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Dogofthedesert

@dogofthedesert.bsky.social

Retired archaeologist and museum curator who loves the planet he lives on, and worries about what is happening to it.

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Dogofthedesert @dogofthedesert.bsky.social · 20h ago

Young snowy egrets (Egretta thula) forage by instinct, not training, I'm told. Still, the adult was keeping watch as the immature searched for something to eat. Photo taken in the Rio Grande Bosque in Corrales, N.M. on August 4, 2026. #nature #naturephotography #birds

Two snowy egrets in a shallow green-tinged pond, with a muddy shore behind them. One is behind the other. The farther one is standing erect, with its neck extended and beak slightly raised, keeping a lookout. It has all-white plumage, a dark-tipped sharp beak, and yellow lores between the beak and the yellow eye. The nearer one is smaller, being an immature bird, but otherwise looks very similar to the adult behind it. The immature is crouched down, staring intently as it looks for something to snap up in its beak.

Dogofthedesert @dogofthedesert.bsky.social · 21h ago

Who says guys don't look good in pink and purple? Here's a male roseate skimmer (Orthemis ferruginea) in the Corrales Bosque on August 4, 2026. #nature #naturephotography #dragonfly

A dragonfly perches at the end of dead twig, against a uniform tan background. The thorax is blue-purple and the abdomen is bright pink. Both of those body sections are slightly pruinose (meaning like they look like they have a little white dust on them). The head is dominated by dark purple eyes. The wings are clear except for dark veins and dark pterostigmata (small colored areas near the wingtips).

Dogofthedesert @dogofthedesert.bsky.social · 3d ago

This female or immature black-chinned hummingbird (Archilochus alexandri) stopped short of a feeder "flower," and hovered as it considered the wasp already there. It then moved to a different feeding port. Smart bird. Photo taken in Albuquerque on August 1, 2026. #nature #naturephotography #birds

A hummingbird hovering next to the "flower" on a hummingbird feeder. Its beak is pointed at the opening to the "flower," but it never followed through -- no doubt because of the wasp already feeding there. In this light the bird's overall coloration is drab, with the green on the upper part of the body only hinted at. The wings are swept back, at their rearmost position during hovering. Even at a fast camera speed, the wings are slightly blurred. The underside of the bird is mostly gray. The tail feathers are black, with white tips. The background for the image is blurry mix of green and brown.

Dogofthedesert @dogofthedesert.bsky.social · 4d ago

A turkey vulture (Cathartes aura) in Albuquerque's north valley. Photo taken on July 26, 2026. #nature #naturephotography #birds

A turkey vulture glides overhead, against a slightly mottled blue background (the few thin clouds led to the slight mottling). The wings are tail are outstretched. The photo does a good job of showing the contrast between the silvery-gray flight and tail feathers and the black plumage elsewhere. The head is partly bare, showing red skin, and ends in a white beak.

Dogofthedesert @dogofthedesert.bsky.social · 4d ago

A greater roadrunner (Geococcyx californianus) giving me the full war bonnet. Photo taken at Los Poblanos Open Space in Albuquerque, on August 1, 2026. #nature #naturephotography #birds

A close-up of a roadrunner, showing its head and neck. It's staring at me with one eye, and with its beak turned a little to the left. In this image the crest is fully raised, revealing a spray of feathers a lot like a tailless war bonnet. Except for the black feathers in the raised crest, the plumage is a streaky mix of off-white, brown, and black. The gray beak is a bit intimidating, as a predator's beak should be. A tear-shaped pale blue patch surrounds the eye. The eyelashes (actually specialized fethers) over the eye can be seen in this photo. The background for the image is out-of-focus brown grass.

Dogofthedesert @dogofthedesert.bsky.social · 6d ago

A male blue grosbeak (Passerina caerulea) in the Rio Grande Bosque this morning. Photo taken in Albuquerque, N.M. on July 30, 2026. #nature #naturephotography #birds

Dogofthedesert @dogofthedesert.bsky.social · 6d ago

A juvenile Cooper's hawk (Astur cooperii) in the Rio Grande Bosque in Albuquerque this morning. Photo taken on July 30, 2026. #nature #naturephotography #birds

Dogofthedesert @dogofthedesert.bsky.social · 7d ago

I like how this image of a cutleaf coneflower (Rudbeckia laciniata) clearly shows the florets in the central cone. The bee wallowing among them is a sunflower burrowing-resin bee (Paranthidium jugatorium). Photo taken on July 29, 2026. #nature #naturephotography #flowers #wildflowers #bee

A close-up of the central ball of disk florets on a yellow flower, with bright yellow rays extending from the central ball off the image. Each of the disk florets looks like a tiny, five-petaled yellow flower with a deep throat. The bee looks somewhat like a fat wasp. It has a dark head and thorax with a few yellow markings, and a rounded abdomen with black and yellow stripes. The wings are translucent and dark brown.

Dogofthedesert @dogofthedesert.bsky.social · last wk.

A desert cottontail (Sylvilagus audubonii) in Albuquerque, N.M. on July 26, 2026. #nature #naturephotography #mammals

Dogofthedesert @dogofthedesert.bsky.social · last wk.

Molly the Cat on July 27, 2026.

A close-up of our cat Molly, who's a longhair calico. And such a lovely one too. There's a lot of white: chest, front boots, and muzzle with a pink nose. Her face is a streaky mix of tan and gray. She was staring right at me as I took the photo.

Dogofthedesert @dogofthedesert.bsky.social · last wk.

When you take a closer look, some of those "bees" nectaring in the Sandia Mountains are tachinid flies. This one is, I believe, Adejeania vexatrix. Photo taken on July 27, 2026. #nature #naturephotography #fly

A fly with a fat orange abdomen, hanging upside down on a yellow flower. The most striking thing about the fly is the coarse black bristles sticking up from the adbomen, with smaller, finer ones on the thorax. The sides and end of the abdomen have many finer bristles, which are pale orange. The wings are translucent brown. The eyes are brown. The head sports a long proboscis, used for sipping nectar.

The yellow flower is rayless, i.e., no "petals." Instead, there's a yellow central disk, which is held in a yellow cuplike structure. As is typical for the species, the flower is "nodding," i.e., tilted downward.

The near background for the image includes blurry parts of the plant, including a second flower. The far background is a uniform gray green.

Dogofthedesert @dogofthedesert.bsky.social · last wk.

Trying for aesthetic effect with this one, as opposed to documentary precision. Monkshood (Aconitum columbianum) and grass (Bromus?) in the Sandia Mountains on July 27, 2026. #nature #naturephotography #flowers #wildflowers

A lower-contrast, somewhat ethereal image. A flower spike emerges from out-of-focus leaves and extends up and to the right, ending in a confused mass of purple flowers. A second flower spike extends a short distance up and to the left, ending in an out-of-focus, dark purple flower. Green grass flower clusters hang on slender threads from the top of the picture, each flower cluster being slender and coming to a point. I can't tell whether the flowers haven't opened yet, or if the clusters are setting into seeds. The background is mostly green, from completely out-of-focus vegetation. In this one I'm going for aesthetic effect, not documentary precision.

Dogofthedesert @dogofthedesert.bsky.social · last wk.

The lone pinesap (Hypopitys monotropa) flower spike along the Double Eagle Trail continues to unfurl. This morning I caught a bumblebee (Bombus sp.) doing the pollinating. Photo taken in the Sandia Mountains on July 27, 2026. #nature #naturephotography #flowers #wildflowers #bee

A bright red flower spike extending out of the forest floor. The spike is "nodding" (bent over) toward the right. There's a cluster of individual flowers at the end of the spike, but they're pressed close to each other and don't stand out individually. Instead, the tip of the flower spike seems to be covered with red scales. Hanging from the tip is a black, yellow, and orange bumblebee. A pollen sack visible on a hind leg is gray, reflecting the color of the pollen the bee has been collecting. The background for the image is blurry mix of browns and grays, derived from debris on the forest floor.

Dogofthedesert @dogofthedesert.bsky.social · last wk.

I'll post this one despite the poor image quality. A pair of Western kingbirds (Tyrannus verticalis) chasing off a Swainson's hawk (Buteo swainsoni). You know a kingbird is seriouly annoyed when its red crown patch is showing. Photo taken on July 26, 2026. #nature #naturephotography #birds

A somewhat fuzzy image, taken at extreme telephoto range and then cropped down. A flying Swainson's hawk, seen from below, looks over its right shoulder with its beak open, to snap at an attacking kingbird if it can. The kingbird is very close but has flared its wings and tail to veer off. In the upper left corner of the image, the kingbird's mate is zooming in for its turn at the hawk.

Now for a little more detail. The Swainson's hawk's outstretched wings display dark flight feathers, white elsewhere. Its head and breast are brown, with a white chin patch. Its belly and "leggings" are white. The spread tail shows fine barring. Now for the attacking kingbird: gray under the extended wings, black tail, yellow on belly. Its head is turned down to face the hawk, revealing quite a large red patch on its crown. Usually this red patch isn't visible at all. The second bird is less clearly seen, but it appears not to have its red patch exposed. The background for the image is a slightly hazy blue sky.

Dogofthedesert @dogofthedesert.bsky.social · 2w ago

An amber-eyed Southwest fritillary (Argynnis nausicaa dorothea) nectaring on cutleaf coneflower (Rudbeckia laciniata). Photo taken at Capulin Spring in the Sandia Mountains of New Mexico, on July 24, 2026. #nature #naturephotography #butterfly

Dogofthedesert @dogofthedesert.bsky.social · 2w ago

A male pine white (Neophasia menapia) nectaring on "feral" alfalfa at the 10K North trailhead. Photo taken in the Sandia Mountains of New Mexico on July 24, 2026. #nature #naturephotography #butterfly

Dogofthedesert @dogofthedesert.bsky.social · 2w ago

A young doe (mule deer, Odocoileus hemionus) that hung out at Capulin Spring with me for about half an hour this morning. Photo taken in the Sandia Mountains on July 24, 2026. #nature #naturephotography #mammals #deer

Dogofthedesert @dogofthedesert.bsky.social · 2w ago

Jacob's ladder (Polemonium foliosissimum), looking a bit ethereal. Photo taken in the Sandia Mountains of New Mexico on July 20, 2026. #nature #naturephotography #flowers #wildflowers

A cluster of three open flowers, with buds behind them. Each open flower has five rounded petals. Each petal is pale blue, with dark blue streaks. The pistils and anthers are white. The buds are darker blue than the open flowers. The low contrast in this image makes it more ethereal than many photos I post.

Dogofthedesert @dogofthedesert.bsky.social · 2w ago

Mountain death camas (Anticlea elegans) blooming in the Sandia Mountains, on July 15, 2026. As the name indicates, another one you shouldn't put in your mouth. #nature #naturephotography #flowers #wildflowers

A spray of mostly white flowers, tilted so that the green main stem rises from lower left to upper right. The open flowers have six white petals with green patches. The central part of the flower includes fused stamens with yellow anthers. The tip of the flower closer is bent over, with multiple flowers yet to open. The background for the image is blurred-out patches of green and brown.

Dogofthedesert @dogofthedesert.bsky.social · 2w ago

A Weidemeyer’s admiral (Limenitis weidemeyerii) in the Sandia Mountains of New Mexico, on July 15, 2026. In this case, supposedly, "admiral" is a corruption of "admirable." #nature #naturephotography #butterfly

A butterfly resting with its wings open, revealing the bold black and white markings on its upperwings. The dominant color is black, with a broad white band spanning each pair of wings, and with white spots concentrated at the wingtips and trailing edges. Near the trailing edges are a few reddish-brown spots which aren't that apparent. The body is all black, except for the eyes, which are reddish-brown with dark spots. The background for the image is out-of-focus blades of green and brown grass.

Dogofthedesert @dogofthedesert.bsky.social · 2w ago

Ripe baneberries (Actaea rubra) in the Sandias on July 15, 2026. As the name indicates, something you don't want to put in your mouth. #nature #naturephotography

A stalk rises from the bottom of the picture and ends in a cluster of small, red, shiny berries. Each baneberry is round and on a stem, looking somewhat like unplucked cherries -- only these berries are poisonous. The immediate background for the berry cluster is a somewhat out of focus spray of toothed leaves. The far background is more green, from other vegetation. What I like about this image is the bold, sharp composition provided by the bright red berries, versus the vague, low-contrast green background.

Dogofthedesert @dogofthedesert.bsky.social · 2w ago

A male Cassin's finch (Haemorhous cassinii) at Capulin Spring in the Sandia Mountains, on July 17, 2026. #nature #naturephotography #birds

The head and body of a finch, with the head to the left and the body extending off the image to the right. The bird is perched (and hunched over) a rough gray twig. The most striking part of this male bird's plumage is its bright red crest, which is slightly raised (as it often is). As one moves down the face to the chin and breast, and towards the back, the red is less bright and mixes in with plainer plumage -- brown on the back, streaked gray on the undersides. The beak is cone-shaped and comes to a sharp point. The eye is dark. The background to the image is an out-of-focus mix of light gray streaks (branches) and green (leaves).

Dogofthedesert @dogofthedesert.bsky.social · 2w ago

Tiny insect on the underside of a twig? No problem for a mountain chickadee (Poecile gambeli). Photo taken in the Sandia Mountains of New Mexico, on July 21, 2026. #nature #naturephotography #birds

A chickadee hangs upside-down from a bare twig, as it pries loose a bit of something from the underside of the twig. The image includes the front half of the bird, with the head to the right and the tail off-camera to the left. In this light the chickadee looks mostly light gray, but with a prominent black cap and black eye stripe. The beak comes to a sharp point. The eye is black. The image is somewhat spoiled by out-of focus twigs in the foreground, and by the distant background being bright while the bird, which was in the shade, is darker than the background. But I like the image anyway.

Dogofthedesert @dogofthedesert.bsky.social · 2w ago

Another black bear (Ursus americanus) encounter today. There was some vegetation in the way but I opted against following the bear until I got a better photo. Image taken at the Capulin snowplay area in the Sandia Mountains, on July 21, 2026. #nature #naturephotography #bear

The face of a bear that's staring at me through a light screen of vegetation. Like many black bears out west, it's actually brown. It looks very fuzzy! The mouth is slightly open. The snout is gray-brown. To me, the eyes looks surprisingly like human eyes -- brown irises surrounded by whites.

Dogofthedesert @dogofthedesert.bsky.social · 2w ago

A pinesap (Hypopitys monotropa) flower shoot, recently emerged from the ground. Photo taken along the Double Eagle Trail in the Sandia Mountains, on July 20, 2026.

Against the mostly browns of the forest floor, a thick, bright red shoot emerges. It's bent over to the right but will straighten out as it continues to grow. The shoot bears short, translucent red leaves that look like scales sticking out, and ends in a cluster of flowers that again look like scales, at least from this angle. This plant mostly lives a parasitic life undergrown but needs to poke up flower shoots, like a submarine poking up its periscope, to reproduce.

Dogofthedesert @dogofthedesert.bsky.social · 3w ago

A male MacGillivray's Warbler (Geothlypis tolmiei) at the Capulin Spring canoa, in the Sandia Mountains of New Mexico, on July 17, 2026. #nature #naturephotography #birds

A bird perched with its head to the right and tail to the left, turned slightly toward the camera. The head, neck, and upper breast sport a gray hood. The dark eye has a partial eyering, with white above and below. The beak is narrow and sharp. The lower breast and belly are bright yellow. From this angle the wings, back, and tail aren't clearly seen -- besides, that end of the bird extends beyond my telephoto lens' narrow field of focus. However, those parts of the bird are a mix of gray, yellow-green, and yellow. The background is blurry mix of twigs and leaves.

Dogofthedesert @dogofthedesert.bsky.social · 3w ago

On an immature male crossbill (Loxia curvirostra), the transition from juvenile to adult plumage can look a bit messy. Photo taken at Capulin Spring in the Sandia Mountains, on July 17, 2026. #nature #naturephotography #birds

A close-up of the head and shoulders of a bird. The head is turned and facing to the right of the image, clearly revealing the way the upper and lower bills overlap rather than meet. Not unlike the claws in a staple remover. The plumage is a motley mix of yellow, brown, and some red. The eye is small and dark. Behind the bird is a blurry mix of light and dark green, from vegetation.

Dogofthedesert @dogofthedesert.bsky.social · 3w ago

White checkermallow (Sidalcea candida) blooming at Capulin Spring in the Sandia Mountains, on July 17, 2026. If it reminds you of hibiscus, that's not surprising. They're both in the mallow family. #nature #naturephotography #flowers #wildflowers

A cluster of white flowers, most of which are still emerging from their green calyces. Only one flower is both completely open and more or less facing the camera. If you're familiar with hibiscus flowers, these are smaller (perhapd 1 1/2 inches across) and all white. On the most visible flower, the five petals look translucent, with multiple slight ridges that may or may not be veins. The central part sticks out, just like on a hibiscus, and ends in a cluster of tiny dark anthers. The background for the flowers is a blurred-out dull green.

Dogofthedesert @dogofthedesert.bsky.social · 3w ago

An orange mountain dandelion (Agoseris aurantiaca), one of the tiny gems to be found in the Sandia Mountains. Photo taken on July 14, 2026, as a cloud passed over. Clouds are good. Rain clouds are even better... #nature #naturephotography #flowers #wildflowers

A burst of orange and yellow-orange against a blurred-out gray background. I count 16 long, narrow petals with rounded tips, varying from dark to light orange. The petals are slightly curled, revealing the edges of yellow undersides. The flower has about as many orange stamens as petals; there's no obvious anther on each stamen, but each is coated with orange pollen grains. The center of the flower is less obvious but clearly consists of multiple parts. The green stem and calyx are not in focus, but the stem can be seen curling upward from the bottom left of the image, ending in the wider calyx.

Dogofthedesert @dogofthedesert.bsky.social · 3w ago

Northern house wrens (Troglodytes aedon) weigh less than half an ounce, but can hold their own when there are good nesting holes to be won. Photo taken in the Sandias on July 14, 2026. #nature #naturephotography #birds

Perched on (and partly hidden by) a gnarly branch, a bird peers out at the camera. It's a plain-looking bird, mostly; the crown, back of the neck, and back are pain brown while the cheek, throat, and breast are subtly mottled brown and gray. The beak looks gray-brown. The eye is dark. The top of the narrow tail, which is partly cocked up, is more difficult to make out but includes fine brown and black bars. Behind the bird is another branch and out-of-focus aspen leaves.