August is a time for dragonflies along the Rio Grande of New Mexico, and this year is no exception. The fauna at Mesilla Valley Bosque State Park is somewhat different from that in 2011 as there seem to be no Widow Skimmers and Blue Dashers started out being fairly uncommon. On the other hand Saddlebags were everywhere, as were Blue-eyed Darners and Green Darners.
This appears to be a Black Saddlebags (Tramea lacerata), although Red Saddlebags (Tramea onusta), were also present.
The heat (usually over 100 F at mid afternoon) has been oppressive, but the dragonflies didn't seem to mind, nor did the swarms of Barn, Cliff, Rough-winged and Violet-green Swallows hovering over the drains, or the emerging velvet ants along the path. The weedy vegetation has brought with it a number of Western Diamondback Rattlesnake sightings. I was alerted of the presence of a medium-sized example by the park education specialist. This gave me a good opportunity for photography. I've been wanting to photograph a diamondback for years, but always seemed to run into them when lacking in photographic equipment or they disappeared before I could get my camera unlimbered. This one was more cooperative and I got some good shots.
Western Diamondback Rattlesnake (Crotalus atrox).
Western Diamondback Rattlesnake closeup.
Not many yards down the path I ran into one of the main food items for rattlers - the Desert Cottontail Rabbit.
Desert Cottontail (Sylvilagus audubonii).
A little further on I spied a New Mexico Whiptail, one of the "species" of whiptails that are parthenogenetic and thus produce only cloned females.
New Mexico Whiptail (Aspidoscelis neomexicana).
All in all, this was, as usual, another eventful walk along the river. I have seldom been disappointed by my visits, almost always seeing something new.