Travels in New Mexico - Part 2

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mothman
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Joined: June 25th, 2014, 11:34 am
Location: Huntington, West Virginia

Travels in New Mexico - Part 2

Post by mothman »

This part of the herping travelogue will cover the central Rio Grande Valley and Chaves County of New Mexico.


Greenery of Rio Grande riparian corridor sandwiched between desert landscape.
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Canyon in Sevilleta Wildlife Refuge
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Sonoran Gopher Snake (Pituophis catenifer affinis)
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New Mexico Whiptail (Aspidoscelis neomexicanus) with its brilliant blue tail.
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Chihuahuan Spotted Whiptail (Aspidoscelis exsanguis)
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Long-nosed Leopard Lizard (Gambelia wislizenii)
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Twin-spotted Spiny Lizard (Sceloporus bimaculosus)
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Western Marbled Whiptail (Aspidoscelis marmorata marmorata)
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Round-tailed Horned Lizard (Phrynosoma modestum)
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A "pebble" amongst the pebbles.
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Southwestern Fence Lizard (Sceloporus cowlesi)
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Side-blotched Lizard (Uta stansburiana), male
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Side-blotched Lizard (Uta stansburiana), female
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Monsoon season lived up to its reputation with afternoon rains followed by picturesque rainbows.
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Isolated late afternoon rain resulted in a double rainbow and good herping that night along the road.
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Checkered Garter Snake (Thamnophis marcianus marcianus) found while cruising roads at night.
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New Mexican Blind Snake (Rena dissecta). Connie was returning to the car after observing the garter snake when she noticed this snake just off the road. What a find for us!!
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Great Plains Toad (Bufo cognatus)
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Couch’s Spadefoot Toad (Scaphiopus couchii)
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Woodhouse’s Toad (Anaxyrus woodhousii)
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Roadrunner
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Gathering of the millipedes
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Variegated Meadowhawk (Sympetrum corruptum)
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Preying Mantis
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Now we headed east to Chaves County and stayed in Roswell. No extra-terrestrial aliens were sighted but lizards, dragonflies, and grasshoppers were observed. Bitter Lakes Wildlife Refuge and Bottomless Lakes State Park have 100 species of dragonflies.


Checkered Whiptail (Aspidoscelis tesselata), Chaves County, New Mexico
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Habitat of Dunes Sagebrush Lizard (Sceloporus arenicolus) consisting of sand dunes with interdune areas of Shinnery Oak, Chaves County, New Mexico
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Dunes Sagebrush Lizard (Sceloporus arenicolus)
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Damselfly (species?)
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Dragonfly (species?)
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Seaside Dragonlet (Erythrodiplax berenice)
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Variegated Meadowhawk (Sympetrum corruptum)
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Blue Dasher (Pachydiplax lonipennis)
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Dragonfly (species?)
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Dragonfly (species?)
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Grasshopper (species?) depositing eggs in sand.
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Grasshopper (species?)
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Grasshoppers (species?) apparently licking the rocks for minerals? These grasshoppers covered the dirt road and made for an unusual drive with hoppers going for a ride on our windshield.
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Tarantula
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Western Diamond-backed Rattlesnake (Crotalus atrox)
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Badger
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Pronghorn Antelope
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But wait....there's more in part 3 coming soon.
bgorum
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Re: Travels in New Mexico - Part 2

Post by bgorum »

Cool stuff! Whats most interesting to me about your Blind Snake is that the soil in the picture looks dry. I don't think I've ever seen one of those unless it was raining or just finished raining. Looking forward to part 3!
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mothman
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Joined: June 25th, 2014, 11:34 am
Location: Huntington, West Virginia

Re: Travels in New Mexico - Part 2

Post by mothman »

bgorum:

Thanks for your comment. It was drizzling just south of where we found the blind snake hence the bounty of toads we found but you are absolutely correct in that it had not recently rained at the site of the blind snake and garter snake. There was a very brief isolated shower several hours earlier (double rainbow picture) but barely enough water to dampen the ground. Just a few drops of water on the tent roof.

Mitch
craigb
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Re: Travels in New Mexico - Part 2

Post by craigb »

Cool stuff ... I really like the dragonflys.

But really, Badgers!
We don't need no stinkin Badgers!!!!

Just a very small amount of humor.. :lol:
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