Dogofthedesert

The front third of a floating duck, seen in profile with the head to the left. The head and neck are black, but with a violet sheen in places. The eye is light orange. From front to back the beak has a black tip, a white ring, and a gray patch outlined in white. The visible part of the body is black, but with white on the flanks. Small drops of water rest on the body. The remainder of the image is taken up with swirling greenish water.

A dapper male but a poorly named one. Ring-necked ducks (Aythya collaris) rarely show a neck ring and when they do, it's not obvious. Photo taken at Tingley Beach, Albuquerque on March 3, 2026.

#nature #naturephotography #birds

An all-black bird with a red eye, purple callus (forehead bump), and white beak. The bird is somewhat chicken-shaped. The finely patterned legs are yellow and the feet are gray. The coot is in a patch of reeds. It's perched on brown reeds that bent over at the watger's surface. Other brown reeds are floating on the water. Behind the coot and to the right, new (green) reeds have emerged from the water.

An American coot (Fulica americana) at Tingley Beach, Albuquerque on March 3, 2026.

#nature #naturephotography #birds

A bird seen in profile as it perches on a strand of barbed wire. The tail is to the left and the head to the right. Let's start with the beak. It's dark, and both shorter and less curved than on other thrasher species. The head and back are mottled gray. The visible wing and tail parts are a darker gray. The throat, breast, and belly are a bold mix of black spots on a white background. For the image as a whole, the background is blurry, being uniform left to right but shading from tan to blue bottom to top.

A sage thrasher (Oreoscoptes montanus) in rural Valencia County, New Mexico on March 2, 2026.

#nature #naturephotography #birds

A white-breasted nuthatch on the ground, in profile with its head to the left and its tail to the right. Its beak is open. A speech balloon pointing to its head reads, "The next No Kings Rally is Saturday, March 28. If you live in Albuquerque, I'll see you there."

I post my images because I know nature’s power to help people re-find their inner balance. But we also need to oppose the ongoing corruption of American democracy, driven by one man's lust for wealth and power. If we do nothing, the country we love will be the next extinct species.

Yup, but a lot of northward migrations are starting earlier as the planet heats up.

A duck bobbing on a rippled green pond surface, with its head to the right and its tail to the left. The duck's head is turned partly toward the camera. The head is cinnamon-colored, with a yellow eye. The beak is blue-gray with a black tip and a white encircling stripe just behind the tip. The breast is glack. The rest of the duck is gray.

A male redhead (Aythya americana) in the Rio Grande Bosque in Albuquerque, on February 26, 2026.

#nature #naturephotography #birds

Three turtles have climbed onto a floating branch (now submerged by their weight) in a pond. The turtles have their backs to the afternoon sun and they've extended and raised their heads for the added solar gain. The turtles are mostly green but also show streaks and patches of orange and yellow. This subspecies has a red patch behind each eye, hence the "red-eared" part of the name. The blurry background for the image includes fallen brown reeds floating on the water.

Sometimes three's company. Red-eared sliders (Trachemys scripta elegans) in the Rio Grande Bosque, Albuquerque, on an unusually warm February 26, 2026.

#nature #naturephotography #turtles

P.S. My thanks to V. Belov for his help with the insect ID.

This close-up image is dominated by a small yellow cactus fruit, which has many lobes on it. A few spines are visible, mostly to the left of the image. A black bug is crawling on the fruit, with its long antennae out to the sides. The blurred-out background is dark gray.

A conchuela bug (Chlorochroa ligata) on the a cane cholla (Cylindropuntia imbricata) fruit. Photo taken in the west foothills of the Sandia Mountains on February 26, 2026.

#nature #naturephotography #cactus #bug

A butterfly on the ground, which is covered with rough gravel (decomposed granite) and fresh green sprouts. The butterfly is seen in profile with the head to the left. The wings are partly closed, and in this view we can see the underside of the left wings and part of the upperside of the right forewing. The underwings are a confusing pattern of brown and white -- good camouflage -- with four obvious spots near the back end of the hindwing. The fore upperwing is orange and black near its base, black with white spots near its tip -- this side of the wings is for showing, not hiding. The body and head look fuzzy gray. The visible eye is brown with black spots. The antennae look gray, with white tips.

The painted ladies (Vanessa cardui) are on their spring migration north from Mexico, and have reached Albuquerque. Photo taken in the Sandia foothills on February 26, 2025.

#nature #naturephotography #butterfly

A green spike of fresh growth sports about nine tubular yellow flowers with prominent lower lips. The background is a bit confusing, including as it does brown twigs and additional green growth.

For me, these golden corydalis (Corydalis aurea) flowers mark the start of wildflower season in the Albuquerque area. Photo taken in the west foothills of the Sandia Mountains on February 25, 2026.

#nature #naturephotography #flowers #wildflowers

A small butterfly, standing on the edge of a prickly pear pad amid an abbatis of thorns. As happens this time of year, the pad has turned purplish. The butterfly's wings are folded, revealing a forewing underside dominated by gold scales and a hindwing underside dominated by green scales. Both underwings have two white bands outlined in black, parallel to the back edges of the underwings. The band is prominent on the hind underwing, less so on the fore underwing.

The Sandia hairstreak butterfly (Callophrys mcfarlandi) is New Mexico's official butterfly. I saw this one earlier today, as it briefly alighted on a prickly pear pad. Photo taken in the west foothills of the Sandia Mountains on February 25, 2026.

#nature #naturephotography #butterfly

Sorry to say, it wasn't.

A drab tan bird against a drab tan winter background -- good camouflage! The bird is 3/4 turned away from the camera, with its head in profile facing left. It's sitting on a gnarly gray branch, with similar branches nearby. The bird's head is light tan, with a dark eye surrounded by a white eye ring. The beak is dark gray, short, and comes to a sharp point. The neck and back are a darker tan than the head. The visible primary feather tips are dark gray. Otherwise the visible wing portions include tan feathers with black spots. The visible tail feathers are long and brown. The background for the image is a blurry pattern of tan and dark brown.

A mourning dove (Zenaida macroura) in the Rio Grande Bosque in Albuquerque, on February 24, 2026.

#nature #naturephotography #birds

So true. If one out of twenty lets me gets close enough for a proper telephoto shot, I consider myself lucky.

Close-up of a bird's head, and also of its body as far back as the legs. The bird is in profile with the head to the left. The gray beak is long, narrow when viewed on edge (as it is here), and comes to a sharp tip. The cheek, throat, and breast are white. A stripe of black plumage extends from the beak back over the top of the head and onto the back. The eye is black. The back is black. The visible wing feathers are dark brown. Some of the rust color at the back of the bird's undersides is visible within the tight crop of this image. The background for the image is blurry sand and small gravel.

A white-breasted nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis) I saw on this morning's walk. Photo taken at Isleta Lakes, New Mexico on February 22, 2026.

#nature #naturephotography #birds

A male kestrel on a near-vertical bare branch. The background for the image is a uniform turquoise-colored sky. The bird's chin, cheek, and nape feature vertical stripes of white, black, and brown. The cap is gray. The mostly gray beak is short and quickly curves down to a sharp point. The back is reddish brown. The visible folded wing includes gray coverts and black primary feathers. The tail is tilted so that the underside is apparent; that side of the tail is white with black areas. The feet are brown.

A week or so ago, I posted a picture of a female American kestrel (Falco sparverius). Here's a male. Photo taken in the Rio Grande Bosque, Albuquerque on the morning of February 20, 2026, just before the storm rolled in.

#nature #naturephotography #birds

A sandhill crane standing one its right leg, as it stretches its left leg straight back. The left wing is stretched back also, and draped over the left leg. What this posture actually means, I have no idea. The visible plumage is mottled gray. The bare red forehead show that this crane is an adult. The eye is yellow. The beak and legs are black. The tan background for this image is provided by a field of rough, dormant grass.

In the village of Los Ranchos de Albuquerque, even the sandhill cranes (Antigone canadensis) do yoga. Photo taken at the Larry P. Abraham Agri-Nature Center on February 20, 2026.

#nature #naturephotography #birds

A bird perched on a wire mesh fence. This close up, only the horizontal wire it's perched on and one of the vertical wires are visible. The bird's body is facing away from the camera, but the bird has has turned his had to look over his left shoulder. The head features a dark gray beak, a black chin, a black patch that extend from the beak to the eyes, a gray forehead, and and red-brown nape. Bits of white are also visible. The wing feathers, coverts, and folded tail feathers are dark with tan fringes. The visible flank, rump, and undertail coverts are gray. The background for the photo is a uniform light blue patch of sky.

A male house sparrow (Passer domesticus), puffed up against the cold. Photo taken in McIntosh, New Mexico on February 19, 2026.

#nature #naturephotography #birds

On a gray utility wire, against a uniform light gray background, a gray, black, and white bird peers back over its shoulder. The head includes a broad black band extending back from the dark gray beak. The visible eye is difficult to see, as it's black and sits within the black face band. The top of the head is light gray, as is the back. The throat is white. The breast and belly vary from off-white to light gray. The visible folded wing is black, with a white wing bar. The tail is mostly seen on edge but looks black.

A loggerhead shrike (Lanius ludovicianus) on an overcast day. Photo taken at McIntosh, New Mexico on February 19, 2026.

#nature #naturephotography #birds

A tree stump, chainsaw-cut very close to the ground. The outside of the stump is charred, and pieces of charcoal are visible on the ground, indicating the fire that swept through the area. The clean chainsaw cut left an irregular but more or less round, very flat, somewhat silvery surface. The chainsaw operator then used the tip of the chainsaw to cut two slits for eyes and a very big semicircle for the smiling lips.

Even when you're stumped, you can still smile... At least that's the message I took away from this "dendroglyph," left by the cleanup crew in a burn area in the Manzanita Mountains of New Mexico. Photo taken on February 18, 2026.

P.S. Eremophila alpestris

The upper slope of a basalt-capped mesa, with basalt boulders in the foreground. A bit of unpaved road rides a ramp walled with more basalt boulders, stretching to the middle distance, then turns back toward the camera on a rocky slope. In other words, a steep hairpin turn. In the middle left of the image is a greenish brown bajada surface, sloping away from the camera and into the distance. The Rio Grande is invisible in this image, but it's at the base of the mountains that form the horizon. A careful look reveals patches of snow on the highest peaks -- but it's been a dry winter. The upper third of the image is a blue sky with many white wisps of clouds.

The top of the historical wagon road and early motor highway at La Bajada. The plain below stretches away to the Rio Grande, where it flows past the Jemez Mountains. Photo taken in rural Santa Fe County, New Mexico on February 16, 2026.

A female wood duck on a pond surface, tail to the left and head to the right. The head is mostly brown, but with white around the visible eye and thedge of the beak. The beak is mottled but mostly dark. The dark eye is surrounded by an orange edge. The breast is finely patterned brown and white, not unlike houndstooth. The flank has a coarser and more diffuse pattern of black and white. Usually the visible wing feathers and coverts on a floating female wood duck mostly look brown; here we can see large patches of blue and even purple. The white trailing edge to the wing feathers is also visible. The tail looks brown. The water is pale green and rippled.

In the right light, and with her wing feathers held just so, a female wood duck (Aix sponsa) displays striking iridescent colors. Photo taken in the Rio Grande Bosque in Albuquerque on February 17, 2026.

#nature #naturephotography #birds

I'm down in the Spruce Park neighborhood. Luckily, I haven't had a negative raccoon experience... yet.

An all-black bird perched on the arm of a powerline. The view is from below, with the bird's tail to the right and its head turned to the right. The massive black beak is what stands out most to me. Its head feathers are slightly ruffled by the breeze. The sky behind is a uniform pale blue.

A common raven (Corvus corax) on a powerline in the Caja del Rio area west of Santa Fe, New Mexico. Photo taken on February 16, 2026.

#nature #naturephotography #birds

A bird on the bare ground. The bird is in profile with the head to the left and the tail to the right, but his head is turned back so gaze at the photographer. The bird has a pale yellow chin and forehead. At the top of the forehead is a black band ending on each side in a small feather "horn." A second black band extends back from the beak to under the visible eye and then down. The yellow area is bordered below with black. The rest of the bird is dull by comparison. The breast, back, visible wing, and folded tail are light tan. The belly is white. The short, slightly curved, sharp little beak is black, as are the legs.

A male horned lark in the Caja del Rio area west of Santa Fe, New Mexico. Photo taken on February 16, 2026.

#nature #naturephotography #birds

Well, love can be that way sometimes...

Trail cam video of raccoons in my front yard in Albuquerque, in the opening minutes of Valentine's Day 2026. Interesting to see how long one of them stood on its hind legs.

#raccoon #trailcam

A heart-shaped prickly pear pad, which has turned pink due to winter. The pad has many spines that have emerged from pores (areoles) spaced across the pad's surface. The portion of the image surrounding the pink pad mostly consists of brown grass.

Happy Valentine's Day from New Mexico's high desert.