With fall comes change signaled by many things and celebrated by critters. Their preparation for winter takes many shapes, forms, and actions, and none like migration. Snow Geese nest in the far north and come south in wave after wave spending the winter in our warmer south. They take many paths heading south laying over in many regions through North America. They are more than likely in your own backyard!

There are many ways you can celebrate this, with every lens and time of day the perfect option for your visual storytelling. For this morning one December, I choose predawn color reflected off the pool to celebrate the well-earned rest of the flock. Is there a “trick” here, yes! Get out and experience, that’s it, that’s the trick to be part of as the agless cycle continues.

On the Philmont Scout Ranch, they have preserved an iconic part of our wild heritage, the New Mexico Bison. On 5000 acres a 140 head herd roam as they did for hundreds of years. What is unique, they don’t have to deal with us! That’s to say, you will never experience a “Buffalo Jam” as you might at other parks because this herd cannot be accessed by the public. In fact, they so rarely see people that we weren’t sure how they would react to our being on the plains with them. That fact made the morning so special!
This lone spectacular bull watched as we pulled up in the trucks. As I looked over the hood through the 180-00VR, it appeared to me as if he was trying to hide behind that one thistle blossom. It was a very special morning to spend with Bison, letting them go about their day and approaching us as close as THEY felt and our being able to let that unfold. Our wild heritage, it’s bloody amazing!

We went total hardcore, spending the morning at the city water treatment plant which always garnishes shorebirds just not the best backgrounds. Not this time, not a single shorebird, literally none. So I went to my fallback plan, breakie! Afterward we went back to a location we had checked days before, not for birds but to see if the light was working for this one tree photograph. While we were there, Sharon found our first band of shorebirds, a dozen sandpipers. It was great to see them! We had about an hour with them before the rising tide made their little beach disappear. We’ll be back at it today, hoping to find a bunch more cause a dozen doesn’t mean success.

Those LBJs (Little Brown Jobs) have started to hit our beaches and now’s a great time to get out there with them. Why now? There are a number of reasons, top of the list is that they are still wearing their breeding plumage quite often. Like this Willet photographed on a San Diego beach. This is not their winter plumage but the much more spectacular feathers they have to catch the attention of the opposite sex. Right now the rarer shorebirds come through more often or not. Another reason to get out now is they are busy refueling and a whole lot more likely to be approachable. Don’t approach them, let them come to you as I did here. Simply lie on the sands at a spot where they might want to feed (I like when the tide is going out) and simply wait. They’ll come up and then the shot is easy peasy! I know of nothin better than spending the morning on the beach (in the west) or the evening (in the east) lying on the sands with the LBJs. Now’s the time, they’re coming!

Fall is when mammals, especially big game look their best with their winter coats. Those coats change slightly each year based on the quality of the browse and the temps. This year with the heat waves and extreme drought, much of the west isn’t offering the same quality habitat as in a typical year. Just watching the White-tailed and Mule Deers on The Ranch, I can see a measurable difference in their pelts. So if planning on chasing the big boys, do some homework for the region you’re heading to. I will make a difference in your final photograph. Fall mammals, plan carefully!