First 3/4 of 2016- part one, winter and spring
Posted: September 11th, 2016, 6:47 pm
Forays into the natural history of New Mexico (and Arizona)- first 3/4 of 2016, part one Winter and Spring
Seems like I’ve developed a pattern here of FHF of posting biennially, but I’m late this year. I’ll preface it with my standard apologies of it’s long and it’s not just herps. Herps will always be my first love, but it’s impossible to go out into the field searching for them and not develop a love for birds, mammals, landscapes, and everything else nature offers up. I’m breaking this one up into three parts.
https://500px.com/photo/134404009/rio-g ... bill-gorum
I’m a high school science teacher and in New Mexico if you are qualified to teach any science you are considered qualified to teach all the sciences. So when my school asked me to teach physics a few years ago I accepted, despite the fact that my formal education in physics consisted of only the two semesters of introductory physics I was required to take in order to get my biology degree. I think teaching physics is actually starting to have an impact on my photography! A cottonwood leaf sinking into the snow. Perfect example of energy conversion and heat transfer!
https://500px.com/photo/134404011/bare- ... bill-gorum
https://500px.com/photo/134604387/porcu ... bill-gorum
The Rio Grande bosque in Albuquerque has got to have one of the highest densities of porcupines of any place. One of the really cool things about the porcupines here that I’ve observed is that they actually seem to prefer the bark of invasive Russian olives and salt cedars to native species.
https://500px.com/photo/134604391/rio-g ... bill-gorum
https://500px.com/photo/134604393/sandi ... bill-gorum
As cities go, Albuquerque is really not a bad place to live at all!
https://500px.com/photo/140615187/salin ... bill-gorum
At the end of January, I joined some other photographers for a trip to the Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument.
https://500px.com/photo/140615185/salin ... bill-gorum
https://500px.com/photo/140615189/salin ... bill-gorum
The monument was pretty cool, but as we were finishing up one of the members of the group got a call from a friend saying he was going out with a falconer to take pictures of him exercising his Harris Hawks and if we could make it there within a couple hours we could join them. There was no way we could make it out from where we were, (Gran Quivara, the southernmost and most out of the way of the three units of the National Monument), back to the highway and down to where they were going to be in time. Fortunately, the ranger at the monument told us about a short cut! So ensued a knarly, high speed race down one of those dirt roads that really should not be driven at a knarly, high rate of speed!
https://500px.com/photo/140503883/capti ... bill-gorum
But we made it!
https://500px.com/photo/140119043/harri ... bill-gorum
https://500px.com/photo/140050381/capti ... bill-gorum
Of course the tassels and bells show in most of the photographs, but still it was a pretty cool experience.
https://500px.com/photo/141462797/sandh ... bill-gorum
Winter in this part of New Mexico is really not complete without Sandhill Cranes. I didn’t get out much until the middle of February, but by that time Bosque del Apache NWR, the usual go-to spot for cranes, really didn’t have many. Instead there were large numbers of cranes at the Bernardo Wildlife Management Area, some 50 miles north of BDA, which is where this picture was taken.
https://500px.com/photo/141462801/rio-g ... bill-gorum
Cottonwoods at Bernardo
https://500px.com/photo/141601499/mule- ... bill-gorum
While the cranes may have been lacking at Bosque del Apache it is still my favorite spot for sheer diversity. Mule deer at BDA.
https://500px.com/photo/141601501/weste ... bill-gorum
Finally, herps! Painted Turtles basking at Bosque del Apache on February 20th.
https://500px.com/photo/141601503/calli ... bill-gorum
The sound that always calls out to me, “Spring is here!”. Calling Red-winged Blackbird.
https://500px.com/photo/141614047/ameri ... bill-gorum
https://500px.com/photo/141898089/weste ... bill-gorum
Another Painted Turtle. (Hey it’s February, I’ll take what I can get)!
https://500px.com/photo/141898093/pair- ... bill-gorum
This is kind of a touching story. The goose in the foreground obviously has a broken wing. The one in the background is its mate. As the sun was setting, a small flock of snow geese, (probably these individuals’ offspring from last year), began swimming out into the middle of one of the marshes. (They do this at night for protection from coyotes and other predators). The one with the broken wing tried to follow, but it seemed as though having its wing in the water hurt it, so it just came back to shore and honked. Its mate would honk back, as though beckoning it to join the others, but it couldn’t. Eventually its mate returned to shore and joined it on land.
https://500px.com/photo/142454693/bare- ... bill-gorum
https://500px.com/photo/142454695/sunse ... bill-gorum
https://500px.com/photo/142454701/great ... bill-gorum
End of February and some of the summer residents are beginning to arrive.
https://500px.com/photo/142609369/weste ... bill-gorum
On February 28th I paid a visit to a den a friend had located the previous year. Only this single snake was in evidence though.
https://500px.com/photo/142609371/sunse ... bill-gorum
Seems like I have a lot of pictures of the sun setting over this particular marsh in late winter. Its situating just perfectly to catch the reflections at this time of year.
https://500px.com/photo/142734963/sun-s ... bill-gorum
One of my personal favorite cottonwood trees. Great place to park and rest in the shade at midday, often has quail hanging around it.
https://500px.com/photo/143454595/immat ... ll-gorum's Hawk, (Accipiter cooperii). by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
https://500px.com/photo/143454597/mule- ... bill-gorum
https://500px.com/photo/143454599/cloud ... bill-gorum
There’s that marsh again!
https://500px.com/photo/144501179/baski ... bill-gorum
https://500px.com/photo/144501183/young ... bill-gorum
So I’ve been accused of having a certain connection with skunks! Not sure if I should take that as a compliment or an insult, but I really do like skunks. They are like the snakes of the mammal world. So many people fear or loathe them because of things they believe about them that are based on no actual experience with the animals. Late winter is a great time for skunks at BDA. It’s when they mate and it’s not uncommon to see half a dozen or more in an evening at this time of year.
Western Meadowlark, (Sturnella neglecta). by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Neotropic Cormorant, (Phalacrocorax brasilianus). by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Western Painted Turtles, (Chrysemys picta bellii). by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Mexican Duck, (Anas diazi), drake. by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Mexican ducks are a species I seem to be seeing more frequently at Bosque del Apache the last couple years.
Rio Grande Wild Turkey. by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Greater Roadrunner, (Geococcyx californianus). by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Roadrunner snapping at knats
Last of the Snow Geese at Bosque del Apache. by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Another Snow Goose with a broken wing. Just like with the previous one, this one’s mate would not leave it. Both were hanging around one of the canals long after all the other light geese had flown north.
Calling male Red-winged Blackbird. by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Bosque fire at Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge. by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
A bosque fire near Bernardo on March 27th. An introduced beetle has been devastating Salt Cedars in this area. Good news on the one hand since Salt Cedar is an invasive species that sucks up tons of water and and degrades habitats for wildlife along many water courses in the southwest, but all the dead and dying Salt Cedars have now created an even bigger fire hazard.
Neotropic Cormorant, (Phalacrocorax brasilianus). by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Calling Pied-billed Grebe, (Podilymbus podiceps). by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Preening Cattle Egrets, (Bubulcus ibis). by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Big Bend Slider and Western Painted Turtle. by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Western Painted Turtle, (Chrysemys picta bellii). by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Rio Grande Cottonwoods blooming #3 by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Blooming Rio Grande Cottonwoods #4 by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Blooming Rio Grande Cottonwoods #5 by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Ruddy Duck drake resting in bullrushes. by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Snow Goose pair, one with a broken wing. by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
The faithful Snow Goose pair again!
Desert Cottontail, (Sylvilagus audubonii). by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Desert Cottontail, (Sylvilagus audubonii). by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Sleeping pair of Mallards, (Anas platyrhynchos). by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Great, Snowy, and Cattle Egrets roosting together. by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Striped Skunk, (Mephitis mephitis), foraging. by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
I’ve been able to get really close to a couple of individual skunks that I kept seeing over and over in the same area. They really don’t deserve the reputation they’ve got. I’m not sure what you would need to do to actually get one to spray. Kick it maybe! Simple proximity is certainly not enough.
Neotropic Cormorant with a Catfish. by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Great Blue Heron with a Crayfish by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Bare Rio Grande Cottonwoods and Storm Clouds. by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Curious Striped Skunk, (Mephitis mephitis). by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Eastern Black-tailed Rattlesnakes basking at den. by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
As near as I can tell this is one of two main entrances into a high elevation den that I’ve been checking on for a few years now. It’s really a pretty nondescript hole in the rocks, but there are always a number of black-tails piled up together at this hole in the spring.
Eastern Black-tailed Rattlesnakes basking at den. by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
This appears to be the second main entrance to the den and is located several meters upslope from the first.
Male Red-winged Blackbird, (Agelaius phoeniceus). by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Foraging Striped Skunk, (Mephitis mephitis) #2. by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Rocky Mountain Mule Deer, (Odocoileus h. hemionus) by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Male Red-winged Blackbird calling. by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Striped Skunk, (Mephitis mephitis). by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
This little guy/girl had its face down foraging in the wet Summer Cypress and walked straight towards me as I laid on the ground. This is the moment it realized I was there. True to form it got startled, arched its back a little, then realized I wasn’t a threat and just detoured around me.
Striped Skunk, (Mephitis mephitis), drinking water by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
A stormy evening at Bosque del Apache. by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Defensive Prairie Rattlesnake, (Crotalus viridis). by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
A Prairie Rattlesnake that I would have just walked past had it not rattled.
Black Phoebe with a Dragonfly by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Female American Kestrel, (Falco sparverius). by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Turkey Vulture scavenging a fish. by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Loco Weeds or Milkvetch, (Astragalas sp.). by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Flooded Rio Grande Cottonwoods, Populus deltoides. by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Dry bed of the Rio Salado, New Mexico. by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Porcupine resting in a Cottonwood Tree. by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Juvenile Red-eared Sliders basking. by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Juvenile Red-eared Sliders at the Tingley Beach Wildlife Management Ponds. Sad to see this. Red-ears are not native to the Rio Grande and at Tingley Beach they seem to have completely replaced the native Painted Turtles.
Juvenile Great Horned Owls, (Bubo virginianus). by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
White-crowned Sparrow eating Russian Olive flowers by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Black-chinned Hummingbird, (Archilochus alexandri) by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Great Egret with Tiger Salamander larvae. by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
At the end of April, I photographed this Great Egret feeding at Bosque del Apache. I didn’t realize, until I got home and looked at the pictures on the computer, that it was eating Tiger Salamander larvae. This is interesting to me because I’ve never seen Tiger Salamanders breeding in my area and don’t even know when they do it! I sort of assumed during the summer monsoons, but this marsh was dry during the summer and was filled in the fall before all the cranes and geese arrived. That makes me wonder if the salamanders bred here in the winter/early spring like they do in some other areas. I suppose it’s also possible that they were in the canal that was used to fill the marsh.
Audubon
White-faced Ibis with Crayfish by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Prairie Rattlesnake, (Crotalus viridis). by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
May 6th was Prairie Rattlesnake day for some reason. This is the first of two I cruised on the levee roads at Bosque del Apache. The paved roads on the way home after dark yielded several more.
Prairie Rattlesnake, (Crotalus viridis). by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
This faded out appearance is something I frequently see in Prairie Rattlesnakes that are encountered on roads at night. It also occasionally shows up during the day. It is not permanent. Snakes that look like this on the road at night, that we have held for photos, changed to look like completely normal viridis the next day. This sort of color change is not without precedent in rattlesnakes. Arizona Black Rattlesnakes are well known for it and I’ve also observed something similar in Western Diamond-backs.
Desert Kingsnake, (Lampropeltis splendida). by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Spring in New Mexico means wind! Desert kingsnake out on the crawl in a dust storm.
Western Wood-Pewee, (Contopus sordidulus). by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Sunlight on freshly plowed field. by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Mallard, (Anas platrhynchos), Hen with Ducklings by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
So we’ve all heard the saying, “If there are no pictures, it didn’t happen”, but you’ll just have to take my word for this one. Right after I took this picture I had dropped the camera away from my eye and was holding it at my side while I watched the ducks swim towards a big algae mat. All of a sudden a big female New Mexico Garter Snake that I hadn’t seen in the algae tried to grab a duckling! Mama Mallard chased the snake as the ducklings swan away and it all happened before I could even get the camera back up to my eye!
Mallard, (Anas platrhynchos), Hen with Ducklings by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Doesn’t she look like a mama that means business?
American Robin foraging on insect larvae by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Canada Goose watching over its goslings by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Greater Roadrunner eating Grasshopper. by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Southwestern Fence Lizard, (Sceloporus cowlesi). by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Greater Roadrunner eating a caterpillar. by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Pair of male Mexican Ducks, (Anas diazi). by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Great Egret landing at its roost. by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Javelina, (Pecari tajacu), Bosque del Apache NWR. by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Canyon Towhee, (Melazone fusca). by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Female Yellow Warbler, (Setophaga petechia). by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Bulrushes in the wind, Bosque del Apache NWR, NM by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Turkey Vulture eating a road killed Painted Turtle by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
On May 14th this female Painted Turtle got run over on the tour loop at Bosque del Apache. You can see one of her eggs on the ground behind the Turkey Vulture.
Check out part 2 for mucho mas herps!
Seems like I’ve developed a pattern here of FHF of posting biennially, but I’m late this year. I’ll preface it with my standard apologies of it’s long and it’s not just herps. Herps will always be my first love, but it’s impossible to go out into the field searching for them and not develop a love for birds, mammals, landscapes, and everything else nature offers up. I’m breaking this one up into three parts.
https://500px.com/photo/134404009/rio-g ... bill-gorum
I’m a high school science teacher and in New Mexico if you are qualified to teach any science you are considered qualified to teach all the sciences. So when my school asked me to teach physics a few years ago I accepted, despite the fact that my formal education in physics consisted of only the two semesters of introductory physics I was required to take in order to get my biology degree. I think teaching physics is actually starting to have an impact on my photography! A cottonwood leaf sinking into the snow. Perfect example of energy conversion and heat transfer!
https://500px.com/photo/134404011/bare- ... bill-gorum
https://500px.com/photo/134604387/porcu ... bill-gorum
The Rio Grande bosque in Albuquerque has got to have one of the highest densities of porcupines of any place. One of the really cool things about the porcupines here that I’ve observed is that they actually seem to prefer the bark of invasive Russian olives and salt cedars to native species.
https://500px.com/photo/134604391/rio-g ... bill-gorum
https://500px.com/photo/134604393/sandi ... bill-gorum
As cities go, Albuquerque is really not a bad place to live at all!
https://500px.com/photo/140615187/salin ... bill-gorum
At the end of January, I joined some other photographers for a trip to the Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument.
https://500px.com/photo/140615185/salin ... bill-gorum
https://500px.com/photo/140615189/salin ... bill-gorum
The monument was pretty cool, but as we were finishing up one of the members of the group got a call from a friend saying he was going out with a falconer to take pictures of him exercising his Harris Hawks and if we could make it there within a couple hours we could join them. There was no way we could make it out from where we were, (Gran Quivara, the southernmost and most out of the way of the three units of the National Monument), back to the highway and down to where they were going to be in time. Fortunately, the ranger at the monument told us about a short cut! So ensued a knarly, high speed race down one of those dirt roads that really should not be driven at a knarly, high rate of speed!
https://500px.com/photo/140503883/capti ... bill-gorum
But we made it!
https://500px.com/photo/140119043/harri ... bill-gorum
https://500px.com/photo/140050381/capti ... bill-gorum
Of course the tassels and bells show in most of the photographs, but still it was a pretty cool experience.
https://500px.com/photo/141462797/sandh ... bill-gorum
Winter in this part of New Mexico is really not complete without Sandhill Cranes. I didn’t get out much until the middle of February, but by that time Bosque del Apache NWR, the usual go-to spot for cranes, really didn’t have many. Instead there were large numbers of cranes at the Bernardo Wildlife Management Area, some 50 miles north of BDA, which is where this picture was taken.
https://500px.com/photo/141462801/rio-g ... bill-gorum
Cottonwoods at Bernardo
https://500px.com/photo/141601499/mule- ... bill-gorum
While the cranes may have been lacking at Bosque del Apache it is still my favorite spot for sheer diversity. Mule deer at BDA.
https://500px.com/photo/141601501/weste ... bill-gorum
Finally, herps! Painted Turtles basking at Bosque del Apache on February 20th.
https://500px.com/photo/141601503/calli ... bill-gorum
The sound that always calls out to me, “Spring is here!”. Calling Red-winged Blackbird.
https://500px.com/photo/141614047/ameri ... bill-gorum
https://500px.com/photo/141898089/weste ... bill-gorum
Another Painted Turtle. (Hey it’s February, I’ll take what I can get)!
https://500px.com/photo/141898093/pair- ... bill-gorum
This is kind of a touching story. The goose in the foreground obviously has a broken wing. The one in the background is its mate. As the sun was setting, a small flock of snow geese, (probably these individuals’ offspring from last year), began swimming out into the middle of one of the marshes. (They do this at night for protection from coyotes and other predators). The one with the broken wing tried to follow, but it seemed as though having its wing in the water hurt it, so it just came back to shore and honked. Its mate would honk back, as though beckoning it to join the others, but it couldn’t. Eventually its mate returned to shore and joined it on land.
https://500px.com/photo/142454693/bare- ... bill-gorum
https://500px.com/photo/142454695/sunse ... bill-gorum
https://500px.com/photo/142454701/great ... bill-gorum
End of February and some of the summer residents are beginning to arrive.
https://500px.com/photo/142609369/weste ... bill-gorum
On February 28th I paid a visit to a den a friend had located the previous year. Only this single snake was in evidence though.
https://500px.com/photo/142609371/sunse ... bill-gorum
Seems like I have a lot of pictures of the sun setting over this particular marsh in late winter. Its situating just perfectly to catch the reflections at this time of year.
https://500px.com/photo/142734963/sun-s ... bill-gorum
One of my personal favorite cottonwood trees. Great place to park and rest in the shade at midday, often has quail hanging around it.
https://500px.com/photo/143454595/immat ... ll-gorum's Hawk, (Accipiter cooperii). by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
https://500px.com/photo/143454597/mule- ... bill-gorum
https://500px.com/photo/143454599/cloud ... bill-gorum
There’s that marsh again!
https://500px.com/photo/144501179/baski ... bill-gorum
https://500px.com/photo/144501183/young ... bill-gorum
So I’ve been accused of having a certain connection with skunks! Not sure if I should take that as a compliment or an insult, but I really do like skunks. They are like the snakes of the mammal world. So many people fear or loathe them because of things they believe about them that are based on no actual experience with the animals. Late winter is a great time for skunks at BDA. It’s when they mate and it’s not uncommon to see half a dozen or more in an evening at this time of year.
Western Meadowlark, (Sturnella neglecta). by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Neotropic Cormorant, (Phalacrocorax brasilianus). by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Western Painted Turtles, (Chrysemys picta bellii). by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Mexican Duck, (Anas diazi), drake. by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Mexican ducks are a species I seem to be seeing more frequently at Bosque del Apache the last couple years.
Rio Grande Wild Turkey. by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Greater Roadrunner, (Geococcyx californianus). by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Roadrunner snapping at knats
Last of the Snow Geese at Bosque del Apache. by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Another Snow Goose with a broken wing. Just like with the previous one, this one’s mate would not leave it. Both were hanging around one of the canals long after all the other light geese had flown north.
Calling male Red-winged Blackbird. by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Bosque fire at Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge. by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
A bosque fire near Bernardo on March 27th. An introduced beetle has been devastating Salt Cedars in this area. Good news on the one hand since Salt Cedar is an invasive species that sucks up tons of water and and degrades habitats for wildlife along many water courses in the southwest, but all the dead and dying Salt Cedars have now created an even bigger fire hazard.
Neotropic Cormorant, (Phalacrocorax brasilianus). by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Calling Pied-billed Grebe, (Podilymbus podiceps). by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Preening Cattle Egrets, (Bubulcus ibis). by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Big Bend Slider and Western Painted Turtle. by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Western Painted Turtle, (Chrysemys picta bellii). by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Rio Grande Cottonwoods blooming #3 by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Blooming Rio Grande Cottonwoods #4 by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Blooming Rio Grande Cottonwoods #5 by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Ruddy Duck drake resting in bullrushes. by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Snow Goose pair, one with a broken wing. by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
The faithful Snow Goose pair again!
Desert Cottontail, (Sylvilagus audubonii). by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Desert Cottontail, (Sylvilagus audubonii). by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Sleeping pair of Mallards, (Anas platyrhynchos). by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Great, Snowy, and Cattle Egrets roosting together. by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Striped Skunk, (Mephitis mephitis), foraging. by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
I’ve been able to get really close to a couple of individual skunks that I kept seeing over and over in the same area. They really don’t deserve the reputation they’ve got. I’m not sure what you would need to do to actually get one to spray. Kick it maybe! Simple proximity is certainly not enough.
Neotropic Cormorant with a Catfish. by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Great Blue Heron with a Crayfish by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Bare Rio Grande Cottonwoods and Storm Clouds. by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Curious Striped Skunk, (Mephitis mephitis). by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Eastern Black-tailed Rattlesnakes basking at den. by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
As near as I can tell this is one of two main entrances into a high elevation den that I’ve been checking on for a few years now. It’s really a pretty nondescript hole in the rocks, but there are always a number of black-tails piled up together at this hole in the spring.
Eastern Black-tailed Rattlesnakes basking at den. by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
This appears to be the second main entrance to the den and is located several meters upslope from the first.
Male Red-winged Blackbird, (Agelaius phoeniceus). by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Foraging Striped Skunk, (Mephitis mephitis) #2. by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Rocky Mountain Mule Deer, (Odocoileus h. hemionus) by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Male Red-winged Blackbird calling. by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Striped Skunk, (Mephitis mephitis). by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
This little guy/girl had its face down foraging in the wet Summer Cypress and walked straight towards me as I laid on the ground. This is the moment it realized I was there. True to form it got startled, arched its back a little, then realized I wasn’t a threat and just detoured around me.
Striped Skunk, (Mephitis mephitis), drinking water by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
A stormy evening at Bosque del Apache. by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Defensive Prairie Rattlesnake, (Crotalus viridis). by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
A Prairie Rattlesnake that I would have just walked past had it not rattled.
Black Phoebe with a Dragonfly by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Female American Kestrel, (Falco sparverius). by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Turkey Vulture scavenging a fish. by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Loco Weeds or Milkvetch, (Astragalas sp.). by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Flooded Rio Grande Cottonwoods, Populus deltoides. by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Dry bed of the Rio Salado, New Mexico. by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Porcupine resting in a Cottonwood Tree. by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Juvenile Red-eared Sliders basking. by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Juvenile Red-eared Sliders at the Tingley Beach Wildlife Management Ponds. Sad to see this. Red-ears are not native to the Rio Grande and at Tingley Beach they seem to have completely replaced the native Painted Turtles.
Juvenile Great Horned Owls, (Bubo virginianus). by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
White-crowned Sparrow eating Russian Olive flowers by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Black-chinned Hummingbird, (Archilochus alexandri) by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Great Egret with Tiger Salamander larvae. by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
At the end of April, I photographed this Great Egret feeding at Bosque del Apache. I didn’t realize, until I got home and looked at the pictures on the computer, that it was eating Tiger Salamander larvae. This is interesting to me because I’ve never seen Tiger Salamanders breeding in my area and don’t even know when they do it! I sort of assumed during the summer monsoons, but this marsh was dry during the summer and was filled in the fall before all the cranes and geese arrived. That makes me wonder if the salamanders bred here in the winter/early spring like they do in some other areas. I suppose it’s also possible that they were in the canal that was used to fill the marsh.
Audubon
White-faced Ibis with Crayfish by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Prairie Rattlesnake, (Crotalus viridis). by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
May 6th was Prairie Rattlesnake day for some reason. This is the first of two I cruised on the levee roads at Bosque del Apache. The paved roads on the way home after dark yielded several more.
Prairie Rattlesnake, (Crotalus viridis). by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
This faded out appearance is something I frequently see in Prairie Rattlesnakes that are encountered on roads at night. It also occasionally shows up during the day. It is not permanent. Snakes that look like this on the road at night, that we have held for photos, changed to look like completely normal viridis the next day. This sort of color change is not without precedent in rattlesnakes. Arizona Black Rattlesnakes are well known for it and I’ve also observed something similar in Western Diamond-backs.
Desert Kingsnake, (Lampropeltis splendida). by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Spring in New Mexico means wind! Desert kingsnake out on the crawl in a dust storm.
Western Wood-Pewee, (Contopus sordidulus). by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Sunlight on freshly plowed field. by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Mallard, (Anas platrhynchos), Hen with Ducklings by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
So we’ve all heard the saying, “If there are no pictures, it didn’t happen”, but you’ll just have to take my word for this one. Right after I took this picture I had dropped the camera away from my eye and was holding it at my side while I watched the ducks swim towards a big algae mat. All of a sudden a big female New Mexico Garter Snake that I hadn’t seen in the algae tried to grab a duckling! Mama Mallard chased the snake as the ducklings swan away and it all happened before I could even get the camera back up to my eye!
Mallard, (Anas platrhynchos), Hen with Ducklings by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Doesn’t she look like a mama that means business?
American Robin foraging on insect larvae by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Canada Goose watching over its goslings by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Greater Roadrunner eating Grasshopper. by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Southwestern Fence Lizard, (Sceloporus cowlesi). by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Greater Roadrunner eating a caterpillar. by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Pair of male Mexican Ducks, (Anas diazi). by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Great Egret landing at its roost. by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Javelina, (Pecari tajacu), Bosque del Apache NWR. by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Canyon Towhee, (Melazone fusca). by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Female Yellow Warbler, (Setophaga petechia). by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Bulrushes in the wind, Bosque del Apache NWR, NM by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Turkey Vulture eating a road killed Painted Turtle by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
On May 14th this female Painted Turtle got run over on the tour loop at Bosque del Apache. You can see one of her eggs on the ground behind the Turkey Vulture.
Check out part 2 for mucho mas herps!