Desert Camouflage

Will we or won't we get rained on?

When Becca and I hit the trail west of Tortugas Mountain at a little before 8:00 this morning our continued dryness was very much in question.  We didn't get wet, though.  When we crested the upper foothills trail we heard a Roadrunner calling out occasionally, so we went looking for him.  His desert camouflage nearly kept him out of sight, but I spotted him, his feathers all puffed up to provide warmth from the desert cold.  I took a passel of photos of him and he never moved.  While I was doing so I noticed another desert denizen eating from a Prickly Pear pad nearby:  a Black-tailed Jackrabbit.  He, too, blended in well with the desert environs.  Too busy eating, he didn't take off until we made to leave.  Becca and I had a pleasurable trek even though the weather was cold and mostly overcast.

Heading up-country

A favorite Torrey Yucca

Some interesting yucca specimens

Part of Las Cruces, New Mexico

Where the Organ Mountains are supposed to be

We heard this critter long before we spotted him

He knew where we were

He didn't seem inclined to leave anytime soon

Beginning to make the call that attracted us to him (not in a sexual way!)

He's all puffed up to stay warm

Greater Roadrunner

This beauty showed up while I was photographing the Roadrunner

I took quite a few pics of him while he ate

Hare with an attitude

The infamous Rabbit-ear plant

Clearing a little to the north

Even greater clearing to the west

Ants are busy in the wet sand

Artsy Ocotillo scene

Moseying along a wet dirt road

Looking back on the dirt road we just hiked down

Dynamic blue

Barrel Cactus mandala

Tree against cloudy sky

Tortugas Mountain and cloud over the Organs

Tempestuous weather in the northern Chihuahuan Desert