We are making a concerted effort to practice social distancing.  For us that includes leaving town and spending time in the wilderness. We have found that if we go to the national forest on weekdays, we have the woods all to ourselves, except for the deer, and the elk, and the chipmunks, and the birds, and the butterflies.


Bluff Springs National Recreation Area - Cloudcroft, New Mexico

Dark-eyed Junco

Black-headed Grosbeak

Orange-crowned Warbler

White-breasted Nuthatch

Rock Squirrel

Pumphouse Canyon

Mule Deer

Rocky Mountain Elk

An assortment of wildflowers with an assortment of insects

In the village of Cloudcroft

A delightful break from the dry hot summer desert in Las Cruces

A stop in Alamogordo on the way home. (Yes, Alamogordo is Spanish for big fat Cottonwood tree.)

The moon and Venus over the Organ Mountains at sunrise

Last week the temperature hit 106F (41C) degrees in Las Cruces. It was time to head back up into the nearby mountains.


The Lincoln National Forest

This tree split when it fell and hit the tree beside it. (It made no noise.)

The forest as seen through the trees

"Straw man" in the forest

Unexpected fungi on the forest floor

Forest insects

Forest flowers

Wild strawberries

Forest Birds

Western Tanager


Most people think "Yellow-bellied Sapsucker" is a slur, but it is a bird.

Unidentified forest bird

Male Red Shafted Northern Flicker

Female Red Shafted Northern Flicker

Another male Red Shafted Northern Flicker

Another female Red Shafted Northern Flicker

Forest moon

Forest mountain men

Dancing on a branch at sunset in the forest