The snowpack no longer exists in a meaningful sense. It used to provide summer water down the Rio Grande where some was impounded behind dams like Heron Lake and Lake Abiqu. The El Vado dam is closed until around 2032. No matter the expert, the truth is we are not really sure what the new normal is going to mean for the future. Likely there will be unexpected outcomes, with winners and losers. Much of which will actually depend on events that seem completely unconnected. But it will help to be informed.
Many people have noticed insects increasing. Some have appeared as a result of the return of a monsoon. Water from the sky is an unusual even in the Southwest lately, but carpenter ants like this one use the moisture as a trigger to create new swarms, using winged drones like this one to spread out across the landscape.
Insects that are far more photogenic include this hairstreak butterfly
Strymon melinus. Those tail streaks confuse predators into thinking the rear is the head, misdirecting the travel and maybe buying the insect more time to escape. These butterflies use many host plants, allowing them to adapt to human altered ecosystems.
While it can be very difficult to identify freshwater microscopic organisms, this one is likely a rotifer. The outer case is a protein shield called a lorica. They are part of a quite complex ecosystem that breaks down organic matter in treated wastewater. These creatures are eaten in turn by animals such as mosquito fish
I'm still not 100% sure this is a mosquito larva, most likely it is a midge larva. These macroinvertebrates are surprisingly complex, with internal swim bladders and fine filters
Not often seen, these planarians are a type of flatworm that feed on small creatures in treated wastewater that flows into the Rio Grande. These specialize on snails, digesting them using specialized enzymes and a muscular sucker, a lot like a starfish
The wastewater pipe at the Harvey Jones BioSwale contains a whole beach of
Physella snail species to support the flatworm populations that hunt them. Flatworm in turn are eaten by small freshwater leeches. These snail gorge on the algae and diatoms films that use the high phosphate and dissolved total solids of treated wastewater to grow lushly in shallow water and on volcanic rock used as substate.
Tadpoles are amazing survivors and the amphibian life cycle is quite complex and amazing. These juvenile woodhouse toads breed in the Rio Grande in spite of the large number of predatory hazards, by staying in the fish free zone of backwaters, where the depth is often only a few millimeters. They use those flagellant tails to excavate a depression to stay in a pool for as long as they can. They only need a survival rate of .008% to keep a stable population, so can often persist in spite of incredible odds
Many flowers are beginning to bloom now. Plants have to invest quite a bit of energy into flowers, so wait for favorable conditions such as warm temperatures, moisture and bright sunlight.. Different plants use different strategies to divide up the niches. Asters like this one use general styles and often use ants in a mutualistic system, encouraging them to deter caterpillars and other tissue destroying insects. The interaction is complex, however, and ants also contain a strong defoliant like formic acid, while also using aphids to milk the natural sugars of the plant
The silver leaf nighshade is a beautiful bloom that is very attractive to bumble bees in the late summer. These plants are insanely tough, with deep roots, spines that also keep out the cold, and berries containing solanine to deter browsing. This same chemical is also found in the humble potato, albeit at much lower levels
Bindweed is a pretty remarkable plant with many little tricks. The petals can close up, protecting the valuable reproductive organs from wind and rain as well as wasteful generalist insects. Solitary bees have widely spaced hairs that are best for capturing coarse pollen grains. Metallic sweat bees also visit and can find the flowers in the most marginal of environments.
Solitary bees can be found in mallows, but chimney bees are often found sleeping in the blooms. These bees (
Diadasia) are oligolegy and only use the Globemallow flowers for their young. Actually, only the males are found in the blooms, and they are not there so much for the nectar as to be the first to intercept a receptive female arriving on a flower.
There are three invasive crayfish species in New Mexico, but there is also three endemic species. This one might be a Conchas crayfish (
Faxonius deanae), but is about 190 miles away from where its supposed to be. The pincers, when closed, are more shaped like needle nosed pliers than the more typical shovel shape of the other species
The warm temperatures seem to bring out the bold jumping spiders. These arachnids are very photogenic, not just because of their large pair of forward facing eyes, giving them anthropogenic features, but they also have green, glittery fangs and an engaging alert, personality.
Many lizards in the wild have behaviors related to their environmental needs. This skink has the smooth surface of a mostly fossorial life, but they come out on cool morning to warm up in the sun quicker.
The lack of water in the drainage ditches show the snapping turtles more easily. These large Chelonia are also looking for sunny, sandy banks to excavate a nest. Most of these will be sniffed out and raided by some mammal, but enough survive to continue their ancient lineage that formed (as Chelydridae) as they have since before the great extinction event 60 million years ago
This juvenile wheelbug is showing off its rostrum which is used both as a dagger and a straw to feed on other insects. They control insects to some extent, but their ambush tactics are too slow to make much of a dent
Last year there was a large number of Cottonwood leaf beetles present. This year there are also many, but noticeably fewer. This is likely partly due to their predators increasing in numbers as a response
This is an adult Arizona beetle. A newcomer to the bosque for me. They occupy the same niche as the other leaf beetles but mature sooner and can also handle the slightly older leaves higher up the tree.
The bosque attracts many birds that do not want to stay in just one place. This turkey vulture has migrated from further south. It is quite cool blooded for a bird and uses it's large black wings to absorb heat from the sun on cold mornings. This "horaltic pose" actually has quite a few different functions. I noticed the brittle old branches of the tops of cottonwoods actually broke off quite a few times under their weight.
This is a Putnam's cicada, an adult molt. They are stimulated by the humidity and temperatures to leave their life of sipping root juices underground and climb up into the foliage. They leave behind a shell called an exuviae as they become a winged form. Those wings are actually a sound device that they slap against the branches to call for mates in the forest
The number of moths is slowly increasing, but it doesn't seem like an explosive breeding year. This is maybe due to a good growth of mold in the moist warm leaf litter which are attracted to the moth larva and grow prolifically
Coyotes will always be loathed or loved by people, for the simple reason that they are now almost ubiquitous across the country. Their range has expanded as the natural checks on their numbers have been removed. Couple of little known facts: they have a weakness for fruits like mulberry and apples, and they stay near humans when predators such as mountain lions are nearby. In spite of all the experience, most people know much less about canid habits than they think.
The drastic changes in water in the middle Rio Grande valley; from floods to droughts actually benefit many native species. When water is pooled, damned or channeled the invasive, feral or parasitic species benefit most. Native or migratory species often adapt with behaviors such as increased mobility. Here a small flock of white faced ibis taking advantage of an acequia flooded field.
Flooded fields often bring more than just extra water. This owlet moth caterpillar was flushed out of hiding by the unexpected water and is an easy snack for just about any bird in the area.
Lizards are usually very difficult to catch, except when the cold water slows them down and reduces the number of hiding places for them. This is a NM whiptail, they are specializes for a highly active and inquisitive lifestyle. This leaves little time for reproduction and this lizard species is all female.
Another common species is the Southwestern fence lizard. These lizards are better at ambushing insects and are more relaxed and observant. They have a lower body temperature than whiptails and are more generalist in behavior overall
Freshwater snails use reproductive strategies to explode in numbers when conditions are best for plant growth. Snails in warm water lay many more egg batches and these incubate for only 3-4 days. The snails formed this way are much smaller, more likely to die and reach sexual maturity twice as fast but will quickly dominate a local area if there is room and food resources.
Garter snakes require warm sun to bask in or they are unable to digest food properly. Garter snakes use polyphagism, meaning they can adapt their diets. They can occasionally use a clumsy type of constriction, and often hunt in water for small creatures such as tadpoles or leeches. They can hunt the numerous small lizards in the area, especially the incautious small ones.
This western poplar sphinx moth has caterpillars that feed on cottonwood. These large moths are not often seen up close and many people mistake them for a hummingbird. But the adults have no mouthparts and die after a few days surviving only on the fat reserves collected as a caterpillar. They are the embodiment of the very hungry caterpillar.
There are two or three species of hummingbirds that take over the bosque environment. They will harass and divebomb large birds, especially raptors like hawks and owls. Their arrive can completely change the birds found in the riparian habitat by the river. They use nectar and sugar for energy, but also feed on small soft bodied insects like gnats or small spiders. Spider silk is also used to produce their thimble sized nests. Apparently they are very partial to water misting to clean residue from their feathers.
Fruit is found in abundant around Corrales, but supply is often erratic. The apricot trees produce early, but often they are too soon and the whole crop is damaged by a late frost. Most fruit trees use a "chill hours" internal counter. These are a range of mechanisms from callose plugs, abscisic acid, and chromatin remodeling of genes. None of this helped the fruit when NM late a late cold snap around April 17-18 after an unusual early warming that prompted the trees to begin fruiting too soon.
Bagworm moths can form intense and local swarms of insects. Most people only notice them once they are about the length of a fingernail, but they start off the size of a comma. They build a portable tent of chewed leaves as camouflage and protection from desiccation and predation.
While many insects simply lay eggs and die (like the bagworm), allowing the next generation to continue, there is a lot of different strategies out there. These yellow eggs are likely ladybug eggs that are laid and hatch quickly from adults that overwinter is a torpor called diapause. As the water cycle changes, many different insects will be affected and develop in unpredictable ways. The natural world is going to have some surprises for us. What we do with those surprises will depend on the knowledge we have stored and how we spend it.
