New Mexico Desert Life - Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge

The air is hot and the ground is warm.  Things are starting to stir here on the refuge.  Most of the migratory activity is done and we are settling down to the birds that will be with us for the duration of the summer.  Some are migrators that decided they like it here just fine and let their compadres move on while they set up housekeeping right where they are.

White-faced Ibis

It's not a very good shot because it was taken at such great distance but this is fourteen white-faced ibis on a pond in the north sector, a section that is restricted to public access.  I'm going to keep stalking these guys and see if I can get a close-up.

Red-winged blackbird

The red-winged blackbird we have aplenty.  Between them and the dove I can't hardly keep food in the bird feeder.  But the picture above is where I caught one perching out near a marsh.  All those little spots in the picture are not dust on the lens, but gnats on the wing.  Those gnats have gotten so thick it makes it almost impossible to sit out in the evenings.

Some of the parks most famous residents, dragonflies, are beginning to emerge from their watery nursery.  Bitter Lake has more species of dragonflies than anywhere else.  Sixty-five of them at last count.  They'll be everywhere by late summer and they will peak with the Dragonfly Festival that is held the beginning of September every year.

Cyndee captured this blue one on a branch in the vegetation island in the parking lot.

Got this guy just outside the visitor center, near the butterfly trail.

Not everything is about winged animals.  Capitan to our west has been providing some pretty nice sunsets lately.  With air so dry there is very little haze around these parts.  Taking pictures of large vistas is much easier than it is when in humid country.

Capitan Mountain
View from our RV at Bitter Lake NWR

We finally got some rain, just a tad over half an inch.  But that little bit of rain changed the light tremendously.  Before, anytime I tried to shoot a landscape the light was completely flat.  There was barely any distinction between sky and ground and the ground was featureless.  But that little bit of rain changed it all.  On one of our routine patrols around the refuge I snapped over sixty shots.  For the month prior to this I snapped zero.

Driving Tour Overlook.
Looking North-Northeast

Driving Tour Overlook.
Looking South-Southeast

As I mentioned earlier, the ground is warming up and this has the cold-blooded residents starting to move.  People have been reporting snake sightings almost daily for the past couple of weeks.  For the most part the Fish and Wildlife employees say: "Thanks for letting us know", and go on about their business.  But when a report of a rattlesnake at a trail head or door of a building they go into action and deploy their snake sticks and snake cans.

Western Diamondback Rattlesnake
Captured at the entrance to the butterfly trail near the visitor center.

 The snake will be carefully captured, placed in a snake can (a lined 35 gallon trash can with a locking lid) and relocated to a part of the refuge where they are less likely to come in contact with people.

On the same day that the lighting improved for shooting landscapes it also was the best we have seen for photographing anything outside.  Up to this point all pictures taken of wading birds came out little more than dull silhouettes.  But on this day it was possible to get shots clear enough to see the eyes of the bird.

American Avocet

Black-necked Stilt

Snakes are not the only cold-blooded critters that are coming out.  This yellow mud turtle was spotted by Cyndee along the edge of the driving tour road.  That's saying something since this full-grown turtle achieves a shell length of only 4 -5 inches.  The one below was barely 3 inches.

Yellow Mud Turtle

After getting this photograph we came home and ID'd what she was (yes we can confirm it was a female by the lack of a barb on its tail).  The thing that surprised us both was its lifespan - 50 to 65 years!  That's a long, long time for any animal to live in this harsh desert environment.

While the warmer temperatures have brought the animals out, the people have been not so much.  Our visitor-ship has dropped from 30 to 50 a day, it has been running 7 to 10 lately.  Maybe when the schools let out and people start vacation it will pick up again.  But hey, after our experience at Victoria Campground on Lake Allatoona in Georgia we are thoroughly enjoying the less-intense public interaction.  The best part is that the public we do interact with have been genuinely nice.

Stay tuned, we'll be going after more New Mexico life in coming days.