Jacks Creek hike

On 8/10/20 went to Jacks Creek, Santa Fe National Forest, New Mexico. Beautiful and appeared lush to me, though there’s a drought. Examined insect-attracting flowers I didn’t know the name of at the time- Cutleaf Coneflowers. Found many insects. These flowers love the water.
Saw a dark-colored butterfly I’d never seen before and followed it, but it got away. Flipped a large log and found a snakeskin underneath. Seconds later the snake itself crawled into view- it must live under the log. Had blue, cloudy eyes; about to shed. A Wandering Garter. Was almost uniformly brown, with only a faint stripe on the neck.
Continuing on, found another of the dark butterflies and fell into the stream chasing it. Boots soaked in vain, as it, too, escaped.
Saw Monkshood, which I took a picture of. Branching out into plants now. Took photos of several more flowers. Found abundant flies, bees, wasps, etc.

Publicado el 31 de agosto de 2020 por ectothermist