As you may already know, the Bosque (
Mesilla Valley Bosque State Park) is one of my favorite places for a walk.
Bosque means "trees along a river or stream," and this place packs a lots of different habitats into a short stroll: Desert, wetlands, ponds, a tiny forest, open fields, irrigation ditch, and river; all with views of the distant Organ Mountains.
I know I've been using this word a lot lately--lush--but that is what I keep thinking when I see the results of our monsoon rains on the local plants. There were parts of trails that looked completely unfamiliar to me because things have grown up so much over the summer.
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| Flowing water, a real delight in the desert, is tucked in between the rows of plants on the far side of the trail. We often see a roadrunner along this trail. Other recent sitings listed in the Visitor's Center: Javelina, bobcat, and various types of rattlesnakes |
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| One of the ponds, where you can see cranes, migratory ducks, beaver, and muskrats |
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| Delicate wildflowers in two colors |
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| Yep, I call this lush |
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| A colorful hillside |
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| This is part of the Picacho Drain, built to carry off excess irrigation water from local fields |
15 comments:
Oh, Clair, thank you for this update, how incredibly beautiful, I can't wait! I gasped when I pulled up the header photo.
Mary, I gasped when I took that photo. More from the same unbelievable-looking sunset tomorrow.
Your header IS beautiful! Wow. Gorgeous pictures of the bosque, too. Ha, never thought I'd say it... but yes, it does look lush. :D I'll bet it smelled good out there too.
Oh my goodness, Clair, that header photo is remarkable! We have some pretty nice skies here, but I must say---yours are amazing.
I enjoy seeing your photos of what October looks like in your part of the West. Such a contrast to our N.C. mountains, but lovely nevertheless.
Looks like a lovely place to walk, Clair. On my first trip to NM, a road runner crossed the road... he was too quick to photograph, but it's the first time I had ever seen one in real life, so I considered him good luck!
Have you been able to photograph one?
I snapped a photo of a roadrunner once with my phone, Becky, but it was so fuzzy I was the only one who could find him.
My husband saw a roadrunner shortly after our little dog Bert died, and swears he was sent as a messenger to let us know that Bert was okay.
The header picture is amazing. It almost looks like a painting. What a photographer you are, Clair!!
I'm glad I could take the walk with you from all these many miles away. I seriously could not do it. Javelina, rattlesnakes. You should see me wincing.
Oh, please leave this one a little longer. I rarely see something so truley breathtaking.
To all of you who have remarked on the header photo of last week's clouds at sunset, please be sure to come back tomorrow to see the rest of the series. The photos have everything to do with the beauty of New Mexico's skies and nothing to do with the photographer. Believe me.
And Nan, I love mentioning all the wildlife here but that doesn't mean that I necessarily run into any of it. Please don't let me give you the wrong impression. Florida has its alligators and New Hampshire its bears, but they doesn't keep people away. My husband refused to even visit New Mexico for a very long time because he kept picturing snakes, and he is the one who fell in love with its desert first!
As I recall, Chet had trouble with a javelina. Maybe the second book? I couldn't take the alligators either. Actually when we visited Texas years ago (and I watched the ground constantly for rattlers), my cousin who had a ranch said there was an alligator on his land which had gotten into a pond via some river. Maybe I can bear bears :<) because they usually run away from people. Though I don't go in the woods much either. Go ahead. You may say it. 'scare-dy cat' :<)
Nan, after I was all brave about the javelinas (in my comment) and other critters, I was up wandering around in the night and found my cat playing with a great big LIVE centipede in the kitchen. Good thing no one was around to hear my "brave" comments while I managed to capture it (from a distance) and put it out in the orchard--the same orchard where the tarantulas are strolling around, it seems.
Yikes! And I wasn't even on a hike!
That's so funny--I just realized I wrote "... they doesn't keep people away..." in one of the previous comments. Oops, I must have been more worried about the thought of wild things than I was letting on!
Beautiful...it would be one of my favs too! Tell me, how do you pronounce "bosque"?
Sandy, I pronounce it in what I fondly imagine is the Spanish way, bow'skay. However, old timers around here (the gringo ones anyway) say bos'ky. Both with the accent on the first syllable.
There must be someone out there with the definitive answer.
What lovely captures of your area. I've traveled around the US, but have never had the pleasure of visiting NM. I've definitely moved it closer to the top of my list!! ~karen
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