Birds and Flowers

Curve-billed Thrasher

It was 47F when Dr. K, Willow and I got on the trail.  At home I had decided to don only my Marmot PreCip for outerwear, and it was a good choice.  No wind nor breeze chilled us on our morning outing.  We saw Mrs. Basset and her hounds on LDR when we were hiking toward the Organ Mountains on the east/west cross trail, but spotted no one else.  After the hike we drove over to our local Circle K to gas up the CR-V, and then we took a long drive as we often do on the weekend listening to Matt and Myron on their Sunday Morning show.

Southwest

Willow resting in the right branch

Blooming yucca and pals

This & next:  same blooming yucca

This & next:  same desert primrose

This & next 3:  Faxon Yucca in bloom

Willow and Dr. K

Budding hedgehog cactus

 

Sabado sin Viento

1st 2:  Curve-billed Thrasher

45F felt like 41F when Dr. K, Willow and I started off this morning, but the breeze didn't last long; within a short while we began to feel as if we'd overdressed.  Saw some Basset hound feces when we headed down LDR-A, and we spotted Mrs. Basset and the gang bushwhacking westward through the desert shortly afterward.  We also saw Two-White-Dogs-Lady with her pups out in the same area to the north.  The three of us had a good time on our outing, and we took a short drive after we got back to the CR-V to top off the experience.

LDR-A arroyo

Soaptree Yucca in the left branch

Wils and her shadow

Intense

This & next 9:  blooming Faxon Yuccas

Jet/moon

Blooming yucca and the Organ Mountains

Mormon Tea budding

 

Cardinal of the Desert

This & next:  today's moon

The wind was up a bit when we got on the trail this morning, but it soon abated.  Dr. K, Willow and I descended LDR-A arroyo and then made a wide detour so I could take photos of the Pyrrhuloxia (Desert Cardinal) we heard chirping west of our position.  Afterward we followed our regular route spotting along the way the woman in white whose dog Becca has had several unplanned interactions with; fortunately the woman and her dog were well east of us, so no meetups.

Monster yucca and mountains

This & next 4:  Desert Cardinal

Desert Primrose

Prickly Pear

Willow on break in the right branch

 

Cold Breeze to Wind

Left to right:  barrel, purple prickly pear, dead prickly pear

We thought we'd lucked out when we started our hike this morning even though the temperature was 31F; but a cold breeze that crescendoed into a sharp wind made us question our assumption about the weather conditions.  Nevertheless we did the regular route seeing nobody else in our section of northern Chihuahuan desert.

View to the northeast

Pensive Willow

Cactus Wren nest yucca with bud

Observatory and blooming Faxon Yucca

Moon and contrail