Las Cienegas National Conservation Area - Part I

Las Cienegas National Conservation Area is 25,000 acres of desert habitat. However, that doesn't fully describe the area very well. Parts of it are the typical scrub desert; parts are desert grasslands, parts are open prairie, there are a few small ponds, and there is a spring that holds water for about 100 yards creating a true riparian habitat.

Over the next couple of days I will show some photos I've taken the past week. For today, it's a Javelina. I was sitting quietly on a downed tree trunk in Empire Gulch waiting patiently for warblers, phoebes, waterthrushes, flycatchers, and anything else previously reported or not. While sitting there a Javelina came down to the spring, dug himself a "mud hole" and bathed in the mud for several minutes. Finally he stood up, shook off some of the water/mud, and slowly walked away and out of sight. I never moved an inch. He never saw me or even knew I was there.