chocolate

the foothills of Gila national forest are different that either the floodplains of the mid Rio grande valley, or the headwaters. They are a mixture of both, and also very unique. This area often suffers fire in the mature ponderosa stands of trees.

The last few days of monsoon bursts in the Gila have turned the lowland rivers into thick chocolate flows. The thick, rich mud is quickly washed down and deposited on the shores as the waters recede from swollen banks.  The recent fires also mean more choking silt are released into the waters than is normal.

This river looks more like something from the Amazon, than from the desert southwest. Luckily, most of the mud here should settle out behind a large beaver dam, eventually filling it in to become a mountain meadow.

This makes the work of photographing a tadpole a bit messy. This part of the river seems to be dominated by bullfrogs.

The newly morphed froglets have a short time to adapt to insects, and life on land, by absorbing their tails. This individual is nearly out of learning time.

The big males are still out, but incredibly wary. They use alarm chirps and splashes to notify each other of shore threats. Those familiar deep drones are usually a signal that all is well. They avoid the unsafe shallow water.

Predators to frogs are everywhere, but this bullsnake usually eats other snakes

These big snakes are scary looking but non venomous, they are constrictors so it pays to be bigger than their prey.

More upstream in the steeper valleys, the dense vegetation keeps the soil out of the acidic water.

These areas are havens for small songbirds. The rufous hummingbird is famous for being territorial around human bird feeders. Better known for being a little bossy git.

This is an oriole, it also feeds from feeders as it is a nectar drinker too. One of the few birds the rufous does not chase away.

This raven was at the Gila cliff dwellings, it had a lot to say and was acts and vocalizing very oddly. Birds interacting with weird humans will do that...

The southwest part of the state of New Mexico is a study of contrasts. Mushrooms in dense stands of grape vines thrive in the humidity.

While right next to them on a rocky slope, cactus use the heat and dryness to thrive where few other plants can compete.

These flowers are a delicate upland meadow species. This a bee plant, I think.

This elongated flower species attracts many butterflies that specialize in reaching deep into the flower's neck with specialized tongues.

These are marsh plants found in grassy slopes. A monument plant, I think it is pollinated by night flying moths.

Most butterflies are small. This is a medium sized skipper. The huge yellow tiger swallowtails were around, too.

Not all insects were so welcome, but this scorpion was very chill. They are nowhere near as fearsome as their reputation would suggest. Apparently it is in the "devil scorpion" family. Likely wasn't named by a butterfly fancier then.