The Beautiful Cottonwood

Cottonwood trees are perhaps the most prominent feature of the bosque (the bosque is an oasis like ribbon of green vegetation, often canopied, that exists near rivers, streams, or other water courses), that skirts the Rio Grande as it runs through Albuquerque, New Mexico. Cottonwoods, softer than most deciduous trees, are self-pruning. Their limbs, large and small, frequently break off, leaving large brush piles scattered along the forest floor. As small branches pile against a large limb, they create excellent dens for a variety of wildlife including rock squirrels, rabbits, chipmunks, mice, skunks, lizards, snakes, and birds. Hawks and owls may perch in higher trees watching for a movement of the small mammals in the brush, and hawk nests are visible in the high branches of the cottonwoods throughout the bosque. This photos shows sleeping cottonwoods at sunset, during the late winter, Feb. 2007 in Albuquerque.