These guys were at least 200 yards away but they're the closest Cranes that I saw on the ground.

I rolled out of bed this morning at 6:30 and 25°. Since I was in a hurry to get to the Montevista wildlife refuge, it only took me five minutes to get out of my sleeping bag and out the door, but as soon as I hit the frigid air, it reminded me that maybe I ought to get dressed first.

It took me about 45 minutes to get to the wildlife refuge, and on the way there, I spotted herds of Sandhill cranes in some farmer's fields. But there was no place for me to pull over on the two-lane blacktop, and the birds were way out in the field. Nonetheless, I took this as a good sign since I was only a few miles from the refuge.

The refuge has large paved pullovers where dozens of cars can Park and view the birds, but as I drove by, I noticed nobody in them, and I didn't see any birds in the fields. I pulled over at several of the viewing areas and hung around for a while; using my binoculars, I finally spotted some cranes in a farmer's field probably half a mile away.

I tried to take some pictures with an 800 mm telephoto lens, but even with that, I could barely see the birds. And unfortunately, that was the way it was the rest of the morning.

Some Cranes were there at the refuge, but I didn't see a single Crane in the four hours that I ran around that place that was closer to me than a couple hundred yards, and my lack of success taking pictures certainly reflected that. I took about 200 photos this morning and kept 15, and that's a pretty low success ratio even for me.

The only time I saw any cranes that were less than a couple hundred yards away are when they would be flying by, going someplace else. But all the birds I took pictures of on the ground, I had to spot them with binoculars before taking their picture.

So yes, I'm somewhat disappointed in the photographic aspect of taking Crane pictures on this trip. But I've learned a lot, such as, in less you're very, very lucky getting a close-up view of a crane is harder than it looks. But I've enjoyed myself immensely, and I've had a great time searching for the shy but surly Sandhill Cranes.

Right now, I'm spending the night in the Alamosa Walmart parking lot thinking about what I want to do tomorrow. Could I go back to the Montevista refuge and try again? Considering I was the only one there taking pictures of anything its not a great sign for any good luck in the near future. Or I could head on back home, so I don't have to hurry on Thursday to beat the incoming cold front? As usual, I probably won't figure out what to do until I wake up in the morning.

                                    theboondork

A flock of Canadian Geese heading for parts unknown. Like a lot of Canadians they spend their winters where it's warmer

This is the way I saw most cranes, hundreds of them in farmers fields too far away to get a decent picture.

The closest I got to the cranes is when they would fly near me, which is why you will see a lot of flying cranes instead of walking cranes.

The loneliest Crane. This is the only Crane that I saw by himself. Since they mate for life, he probably went through a bitter and expensive divorce. He lost the chicks, his job, his winter supply of corn, and most of the other birds he thought were his friends.

This is where I went yesterday. The driving tour is a one-way loop that is several miles long. And the walking path follows the Rio Grande River and seemingly goes on forever. But you have to back-track to return to your car.

Not much was going on today, mostly just relaxing and figuring out my next move. One thing I have figured out for sure is I need to be back in Denver by Thursday because there's a cold front coming through, and nighttime temperatures are supposed to get down into the 20s. And since the Arctic Fox hasn't been winterized and the heaters off, I'm afraid my pipes will freeze and break. So I need to get back by at least Thursday night. And, "lucky me, " it looks like there's gonna be a pretty good chance of snow Sunday and Monday.

Last night I took a few more pictures of the Milky Way, and I'm getting a little better at it. But I found out it takes some expensive equipment to get great images of the Milky Way. Taking good pictures of the stars is a whole different hobby than just taking snapshots as I do. So I'm not into it enough to spend money on the project, I'll have to practice with the equipment I have, knowing there is a practical limit to how good my pictures will ever be.

I could hear the Sandhill Cranes squawking as they flew a couple of hundred feet overhead, going to their roost around here somewhere last night while I was outside. But it's too dark to take a picture. I can't believe they get home that late, their worse than a teenager on a Friday night. Sometimes I can hear them flying overhead in the morning while I'm in bed, and it's still dark outside. I can't believe they get up that early, totally unlike a teenager on a Saturday morning.

So what appears to be happening is it's too dark to take pictures of the cranes while there roosting here at the San Luis Lakes wildlife refuge. And I have no idea where they go to feed in the daytime, but apparently, it's not in the Alamosa wildlife refuge. I'm thinking of trying the Montevista area because there's a wildlife refuge there too.

I would sure hate to be outsmarted and skunked by a bunch of tall skinny birds, so I haven't given up yet. But this upcoming cold weather did put a hard and fast limit on how long I'll be able to go mano a mano with these crafty Cranes before I have to return home and live forever with the agony of defeat.

                                              theboondork

 The very nice visitor center at the wildlife refuge, which probably would've been extremely helpful if they had been open, but they were closed for the Bat flu.

There are several kinds of watercourses in the refuge which is what makes it such a great place for wildlife. This is the Rio Grande River which winds through the refuge, and makes the whole thing possible.

You can see the walking trail on the left of the Rio Grande. I don't know how far it goes but people have been walking along rivers since the beginning of time so it probably goes quite a ways in one form or another.

This is an irrigation ditch, you can see the driving road on the left side. There are also several much smaller ditches in the area, and all are good for wildlife in the relatively dry San Luis Valley.

But most of the water is in swampy areas like this. It's been  really dry so the swampy areas are rather small. If you're in the South and you see areas like this you start thinking about Alligators. But unfortunately around here Gators are few and far between, which takes all the fun out of being in a swamp.

Whitetail deer poking his head out of the Cattails. By the look of his broken antlers, he fought many a battle during the rut.

Downtown Alamosa Colorado. Notice the lack of cars parked along Main Street? That's why I like to take pictures on a Sunday. Parked cars don't mess up the picture, and I can park anyplace I want

I got up reasonably early this morning and went to Alamosa to take some pictures of the town. It's less than 20 miles from where I'm camped. And only a few miles from Alamosa is the Alamosa wildlife refuge, which is supposed to be a prime area to see the Sandhill Cranes.

I took a few pictures of downtown Main Street Alamosa, and I didn't find it to be all that interesting. There are a few old buildings, but most of it looks like it's from the 40s and 50s, which aren't that picturesque to me. I tend to like towns that, when they outgrow the old Main Street they build a new Main Street nearby, so the buildings on the old Main Street look like they did in the 1800s or early 1900s. But Alamosa didn't do that.

After taking a few snapshots of Alamosa, I drove over to the wildlife refuge with high hopes of spotting some Sandhill Cranes. There was a very nice government building and visitor center at the entrance to the wildlife refuge where I could've got all the information I needed to find a Sandhill Crane in the area... But the Bat flu strikes again, and the office was closed until further notice.That left me with two things that I could do while I was there, three if you count the outdoor restrooms.

One, I could take the mile-long hiking trail where lots of wildlife hangs out, waiting for people like me to walk by so they can have their pictures taken and beg for food.

Or two, I could take the 3-mile drive that winds around through the area where you might run over some wildlife, making them easier to take pictures of since they're not moving anymore. That was too many decisions to make this early in the morning, so I decided to do both.

I took the hiking trail first, but after walking for a mile or so down the trail where you're supposed to see some wildlife, I hadn't spotted anything except a couple of ducks, and I could see more ducks and that if I stayed at the lake where I'm camped. Needless to say, there were no Cranes in sight.

The 3-mile road trip was even less eventful than my walk except that I did see a white-tailed buck poking his head out of the brush. After that, I went back to Alamosa, filled up my fuel tank, and drove back to San Luis Lake where I was camped. I picked a different campsite just for a new view.

Hopefully when this weekend is over the duck hunters that are camped here will leave and I will feel more like walking over to the other side of the lake where I think the Sandhill cranes are. At least that's where their sounds are coming from. Without the hunters here there is somewhat less of a chance someone will shoot me. And if they do at least it won't be because I look like a duck, although I have to admit I do kinda walk like a duck.

                        theboondork

An old church in Alamosa. The sign is in Spanish so I'm not sure what kind of a church it is.

The Rialto theater. It started out as a movie theater but has gone through a lot of changes including a fire, the sign on the door said restaurant.

Alamosa Colorado Main Street. Tomorrow I'll have some pictures of the wildlife refuge where I went after leaving Alamosa.