Bosque Evening Walk

The BioPark hosted an evening tour of the Tingley Beach bosque last night.  Along with 8 other docents, we led groups of about 8 visitors along the bosque paths.  Five of us were positioned at stations to discuss natural history topics:  owls, porcupines, coyotes, insects, and bats.  As a guide, I took my group in a 1-1/2 mile loop, dodging mosquitos and sneaking past muddy sections left over from Sunday night's showers.

There was a bit of a worry as we started our hike; a large thunderstorm was drifting south from the Jemez and was causing flash floods in Rio Rancho.  As it worked out, the storm slid off to the east and missed us.  We didn't really have that much wind.

Here one of the Zoo docents, Robert discusses owls, especially the Great Horned Owl, and how they fit into the bosque ecosystem.

Last month this area was under water from the high spring runoff.  The high water has kept many of the annuals that normally form the bosque ground cover from sprouting just yet.  As you can see in the photograph, there's a lot of bare ground beyond the trail itself.