I saw the male White-crowned fly down to the water. He fluffed out his feathers, stared at his reflection, then started to shimmy and shake in the water. Splish-splash.
After a couple of minutes, a female came down to the water and also began to bathe. She waded out into the water until her breast feathers were spread across the surface.
Then she would dunk her head into the water and enthusiastically splash, throwing droplets into the air around her.
These two little birds bathed for about ten or fifteen minutes, then flew off together into the underbrush.
By the time they had finished, the sun had warmed me up as well. I continued on my way over to the observation blind.
When I finally arrived at the blind, there were neither ducks nor water. Glad I’d stopped to watch the White-crowneds!
