Almost rains

The high thunderclouds with their flat, grey  bases keep taunting us with rains that have not really come yet. Some say its because of a massive dust cloud out of the Sahara that is suppressing the hurricane season that gives NM its moisture. Who knows, we do know that the ditch levels right now are pretty low, which is a boon for some critters. The silt is building up too, without a good flush of water to push them onward to the Rio Grande. The clear ditch is backing up into the Scuzzy section and the microbiomes in that section are fluctuating.

We have lilies competing with duckweed, the pond weed, and the algae. The water switches from clear, to muddy to murky over a span of about a mile. But obviously this muskrat is munching on the plant life pretty much equally happily. He is out most evenings right now, in the middle of the ditch where the dogs can't get to him.

In sections, the flowers are open to receive pollinators like butterflies, bees, beetles, moths and flies.

The dragonflies are mating and flying like crazy, the variety is staggering. Other critters. like this kissing bug, are hunting the pollinators. Most of the other, noticable insects are night critters.

Of course, the pandamonium and activity is on a micro-scale. However, I was also noticing the many dog tracks, and there were loose dogs hunting frogs and ducks in the ditch. Its a shame that those crazy critters are out to terrorize the sleepy "dog days" of summer.