The Black Range

E-mail Notification of New Releases


If you would like to be added to our email notification lists please let us know at rabarnes@blackrange.org.  We will add you to our distribution list and you will receive notice of any publication (including The Black Range Naturalist) which we publish, as soon as it is released, all are available as free downloads.  We will not share your email address with anyone.  You may unsubscribe by letting us know your desires at any time.

If you use email addresses with .mac, .icloud, or .me extensions please contact us at bobbarnes@btona.org.

If you wish to provide an agency or institution email please be aware that agencies and other institutions often block notices like that discussed above - you may wish to provide a personal email address instead.

The Black Range Naturalist is a (free for personal use) quarterly journal which highlights the natural history of the Black Range.  It is written by people who live in and/or work in the Black Range.  It is archived at The Black Range Naturalist at the same time we announce its publication via email.  Each issue is made available in both compressed and uncompressed versions.  Our publications are not available for purchase, we do not accept ads or donations.

INDEX TO ALL ARTICLES/AUTHORS

The Black Range Naturalist is a grassroots/non-commercial effort.  We appreciate and consider all submittals.

SUMMARY AND LINKS TO ALL ISSUES

The Black Range Naturalist
Volume 7, Number 4 - October 3, 2024

Uncompressed .pdf (277 MB) - coming soon
Compressed .pdf (38 MB) - coming soon

This issue includes the following articles:

• Mexican Spotted Owl
• Echinomastus intertextus, Chihuahua Pineapple Cactus
  
• Insect Visitors to, and Potential Pollinators of, Chihuahuan Pineapple Cactus Flowers in Doña Ana County, New Mexico
  
• Cats
• Follow-ups and Tidbits
  • Red-naped Sapsucker
  • Large Language Models (LLM) and Evolution
  • A Little Sex (Caenorhabditis elegans)
  • The Western Honey Bee
  • The Blue Dasher (Pachydiplax longipennis)
  • A Rogue Chuck of DNA (neoavian phylogenomics)
  • New Mexico Temperatures
  • Red Rock Skimmer & Version 2 of “Odonata”
  • Coffee and Robinson’s Caves
  • Moths (Cryptic and Aposematic)
  • What We Ain’t (problems with “the” media)
  • The Power of Observation
  • It’s In The Legs - Positive Deviance
  • Tiger Beetles/Tiger Moths - Batesian Mimicry
• Black Range Weather - The Monsoon
  
• Prionus californius - Giant Root Borer
  
• Tools of the Trade: Part 3 - Presentation
• A Perspective on What Walks This Way . . .
• Stalking Orobanche multiflora
  
• Changing a Website Entry - Orobanche ludoviciana subsp. multiflora to Orobanche multiflora
  
• Visitors to the Dripping Springs Visitor Center Pond (2023)
  
• The Lichens Among Us – A Lichen Primer
• The Aldo Leopold Interviews - Announcement
  
• Waterfalls of the Black Range - Call for Submittals
  
• Bird Banding
• Why Are We Bothering Birds by Banding Them?
  
• Other Tracking Technologies
  
• A Community of Images (De Jaegher, Barnes, Berman)

The Black Range Naturalist
Volume 7, Number 3 - July 3, 2024

Uncompressed .pdf (825 MB) 
Compressed .pdf (55 MB) 

This issue includes the following articles:

• The Odonata of Doña Ana County - with notes on the Black Range (announcing a new Black Range publication)
• Reflections on a Prickly Plant While Waiting for a Beagle - Catclaw Mimosa
• Range Maps
• Long-tailed Tadpole Shrimp: An Encore (2023)
• Rio Grande Cottonwoods, Mistletoe, and a Host of Animals
• Rio Grande Cottonwood, Willow, and Mistletoe Habitat Supporting Obligate Bird and Insect Species
• Javelinas (and other animals) in Robinson’s Cave
• The Echinocereus of the Black Range and Doña Ana County (with 11 specific species accounts)
• Two Slots (An article on local slot canyons.)
• Follow-ups and Tidbits
• Citizen Science
• Ecological Acoustics
• Call for Submittals - Imagery in Natural History

The Black Range Naturalist
Volume 7, Number 2 - April 3, 2024

Uncompressed .pdf (397 MB) 
Compressed .pdf (26 MB) 

This issue includes several articles on Beaver:

• The North American Beaver
• Two Types of Beaver Dens
• Where Are the Dams?
• Beavers, Wildfires, Flooding, Water Tables
• Channelization
• Beaver Restoration and Reintroduction Programs
• Everything in Its Place
• And What is Happening Along the Rio Grande?

It also includes several articles on “Tools of the Trade”:

• Part 2 - Databases, Measurement Techniques, and Other Tools
• A Simple Method to Monitor Trends in Acorn Production
• Habitat Measurement
• Pellet Counts
• Issue of Technique and Knowledge

Other articles include:

• Red Velvet Mites
• A Little About Larvae
• Black Range Weather - Pyrocumulonimbus Clouds
• Odonata - The Skimmer Family
  • Common Whitetail
  • Flame Skimmer
  • Hoary Skimmer
  • Twelve-spotted Skimmer
  • Widow Skimmer
  • Roseate Skimmer
• Long-tailed Tadpole Shrimp
• The Black Range Exchange Website
• Yellow-headed Blackbird
• (Northern) Rock Wren
• Broad-billed Hummingbird
• Black Cherry
• Black Cherry Addendum - How the Exchange Works
• Northrotheriops shastensis
• Cicadas
  • Hadoa duryi
  • Hadoa townsendii
  • Cacama valvata
• Follow-ups and Tidbits From the Literature
  • Size of Digital Databases
  • Black and Grizzly Bears and Some Alligator Juniper
  • Cottonwoods
  • Rock Daisies
  • Bird Taxonomic Updates
  • Communication in Non-Human Species and Citizen Science
  • Disadvantages and Advantages of Being Horny
  • Social Behavior in Garter Snakes and Personalities of Rattlesnakes
  • Human Caused Bird Extensions
• Unofficial Results of the 2023 Hillsboro Christmas Bird Count

The Black Range Naturalist
Volume 7, Number 1 - January 3, 2024

Uncompressed .pdf (578 MB) 
Compressed .pdf (36 MB) 

This issue includes:

• Natural History - Tools of the Trade
  • Sign
  • Weight Load and Flotation in Wildlife Feet
• Bird Migration Must Reads (Book Reviews)
• Robinson’s Cave
• The Problem With Popular Field Guides
• Dragonflies:  The Clubtails of the Black Range
• Dragonflies:  The Clubtail Family, Gomphidae
  • Russet-tipped Clubtail
  • Brimstone Clubtail
  • Eastern Ringtail
  • White-bellied Ringtail
• American Rubyspot Damselfly
• Dragonflies:  The Skimmer Family - Libellulidae
  • Variegated Meadowhawk
  • Band-winged Meadowhawk
  • Autumn Meadowhawk
• Southern Pocket Gopher
• Greater Short-horned Lizard
• Metcalfe’s Penstemon and Mimbres Figwort Survey
• Tidbits From the Literature
• New USGS Water Cycle Diagram
• Creative Voices - 10th Natural History of the Gila Symposium
• Why I Wrote a Book - A. Thomas Cole
• Restoring the Pitchfork Ranch - Book Review by Harley Shaw

The Black Range Naturalist
Volume 6, Number 4 - October 3, 2023

Uncompressed .pdf (427 MB) 
Compressed .pdf (55 MB) 

This issue includes:

• Snakes of the Black Range (40 species)
• Spanish/English Natural History Vocabulary
• Follow-up/Tidbits
• What is Being Read/Listened To in the Black Range
• The (Geologic) History of the Black Range
• Datana neomexicana
• Two-needle Pinyon
• Celebration of America’s First Wilderness

The Black Range Naturalist
Volume 6, Number 3 - July 3, 2023

Uncompressed.pdf (765 MB)

This issue includes:

• Junipers
  • How Junipers Grow
  • Smarter’n a Stump
  • Arizona’s Arboreal Alligator
  • The Junipers of the Black Range and Nearby Areas
  • The Natural History and Range of Alligator Juniper
  • The Natural History of the One-seeded Juniper
  • Phoradendron juniperium (Juniper Mistletoe)
• Damselflies
  • Damselflies of the Black Range
  • Representative Damselflies of Doña Ana County
    • Great Spreadwing
    • California Spreadwing
    • Plateau Spreading
  • Other Clearwing Critters - Antlions and Lacewings
• Rain, Virga, Sublimation
• Migratory Bird Program, Birds of Concern - Chihuahuan Desert
• Riparian Research and Management: Past Present, Future
• Bird Nests - Eurasian Collared Dove, White-winged Dove, Cooper’s Hawk, Black-chinned Hummingbird, Western Kingbird, Horned Lark, Bullock’s Oriole, Barn Owl, Great Horned Owl, Black Phoebe, Black-throated Sparrow, Barn Swallow, Cliff Swallow, Curve-billed Thrasher, Canyon Towhee, Plumberous Vireo, Lucy’s Warbler, Acorn Woodpecker, Ladder-backed Woodpecker, Cactus Wren, Rock Wren
• The Fish Side of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (book review)
• What is Being Read and Listened to in the Black Range
• Follow-ups and Tidbits
• Jim Werker

The Black Range Naturalist
Volume 6, Number 2 - April 3, 2023

Uncompressed .pdf (760 MB)
Compressed .pdf (21 MB)

This issue includes:

• The Tracker and the Shadow Cat 
• DNA Barcoding and Those White-haired Black Caterpillars
• A Bit of Caterpillar Anatomy
• Black Range Observations
• Light Field Photography, Trilobites, Evolution, & Macro Photography
• An Immense World - Book Review
• Black Range Weather - Rainbows
• Bird Species by Vegetation Type
• Darners of the Black Range
• Representative Dragonflies of Dona Ana County, New Mexico - The Darners
• Follow-ups: Lizards, Spiders, & Penstemon lanceolatus
• Predicting the Future - First Definitive Evidence
• Hang Glider
• White-collared Turkey Vulture
• Turkey Vulture Natural History
• Vulture - The Private Life of an Unloved Bird - Book Review
• In Search of the White-collared Turkey Vulture
• A Celestial Map of 200+ Objects in the Sky
• Most of the World’s Human Population Is At Least Bilingual
• ChatGPT
• Geocaching in the Black Range
• Using ChatGBT and Stable Diffusion
• From the Crest to the Dam
• Information About the Illegal Killing of Mexican Gray Wolves - Reward
• The Study of Lightening Goes 3-D
• Living With Wildlife in the Black Range
• Natural History of the Gila Symposium X

The Black Range Naturalist
Volume 6, Number 1 - January 3, 2023

Uncompressed .pdf (368 MB)
Compressed .pdf (27 MB) - lower resolution images

This issue includes:

• Grizzly Bears In the Black Range
• Survey of Bear Species in the Black Range
• Personal Bear Encounters
• Grizzly Jokes
• The Art of Tracking - The Origin of Science (Book Review)
• Tidbits From The Literature
• Variations of Precipitation Over Small Areas
• Plant Follow-Up - Metcalfe’s Penstemon
• A Taste of Bluet
• Gambel Oak
• Lizards of the Black Range

The Black Range Naturalist
Volume 5, Number 4 - October 3, 2022

Uncompressed .pdf (418 MB)
Compressed .pdf (22.5 MB) - lower resolution images

This issue includes:

• Black Range Caves - Coffee Cave
• Percha Creek Timeline
• Fire History of the Black Range - Black Fire Update
• Black Range Clouds - Lenticular and Mammatus
• Ice
• A Few Nectaring Insects
• A Few Black Range Spiders
• Additions to the Black Range Website Photo Galleries
• Enhancing Non-Institutional Science - The Black Range Exchange

The Black Range Naturalist
Volume 5, Number 3 - July 3, 2022

Uncompressed .pdf (146 MB)
Compressed .pdf (12 MB)

This issue includes:

• Arizona Cypress in New Mexico: Current History and Status
• Metcalfe’s Penstemon, Penstemon metcalfei
• Mimbres Figwort, Scrophularia macrantha
• Follow-Up: While Looking at Butterflies - Other Insects
• Black Canyon Deer
• The North Kaibab Deer Herd 1968-1983: The Research Years
• Significances of the Kaibab Deer Herd
• Predator Control
• Diary of the Hunt
• Plant Plasticity - Argentina anserina
• Black Range Clouds
• Remembering Lloyd Barr

The Black Range Naturalist
Volume 5, Number 2 - April 3, 2022

Uncompressed .pdf (2.62 GB)
Compressed .pdf (82.5 MB)

This issue focuses on 98 butterfly/moth species found in the Black Range.  This issue is a compilation of work done by the following:  Bob Barnes, Gordon Berman, Steve Cary, Véronique De Jaegher, Margie Gibson, Rebecca Hallgarth, Steve Morgan, Berry Nall, Debora Nicoll, Ron Parry, Todd Stout, Nichole Trushell, and James Von Loh.  Articles include:

• Butterflies: It’s All About Caterpillars
• Species Depicted in This Issue
• Species With Links to Additional Images
• Puddle Clubs
• Solitary Puddlers
• Butterfly Species Observed During 2021 Using Mammal Scat as a Moisture and Nutrient Source
• Thousands of Butterflies Sail New Mexico’s Southern Sea
• Selected Highly Visited Nectaring Plants:  Acourtia wrightii (Fluffroot)
  
• Selected Rio Grande Nectaring Plants for Butterflies:  Chloracantha spinosa
• Selected Rio Grande Nectaring Plants:  Asclepias subverticillata and Funastrum cynanchoides
• Selected Rio Grande Nectaring Plants: Dieteria canescens
• Late Bloomers in the Black Range, Nectaring Plants for Butterflies:  Ericameria nauseosa and Tagetes lemonii
  
• Butterflies of the Rio Grande
  
• Butterflies & Caterpillars - A Few Sources for Additional Information
  
•  First Photograph of the Wind
  

The Black Range Naturalist
Volume 5, Number 1 - January 3, 2022

Uncompressed .pdf (192 MB)
Compressed .pdf (7.1 MB) n

• Feathers (a discussion of structure, function, and color)
• History Can Mess You Up - Harley Shaw discusses his past and current Wild Turkey research
• Papilio ornythion - Jan Richmond’s photographs of a rare New Mexico butterfly
• Penstemon lanceolatus - Rebecca Hallgarth & Bob Barnes documentation of a penstemon with limited range, from east of Hillsboro
• Book Review
• Owls of the Black Range
• Follow-ups 
• Photo Submittals
• Aldo Leopold - Steve Morgan’s final article in this series
• Our Covers

The Black Range Naturalist
Volume 4, Number 4 - October 3, 2021

Uncompressed .pdf (this file is 65 MB in size)
Compressed .pdf (this file is 6.4 MB in size)

• The Camera and Natural History - William L. Finley
• How we connect
• Finley’s Red Mountain Lion
• Trailcam Photography
• The A-Spear Trailcams
• Trailcam Skunks
• Trailcam Case Study
• Dark-ribboned Wave, Leptostales rubromarginaria
• An Overview of the Mammals of the Gila Region, NM
• The Historical Introduction, Spread, and Establishment of Old World Mice and Rats in New Mexico and Adjacent Areas
• Trail Maintenance Update
• New Offerings From the Black Range Website
• Tomoff’s Woody Plants of the Mogollon Highlands
• Follow-ups (on previous articles)
• Our Covers
• Our Index

The Black Range Naturalist
Volume 4, Number 3 - July 3, 2021

Uncompressed.pdf (this file is 230 MB in size)

In this issue:

• Maintaining Our Trails
• Patagonia Picnic Table Effect
• Aldo Leopold - His Legacy, Part 6
• A Warming Desert
• Coati Watch
• Litocala Moth
• Penstemon spinulosus
• George R. Vasey - Sr. & Jr.
• New Offerings From the Black Range Website
• Do You Hear What I Hear? - Red-backed Jumping Spider
• Vegetation Regeneration After Fire
• Ponderosa Pine Forests
• Black Range Surface and Groundwater
• Chelifer canroides, Pseudoscorpion
• Calliandra eriophylla, Fairy Duster
• Mexico Bound
• What Does Your Gut Tell You?
• Wrens of the Black Range

The Black Range Naturalist
Volume 4, Number 2 - April 3, 2021

Uncompressed .pdf (this file is 93.5 MB in size)
Compressed .pdf (this file is 5.3 MB in size)

In this issue:

• Making “Trailing With Toasty”
• The Environment
• House Centipede
• Economic Development and Natural History - The Soft Path
• Calliope Hummingbirds Bathe on Wet Leaves
• Hillsboro Research Institute Announces Major Breakthrough in Quantum Mechanics
• Tree Swallows, The Wind, and Climate Change
• Native Plants Save The Birds
• Create Change With Your Own Backyard Habitat
• Support Biodiversity at Home - Gardening for Your Ecosystem
• Bird, Bat, Bee, and Butterfly - Scaping Your Yard
• Some Selected References and Sources of Native Plants
• Water for Your Habitat Garden
• Our Coverss - Loggerhead Shrikes and Horned Lizards

The Black Range Naturalist
Volume 4, Number 1 - January 3, 2021

Uncompressed .pdf (this file is 113 MB in size)
Compressed .pdf (this file is 3.2 MB in size)

In this issue:

• Human Land Use of the Nutt Grasslands
• A Guide to the Moths of the Gila
• Penstemon spinulosus - Wooton and Standley: New Mexico Endemic, Error, or Introduction?
• Antlions
• $117,000,000 (USD) Per Mile
• Two New Books
• The Covers
• Springs and Land Ownership Tool
• New Mexico Bird Die-Off
• Searching for the Bigleaf Sedge in the Aldo 
• Recognizing the Bigleaf Sedge
• Dr. Richard Felger - Remembering
• Aldo Leopold - His Legacy, Part 5
• The Natural History of the Grandview Trail

The Black Range Naturalist
Volume 3, Number 4 - October 3, 2020

Uncompressed .pdf (this file is 97 MB in size)

In this issue: 

• The Night Sky
• Time in Night Above the Percha
• The Status of Pyrrhuloxia in New Mexico
• Habitat
• White-throated Sparrow Songs
• William R. Chapline, Jr.
• Speciation: American Crow/Northern Oriole/Mexican Duck
• Walks in the Black Range/New Road Video/Plants+ of the Black Range
• Scrub-Jay
• Follow-ups on Previous Articles on Coatis and Porcupine
• Tree of Life - Flowering Plants
• More Night Sky
• The OTHER Pandemic…Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease (RHD)
• Aldo Leopold - His Legacy, Part 4
• Heating Costs to be Reduced
• Trailing With Toasty
• Ciénega Trail - City of Rocks State Park
• The Fate of Ciénegas

The Black Range Naturalist
Volume 3, Number 3 - July 3, 2020

Uncompressed .pdf (this file is 145 MB in size)

In this issue: 

• From Wolves to Dogs
• Free Flow
• Porkies Get No Respect
• To Kill a Bumblebee
• Never Kiss a Walapai Tiger
• Gordon’s Bladderpod
• House Sparrows Constructing Nests in Active Red-tailed Hawk Nest
• On Pestering Elk
• Shelter in Place: Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day
• Three Oredonts From the Black Range Show the Importance of Shared and Accessible Data
• Mating Gopher Snakes
• Changes to the Middle Fork of Percha Creek, West of Kingston
• Elf Owl at the A-Spear
• Repurposed Drug to the Rescue of Snakebite Victims
• Forest Trail 796

The Black Range Naturalist
Volume 3, Number 2 - April 3, 2020

Uncompressed .pdf (this file is 138 MB in size)
Compressed .pdf (this file is suitable for emailing at 4.7 MB in size)

In this issue: 

• Recipe for Homemade Christmas Bird Count
• Proof is in the Pudding - Hillsboro CBC Results
• It Came From Inner Space (Vinegaroon article)
• Kangaroo Rats and Other Rodents
• A K-Rat Mound is a Busy Place
• On the Shape of a Form (Rabbit resting places)
• Snails, Ferriss, and Pilsbry (1915 natural history expedition)
• Aldo Leopold - His Legacy Part 3
• Climate Change and Coronavirus (Covid-19)
• Red-breasted Sapsucker - Part of a Superspecies
• Cooke’s Spring Pass (natural history of BR trails series)

The Black Range Naturalist
Volume 3, Number 1 - January 3, 2020 

The Mimbres Issue:  Available in 3 formats

Uncompressed .pdf  (This file is 114 MB in size)
Compressed .pdf (This file is suitable for emailing, it is 6.6 MB in size)

This issue contains several articles which have a Mimbres culture slant to them.  It starts with an “editorial” about the relationship between structured science and other forms of knowledge.  That article is followed by Harley Shaw’s “Dogs and Snakes” which focuses on the interactions of rattlesnakes and dogs.  Paul C. Standley is one of our most famous botantists, the following article describes some aspects of his life.  In “The Archaeology of Animals in Southwest New Mexico, AD 1000 - 1130” Dr. Karen G. Schollmeyer discusses what we know about the natural world of the Mimbres people.  Her article is followed by Bob Barnes’ survey piece about the natural history depicted in Mimbres Art.  “A Mimbres Controversy” follows, because it is always good to have a controversy.  The centerfold is by Dr. Schollmeyer and S. O. MacDonald, a copy of which may be downloaded.  Ever wondered about those “wood encrusted” twigs in the desert?  Dr. Walt Whitford provides us with a great deal of insight about the “Foliage Insects and Termites” of our area in the following article.  A follow-on to Randy Gray’s excellent Rattlesnake article in “Eastern Black-tailed Rattlenake” brings us up to date on that speciation question.  Part 2 of Steve Morgan’s series on Aldo Leopold follows and the issue is rounded out by a description of remote sensor research being performed in the Black Range.

The Black Range Naturalist
Volume 2, Number 4 - October 3, 2019 

The Black Range Naturalist, Volume 2, Number 4, October 3, 2019 (this file is 117.4 MB in size, see the compressed version below for a file which is 5.7 MB in size).  In this issue we begin our serious exploration of the geology of the Black Range.  The first article describes the material found on geologic maps by using examples of four geologic maps from the Black Range.  “To Be Known as a Variety” focuses on Frederic Endlich, who had a variety of Vanadinite named after him when he was the mine manager at the Sierra mines in Lake Valley.  Continuing with a historical theme, the next article “Giant of the Mimbres” notes the “discovery” of the subject rock formation in the Mimbres Valley and the publications about it in various travel journals of the mid to late 1800’s.  “Hematite and Specularite” notes the significant difference a change in chemical composition can make.   “Rhyolite and Tuff” describe the physical attributes of these volcanic rocks and muses about the Black Range as it was 25 mya.  “Mt. St. Helens Pumice” provides a personal perspective of what that environment (the Black Range 25 mya) might have been like.  The Periodic Table is a 150 years old this year, the next article describes the table and explains its usefulness to those who mined in the area.  Steve Morgan discusses the legacy of Aldo Leopold in the following article.  “The Sonoran Coral Snake” is the topic of Steve Siegfried’s article which follows, which is - in turn - followed by “Letters to the Editor”.  A piece on the Native Plant Society of New Mexico and a natural history discussion of the Sawyers Peak Trail round-out this issue.  A smaller file of this issue, suitable for email if you wish, is available at this link. 

The Black Range Naturalist
Volume 2, Number 3 - July 3, 2019 

The Black Range Naturalist, Volume 2, Number 3, July 3, 2019 (this file is 75.3 MB in size, see the compressed version below for a file which is 10.5 MB in size).  In this issue, we start with a focus on Pack Rats.  First with an article about their natural history by Walt Whitford, then with an article about personal experiences with the creatures during years of field research - by Harley Shaw.  The documentation of nesting Eurasian Collared-Doves by Bob Barnes follows and then an article by the Mourning Cloak Butterfly by Siegfried.  A preliminary checklist of dragonflies in the Black Range is found about a third of the way into the magazine.  Your observations and additions will be added to the checklist as we work on a final product.  Letters to the Editor follow.  Eastern Bluebirds in the Black Range is the topic of an article that follows “letters”, with photographs by Véronique De Jaegher and Bob Barnes.  Ned and Gigi Batchelder describe how they went about identifying objects on the heads of hummingbirds they were banding following the Bluebird article.  Next we include an experimental listing - Recent Readings in Natural History - which lists some of the books being read in the Black Range.  If you have read works on natural history recently (they need not be newly published), and would like to share their existence with others, let us know.  A summary of ten years of bird sightings in the third quarter, in a yard in Hillsboro, follows. Dave Cleary located a White-eyed Vireo in the Black Range in early June, he describes the experience in an article complete with a photograph and audio link. We end this issue with a photographic description of the natural history of the trail from the Railroad Canyon Campground to the Holden Prong Saddle.  This is a compressed version of this magazine (10.5 MB) in size. 

The Black Range Naturalist
Volume 2, Number 2 - April 3, 2019 

The Black Range Naturalist, Volume 2, Number 2, April 3, 2019 (this file is 29.6 MB in size, see the compressed version below, for a much smaller file).  Cindy Yarmal opens this issue with a personal account of being struck by a rattlesnake.  That is followed by bits on rattlesnake venom, the cost of anti-venom, and neurotoxic venom.  Catherine Wanek recounts her experiences with the Coatis found at the Black Range Lodge this past year.  That, in turn, is followed by a discussion of the range of the White-nosed Coati and speculation about whether it is expanding (into the Black Range more extensively) or not.  The BNR interview with Lloyd Barr discusses his friendship with Carl Woese.  More work is being done on the Northern Cardinal and specifically the Sonoran Cardinal found here, recent findings are discussed next.  Ned and Gigi describe their 2018 Hummingbird banding season in the article which follows that.  A series of articles about plant species of concern in the Black Range comes next - extracts from her report on that topic by Daniela Roth, species summaries of two of those species by Bob Barnes, and a description of a new online tool for researching such topics rounds out the set.  Next in line, Steve Elam shares some personal experience with a Peregrine Falcon chick and Russ Bowen provides an assessment of Hillsboro precipitation records over the last 59 years.  Don Precoda provides another article about his life as a fire lookout on Hillsboro Peak; Walt Whitford discusses some of the ants of the area and, in particular harvester ants; and Randy Gray closes this issue with a piece on Whiptail lizards.  Some of the references used in this issue are: Some hitherto undescribed plants from New Mexico; and Ninety Years After Greene.  Compressed version of this issue, suitable for emailing, 2.8 MB in size.

The Black Range Naturalist
Volume 2, Number 1 - January 3, 2019 

The Black Range Naturalist, Volume 2, Number 1,  January 3, 2019 (this file is 47.3 MB in size, see the compressed version below, for a much smaller file).  In this issue we: Explore the history of fire in the Black Range with Larry Cosper, the former District Ranger for the Black Range Ranger District; consider hummingbird banding with Ned and Gigi Batchelder, who have conducted their hummingbird banding research throughout the American west; revisit  Stephen Siegfried’s review of Aldo Leopold’s life; review the Horned Lizard species of the Black Range with Randall Gray; watch Black-chinned Hummingbird nesting behavior with Bob Barnes and consider the bird species frequency data that he and Rebecca Hallgarth have gathered; consider plants and cold weather with Nichole Trushell; and explore the intersection of natural history and art with Inga McCord.  Wildfire Impacts on Species of Concern Plants In the Gila National Forest, New Mexico is linked to in this issue as is the Black Range Fire History Map.  This issue is also available in a compressed version which is much smaller (6.7 MB) and has lower image quality.

The Black Range Naturalist
Volume 1, Number 2 - October 10, 2018 

The Black Range Naturalist, Volume 1, Number 2, October 10, 2018 -  Two of the life forces, fire and water, have shaped the Black Range over the eons. In this issue we will focus on the life, destruction, and change which water brings, and has brought, to the Black Range. The range of “water” articles in this issue includes “The Musings of a Meterorologist” by Russ Bowen, four articles about floods on the east side of the Black Range - two which describe the flood events of 1914 and 1972 and two first-hand accounts of those floods.  This issue also includes articles on the sensory systems of rattlesnakes - “ A Rattlesnake’s World”, by Lloyd Barr; numerical sequences in nature in “Nature’s Form and Pattern - As Inspiration for Art and Science” by Nicole Trushell; one of our most beautiful songsters in “The Melodic Canyon Wren” by Stephen Siegfried; and the natural world as it inspires in “The Art of Nature” by Melody Sears.

The Black Range Naturalist
Volume 1, Number 1 - July 15, 2018 

The Black Range Naturalist, Volume 1, Number 1, July 15, 2018  - “Lore Versus Science and Natural History” by Harley Shaw, "Northern Cardinal Range Expansion” by John Hubbard/Bob Barnes, “Experiences of a Hillsboro Peak Lookout” by Don Precoda, “Rattlers of the Black Range” by Randy Gray, and “Skyrocket” by Bob Barnes.