New Mexico Nature, Rural and Urban

Photographs taken in Albuquerque, New Mexico or in the mountains and desert nearby

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A Gunnison's prairie dog (Cynomys gunnisoni) in the Valle Grande, Valles Caldera National Preserve, New Mexico. This environment has to be as good as it gets for a prairie dog. Photo taken on August 13, 2023.

Prairie dogs often stand up to keep an eye on the world. This Gunnison's prairie dog (Cynomys gunnisoni) is a member of the colony next to Tramway Boulevard, between Candelaria and Comanche, in Albuquerque. Photo taken on August 10, 2023.

An Abert's squirrel (Sciurus aberti) opening a peanut. Photo taken in the east foothills of the Sandia Mountains of New Mexico, on November 16, 2022.

Mammals

A Southwestern fence lizard (Sceloporus cowlesi) seen along the Tecolote Trail in the Sandia Mountains of New Mexico. This photo shows the broad gray stripe down the middle of the back that helps with the species ID. Photo taken on May 30, 2021

An Hernandez's Horned Lizart (Phrynosoma hernandesi hernandesi) in the Sandia Mountains near Albuquerque, New Mexico. Photo taken on May 7, 2021.

A male Southwestern Fence Lizard (Sceloporus cowlesi) on granite in the Sandia Mountains near Albuquerque, New Mexico. A few scales of the male's blue belly are visible. Photo taken in Embudito Canyon on April 29, 2021.

Reptiles

An osprey (Pandion haliaetus) flies away, moments after diving into the water to snag a rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). Photo taken at Isleta Lakes, New Mexico on November 11, 2023.

A Western meadowlark (Sturnella neglecta) singing under New Mexico's flawless blue sky. Photo taken at Isleta Lakes on November 6, 2023.

A greater roadrunner (Geococcyx californianus) staring me down at Tingley Beach. The bit of dried mud at the tip of its beak shows that a littler earlier in the day, it was digging in the ground. Photo taken on October 11, 2023.

Birds

Pinesaps (Hypopitys monotropa) are parasitic on certain soil fungi, which in turn have a mutually beneficial relationship with tree roots. In the summer, pinesaps push an all-red flower stalk up out of the soil so they can reproduce. If you look carefully at the top of the flower stalk, you can see what I suspect is a male mosquito drawing sustenance.

Sumac berries on a cold November morning -- note the snow in the background. The species is smooth sumac (Rhus glabra). Photo taken in the Sandia Mountains of New Mexico on November 16, 2022.

A dew-covered flower on a yerba mansa (Anemopsis californica) plant. Photo taken in the Rio Grande Bosque in Albuquerque, on August 23, 2022.

Flowers

A variegated fritillary butterfly (Euptoieta claudia) sipping nectar from horsetail milkweed flowers (Asclepias subverticillata). Photo taken in an empty lot in Albuquerque, New Mexico on July 25, 2023.

A thread-waisted wasp (Prionyx) sipping nectar from horsetail milkweed flowers (Asclepias subverticillata). Photo taken in an empty lot in Albuquerque, New Mexico on July 25, 2023.

A male taxiles skipper (Poanes taxiles) sticks his head into a flower on a Rocky Mountain Penstemon (Penstemon strictus). Above him, a bee dives in even deeper. Photo taken in the upper Sandia Mountains on July 17, 2023.

Arthropods