There are many animals changing their behaviors right now. The bullfrog and woodhouse toads are calling during the hot, still days. The trees have begun throwing out seeds again, during these windy days. There are many new plants and flowers springing up everywhere.
So I got to watch more organisms moving into the forest and start building homes. Here we have a mason bee (ident. pending) bringing jawfuls of mud into the newly discovered burrow that also happens to be a screwhole for our outdoor umbrella. It looks like the same thing happened last year on the other side. I'll keep you updated as to progress...
There are many new birds around these parts right now. This is not a great picture but we think it is a scarlet tanager. The hawks are really active too. Even the crazy territorial antics of the hummingbirds are not enough to keep them out of the bosque.
The carp are going wild in the ditches releasing eggs. Sadly, most of the eggs will disappear to feed sunfish and mosquitofish. It's still good to see these big carp are suddenly visible by their thrashing behavior and long conga lines after being hidden for so long. It's weird to see the bass fishermen with their short uglee sticks and big families being replaced suddenly by the solitary, grim faced fly fishermen with their long whippy fluorescent strings. I won't miss finding all those cans of corn in the grass, or the never-ending filament and discarded bass hooks.
I found this little bulldozer under a log. He woke up after a while and used his spiked front feet to begin pushing out the stopper of the little container I had put him in. He looks freshly molted and shiny and probably was waiting for his new carapace to harden before wandering out into the world again.
Our dog is always leashed, but that still doesn't mean he doesn't try to chase anything moving, and at this time of the year that means small whiptail lizards like this one. Our dog chased him into an irrigation ditch and this guy was seconds from drowning when I scooped him out in a dramatic, if a little muddy, rescue. After some selfie shots and a moment warming up in the sun on my hand, I let him go. You have to be careful picking up these guys because if they are too warm, they will break off their tails to escape, and have a shortened life because of it.
This big guy was scooped out of my kids room using these very useful bug-catchers. The insects are finding their way inside to appreciate the cool darkness, and naturally the mobile spiders are following their prey too. Completely harmless, but bug catchers are still easier to catch and relocate than the business end of a newspaper, or the old jar and a postcard.
My fish spotting skills are slowly improving, and those fish I thought were catfish; are. They only feed and are visible real early in the morning. I have seen some fingerling trout around too. I can't imagine them being released at this time of year, as they prefer cool and clear waters. Luckily, either from the environment, or the persistent fishermen, they do not hang around for very long. They are notorious tadpole eaters.
While I was away at work, my kid brought is some weeds to study, it turns out they had an attendant crop of aphids on them. This was watched over by a colony of possessive ants. This microbiome was then brought into the house and then shortly evicted, with all the attendant shrieks and curses that always accompany wildlife-human interactions. Those verge mustard grass and crossflower weeds are an entire environment for a great many critters, from pollinators like this fly, to aphids, spiders, moths and ants. Those are just the insects I have found so far this year!
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