When I get the chance I head over to the Mesilla Valley Bosque State Park near the town of Mesilla in southern New Mexico to do a bit of bird watching and general natural history. The hike around the desert to the edge of the pond and back along the drain is always of interest and occasionally provides an exciting encounter. The Mesilla Valley Bosque State Park has had a number of interesting sightings in the last month or two, starting with a common ground dove in mid May and going through sightings of Townsend's warbler, red-breasted nuthatch, orchard oriole and hooded oriole in June. The red-breasted nuthatch was a real surprise to me, but there was no mistaking that bird! Unfortunately it did not stay in one place in the tamarisk thicket for me to photograph it. Somebody else has also seen the Townsend's warbler, and the orioles were seen earlier by others and photographed.
The river was finally filled at the end of May, having been bone dry for a week or so before then. The farmers should get about 11 acre inches of irrigation water, above the allotments for either 2013 or 2014, but much below the 3-4 acre feet of the past years. The Bosque pond filled early in June, bringing with it a place for several female mallards, a green heron, several great-blue herons, a black-crowned night heron juvenile and a great egret.
Cliff swallows have nested under the bridge at the entrance to the park and I usually see 30-50 in the air. At the same spot I have usually seen male and female red-wing blackbirds, killdeer, western meadowlarks, northern mockingbirds, white-winged doves, mourning doves, Gambel's quail, and at least once or more a curve-billed thrasher, great-tailed grackles, cattle egrets, and European starlings, and once a black phoebe.
Cliff Swallows at trickle of water in Rio Grande before the release of water from Elephant Butte Dam, mid May 2025.
Red-winged Blackbird male displaying and calling along Rio Grande near entrance to Mesilla Valley Bosque State Park, New Mexico.
Red-winged Blackbird female with beak stuffed with insects near entrance to Mesilla Valley Bosque State Park, New Mexico.
Black Phoebe on power line near entrance to Mesilla Valley Bosque State Park, New Mexico.
Killdeer on levee road, Mesilla Valley Bosque State Park, New Mexico.
Western Meadowlark along levee road, Mesilla Valley Bosque State Park, New Mexico.
Northern Mockingbird on top of flagpole at Mesilla Valley Bosque State Park, New Mexico.
Gambel's Quail male calling from wood pile, Mesilla Valley Bosque State Park, New Mexico.
A Bullock's Oriole male at hummingbird feeder, Mesilla Valley Bosque State Park, New Mexico.
Hooded Oriole male, Mesilla Valley Bosque State Park, New Mexico.
Common Ground Dove, a very rare sighting at Mesilla Valley Bosque State Park, New Mexico.
Ash-throated Flycatcher, edge of desert, Mesilla Valley Bosque State Park, New Mexico.
Blue Grosbeak male, Mesilla Valley Bosque State Park, New Mexico.
Summer Tanager female, Mesilla Valley Bosque State Park, New Mexico.
Yellow-breasted Chat singing at Mesilla Valley Bosque State Park, New Mexico.
Pyrrhuloxia female, Mesilla Valley Bosque State Park, New Mexico.
Desert Cottontails, Mesilla Valley Bosque State Park, New Mexico.
Western Diamondback Rattlesnake, Mesilla Valley Bosque State Park, New Mexico. This rattler gave me fair warning and then crawled away very rapidly, finally coiling at the base of a tamarisk. This has been my general experience with rattlesnakes and anybody who is observant at all need not worry too much about them.
This is another photo of the same snake.
Flame Skimmer dragonfly, Mesilla Valley Bosque, New Mexico.
Roseate Skimmer, Mesilla Valley Bosque State Park, New Mexico.
Queen Butterfly on arrowweed, Mesilla Valley Bosque State Park, New Mexico.
Variegated Fritillary, Mesilla Valley Bosque State Park, New Mexico.
Robber Fly with wasp prey, Mesilla Valley Bosque State Park, New Mexico.
Strange fungus, Mesilla Valley Bosque State Park, New Mexico.
The park was saved to a large extent because of a campaign by local environmentalists including the local chapter of the Audubon Society. This photo essay, a collection of photos I took from mid May to early July of this year, should amply demonstrate why such parks are important. The park is not huge, but it offers a surprisingly wide variety of habitats and when supplied with water it becomes one of the most productive bird watching spots in southern New Mexico. You can imagine what would happen if such a park were open to sale to private interests.