Getting Cereus

This & the next:  Prickly Pear on our property

Best thing about this morning's hike:  on the way back from a trek up to First Arroyo a bright object caught my attention at the corner of my eye.  When I looked to my left I saw two flowers that made me drag the dogs into the edge of the desert at the side of LDR.  The blossoms belonged to a Night-blooming Cereus (Peniocereus greggii) about to close for the year.  It was the first I've seen in a few years, and only the second I've ever spotted in the northern Chihuahuan Desert.  I was pleased.

Another notable highlight of the trek:  an encounter with a Black-tailed Jackrabbit who was lying very still about twenty feet from the spot where Willow and Frio lay down in the shadow of the small Mesquite Tree pictured below at the side of the road.  Completely unafraid of us the American Desert Hare stood and began munching on the leaves of a Creosote Bush.  That's when Frio noticed him and jumped to his feet, followed closely by a similar maneuver from Willow.  The jackrabbit dashed across the dirt road in front of us, and I was able to easily hold the Heelers at bay.

This & the next: Prickly Pear w/mountain backdrop

This & the next:  signaling which way to taxi

Frio and Willow

Soaptree Yucca patterns

Small Mesquite Tree with leaves

In First Arroyo

Next 2:  B&W Xs

All pink & white flowers:  Night-blooming Cereus

What caught my attention at the corner of my eye

This and the next:  mesquite along LDR

Frio and Willow heading back

 

Midweek Meander

This and the next 2:  Verdin on an Ocotillo

The Heelers and I headed up to Second Arroyo early this morning, bushwhacked over the ridge to First Arroyo, and then retraced our steps along LDR to the Tellbrook Arroyo.

Although we had seen the man and woman with their five Basset Hounds walking alongside Tellbrook Road in the direction of the mountains as we drove to the trailhead we never saw them out in the desert.  Our only encounter with a sentient being was with a Black-tailed Jackrabbit who acted as if he was tempting the dogs to chase him.  I successfully kept them at bay two separate times, though they were more than ready to oblige the feisty American Desert Hare.

There was a car parked at the Tellbrook/Sonoma Ranch corner lot when we got back into the upper flatland, but we saw no human belonging to it.

Bedroll of clouds over the Organ Mountains

Distant Mesquites in full leaf

This and the next 2:  Willow and Frio

Mesquite flowers

Black-throated Sparrow

Ocotillos on a ridge and the Organ Mountains

Ocotillo and the mountains

Mesquite in First Arroyo

This & the next: line of green foliage marks Tellbrook Arroyo

Prickly Pear in very sandy soil

This and the next:  desert ridge and the Organ Mountains

This and the next:  Turkey Vulture wheeling on a thermal

This and the next:  Prickly Pear blooming

Ocotillo alongside LDR

 

If It's Tuesday . . .

Surfeit

64F, lots of sunshine and no breeze made for a pretty hot morning in the desert for our hike today.  Willow, Frio and I trekked up to First Arroyo, popped inside for a shade and water break, and then headed south along LDR into the upper flatland where the CR-V waited.

We saw a few critters on our outing, but no humans or canines.  We never got close enough to any rabbits for the Heelers to feel motivated to pursue; and I think the heat made them a bit more docile on the inbound leg of our exploration.

Upon returning home I left the dogs and headed over to PetSmart to buy food and treats for Frio and Willow.

Mesquite trees greening out

This and the next:  Mormon Tea flowers

This and the next:  Willow and Frio

This and the next:  Soaptree Yucca

This & the next:  large Torrey Yucca and small Mesquite Tree

This and the next:  LDR

This and the next 4:  Prickly Pear Cacti blooming

Ocotillo and the city of Las Cruces