All is quiet

Smells
the recent rain has done broken a dry spell, and as a side effect has brought smells back into the bosque. This can be unfortunate, as one of the neighbors has just started tarring their roof!

But also in the milieu of smells was the scent of russian olive, weirdly, still with its fruits.
Frost damage
There are signs everywhere of damaged shoots and buds. The hard freeze last night was probably rough on the farms in the area. There are many more signs of activity this week and there is noise of diesel engines all around. The first few planes passed overhead, I can't say I miss their intrusion in the calm of the Bosque.
starling flock

There is a flock of I think starlings visiting a stand of cottonwoods in the area. They make the sounds of crunching peanuts as the buds land on the asphalt.

there are many other flocks in the area, here is a small part of the large group of turkey vultures that form and disappear surprisingly quickly in the mornings and evenings.

The woodpeckers are pretty obvious with their bright colors and loud drumming.

Animals response to ditch shaving
the ditch is very quiet right now, just a few small yellow birds hunting cold insects. The shaving is probably a major upheaval for most of the aquatic species as the plant cover changes the ecosystem.

Of course, down on clear ditch they are not just shaving, they are scooping. Further upstream there are muskrat and beaver dams which seem to capture silt. I wonder what happens when the excavator gets there? They also lay down and smooth sand along the banks, presumably to stabilize them.
Farm

Down by the farm area there is a solitary black cat. Probably not coincidentally, there was a new gopher carcass nearby. Outdoor cats usually do poorly in an area with many predators like the bosque, but there is probably a good supply of rodents and people in that area.

The cat appears to be thriving.