August in New Mexico
Moderator: Scott Waters
August in New Mexico
A last minute trip to New Mexico for a long weekend during monsoon season turned out to be a great time for myself and a couple buddies.
We buzzed down to the Quitman Mountains to poke around a little during the daylight on our way out of TX.
Then hightailed it to NM to hike a small range that evening. Saw this scene on the way....
We did a little flipping and I found this baby atrox out on the crawl.
Then flipped his less attractive sibling a few feet away.
Hiking right before dark we saw several atrox, a pituophis, one molossus, and two baby E. kingii that I wasn't able to get my hands on to photograph, plus a little spotted skunk hiding in a rock crack. It was darkish, windy and rainy so we had to forgo any pictures.
The roadcruising was spectacular that night heading further west through intermittent showers and favorable temperatures. A few quick snaps on the roadside....
And one of a couple more DOR splendida that night
Hiking another range the next day revealed some nice scenery but no snakes.
We hit another spot that afternoon and found this pair a few feet apart.
The next day was light on herps but more than made up for it with some world class monsoon storms which caused flash flooding and made us have to take a several hour detour.
Before the deluge.
You can see a few turkeys in this shot.
The above rain brought this guy out...saw quite a few of these critters throughout the trip.
Lots of baby scutulatus out and about.
Beautiful conditions prevailed the next morning and I was treated to this pastoral scene.
We were a little concerned that the torrential rain from the previous day might have driven the snakes down deep but that was not the case. These two made our last day a good one.
The trip produced 47 snakes representing 9 species plus a significant number of lizard and toad species.
Hope you enjoyed!
Travis
We buzzed down to the Quitman Mountains to poke around a little during the daylight on our way out of TX.
Then hightailed it to NM to hike a small range that evening. Saw this scene on the way....
We did a little flipping and I found this baby atrox out on the crawl.
Then flipped his less attractive sibling a few feet away.
Hiking right before dark we saw several atrox, a pituophis, one molossus, and two baby E. kingii that I wasn't able to get my hands on to photograph, plus a little spotted skunk hiding in a rock crack. It was darkish, windy and rainy so we had to forgo any pictures.
The roadcruising was spectacular that night heading further west through intermittent showers and favorable temperatures. A few quick snaps on the roadside....
And one of a couple more DOR splendida that night
Hiking another range the next day revealed some nice scenery but no snakes.
We hit another spot that afternoon and found this pair a few feet apart.
The next day was light on herps but more than made up for it with some world class monsoon storms which caused flash flooding and made us have to take a several hour detour.
Before the deluge.
You can see a few turkeys in this shot.
The above rain brought this guy out...saw quite a few of these critters throughout the trip.
Lots of baby scutulatus out and about.
Beautiful conditions prevailed the next morning and I was treated to this pastoral scene.
We were a little concerned that the torrential rain from the previous day might have driven the snakes down deep but that was not the case. These two made our last day a good one.
The trip produced 47 snakes representing 9 species plus a significant number of lizard and toad species.
Hope you enjoyed!
Travis
Re: August in New Mexico
Wow those are some great snakes and equally impressive landscape shots! Awesome trip
Re: August in New Mexico
Nice post! I especially liked the color on that black-tailed rattlesnake! Looks like you had quite the flash flood there!
Re: August in New Mexico
Nice work Travis
Dave S.
Dave S.
Re: August in New Mexico
Excellent post, and awesome photography. I really like what you did with the Desert King.
That black-tailed rattlesnake is fantastic!
That black-tailed rattlesnake is fantastic!
Re: August in New Mexico
i like the rock rattler's pose better but i agree with you in terms of clearitySoopaman wrote:Excellent post, and awesome photography. I really like what you did with the Desert King.
That black-tailed rattlesnake is fantastic!
Re: August in New Mexico
The desert king pose makes it appear curious, and adorable. That's what I like about it.dery wrote:i like the rock rattler's pose better but i agree with you in terms of clearitySoopaman wrote:Excellent post, and awesome photography. I really like what you did with the Desert King.
That black-tailed rattlesnake is fantastic!
But since you bring it up, the pose on the first klauberi pictured is pretty darn cool.
- walk-about
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Re: August in New Mexico
Wow Travis!
I think this series of incredible photos really captures the essence of the southwest and Sonora Desert. Honestly, I think the picture of the running man (self portrait??) might be my favorite. Just very beautifully done sir!
RoCk ON!
Dave
I think this series of incredible photos really captures the essence of the southwest and Sonora Desert. Honestly, I think the picture of the running man (self portrait??) might be my favorite. Just very beautifully done sir!
RoCk ON!
Dave
- Mulebrother
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Re: August in New Mexico
Outstanding stuff, as usual.
Re: August in New Mexico
Beautiful scenics. The DOR splendida appears quite exceptional. Love the Black-tailed ...prettiest one I recall seeing.
- MHollanders
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Re: August in New Mexico
The sceneries are my favorites. Very good stuff! I like your style.
- Kevin McRae
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Re: August in New Mexico
Your landscape photos are just amazing! They make me want to visit New Mexico!
Re: August in New Mexico
Good stuff, Travis
Re: August in New Mexico
Great post!!
Way to look NM look good!
-Travis
From one Travis to another. lol
Way to look NM look good!
-Travis
From one Travis to another. lol
- Will Wells
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Re: August in New Mexico
awesome landscape shots!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Re: August in New Mexico
The little Desert King would have come home with me for sure. The Klauberi you have photoed are the type that I've dreamed of all my herpin' life. Very nice.
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Re: August in New Mexico
Incredible animals, and WONDERFUL photography!
What sort of camera equipment do you use?
- Chad Harrison
What sort of camera equipment do you use?
- Chad Harrison
Re: August in New Mexico
Beautiful animals and terrain!
- Hans Breuer (twoton)
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Re: August in New Mexico
Absolutely beautiful. All of it!
What sort of weather phenomenon is this?
What sort of weather phenomenon is this?
- Martti Niskanen
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Re: August in New Mexico
Beautiful snakes and landscapes.
Re: August in New Mexico
Splendida aren't fun to photograph....it was crawling away for the umpteenth time and stuck it's head up in that twig....I just grabbed the show which was somehow in focus and am pretty happy with it!Soopaman wrote:Excellent post, and awesome photography. I really like what you did with the Desert King.
That black-tailed rattlesnake is fantastic!
Re: August in New Mexico
Thanks!ChadHarrison wrote:Incredible animals, and WONDERFUL photography!
What sort of camera equipment do you use?
- Chad Harrison
I am using my Nikon D200 (which is an antique now!) and for most of the herp shots a Nikon 28-70mm f2.8 or Tamron 90mm and some fill flash. The really wide shots are with a Tokina 12-24mm.
TD
Re: August in New Mexico
That is just fog or some low clouds. It was a cool morning and the previous night's storms were just clearing out...Hans Breuer (twoton) wrote:Absolutely beautiful. All of it!
What sort of weather phenomenon is this?
TD
- Bryan_Hughes
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Re: August in New Mexico
Beautiful shots. Believe it or not, I was also in that valley that morning and saw that low cloud. Really an amazing time to be in that place.
- Ross Padilla
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Re: August in New Mexico
Great post. New Mexico is such a beautiful state. So much land that is not occupied. Its amazing. Nice looking splendida, especially the poor DOR.
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Re: August in New Mexico
Wow, what a glorious post! NM looks other-worldly beautiful.
Re: August in New Mexico
Great Landscapes! Brought back some "old" memories of the area and the herps. Felt like I never left; for a moment.
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Re: August in New Mexico
Excellent post, thank you. Did you photograph any of the lizards and toads? Did all the rain bring out spadefoots?
Ian
Ian