colors

Flower colors

The flower colors are changing as the different wildflowers are competing for real estate along the ditch banks where the water is but the other plants aren't.

This is how evolution happens, especially in plants that have to use the genes they are born with to adapt to conditions. Animals, of course can use behaviors, like migration, to adapt to conditions but the plants are rooted in plant and have to express genetic gifts like fast growth, or drought tolerance,

or employ bugs like harvester ants and pollinators. On the right is the plant munching caterpillar of a buck-eye, I think. On the R is a weevil that is trying to avoid ant patrols on a sunflower to get to the tender parts of the plant tips. The ants are protecting the aphids, much like cows are protected from wolves by farmers. this beetle is no threat, but looks a lot like a ladybird larva; a true insect "wolf"

Insect colors

Mimicry is a common insect behavior and gets complicated when you get too into it. But just on a surface level, the colors, behaviors and just simply thinks that can be seen is mind blowing, if you just have the time to look.

 

The colors and textures on this conchuela bug are cool, and very different from the boring browns see see on the more common stink bugs. But look at his undersides, there is his piercing styles he uses to suck plant juices, the row of air holes down the thorax "spiracles" are very alien-like. Look at that back, with the semi hidden wings under the elytra. with a small red tuft and distinctive red border. I've seen detailing like that on fancy sport cars on Alameda.

Insect pests

    Of course, this bug is a pest of cotton plants in east Texas, but looks different here. Weeds harbor pests like this and explains why people often "shave" plants down to the ground to control them. This is habitat loss for all species of course. If the plants were only culled to shin height, many species could continue to enjoy the food, cover and protection the micro canopy can provide. Of course, nature lovers like me do nothing to pay for the upkeep of wild spaces. Anglers, farmers and home owners provide cash to get things done in Corrales.

Effect of people

    Recreational users of the ditches abound, of course. But they enjoy free access that is paid for by others. They leave dog poop, trash, damage, and crime. I have learnt to appreciate the value of trash as it keeps people out of the water that animals need to live in. I wish people could be a bit more respectful of shared spaces however.

Bird control

    It is interesting to watch the fish feeding literally as soon as the last car has pulled out of the parking lot that Andrews lane is becoming. If one is quiet and can stand still, there is so much more that can be seen. like how the fish use small bird activity to gauge when there are no people around.

This phoebe is very used to people, but once the coast is clear, it comes down to perch clsoe to the water and snatch mayflies out of the air. When it does, the fish also come up to the surface to snatch the same mayflies as they land on the water surface to deposit eggs. You can see rings in the background of this picture as many different fish species compete below the surface, where minutes before the water was like a sheet of glass as the people walked through, oblivious.

Tadpoles

    Amphibians are my focus and the reason I moved to Corrales and paid the premium needed for a house on the ditch. There are a lot of downsides living in this area, but the nature is not one of them. Of course, I think taking pictures of tadpoles is exciting. I can count on one hand the number of people who would agree. They are also hard to photograph, raise, understand, and see. 

This is a classic, one year old bullfrog tadpole eating algae. These tadpoles are slowly moving up into the shallows where the food and shelter is so they can metamorphose into a new animal. They have to avoid all sorts of predators from fish, mammals, insects like dragonfly larvae, turtles, ducks. then they have to rebuild themselves from poorly designed "fish" with tails, and gills, into poorly designed "animals" with legs and lungs and begin to compete and avoid being eaten by others of their own species. In early summer, on the windless evenings, I can sit on my back porch and listen to the ones who are croaking in celebration of  their success.

Growth

    I have been experimenting with plants to see how they grow. I am always amazing how quickly elm seedling sprout and grow, but watching them come out of the seeds in spring i quickly found that they and cottonwoods need amazingly precise conditions to grow into saplings. Elms grow fast but also die fast.

They are in the pot on the Right. On the Left is a wet pot containing a whole mulberry and a couple of cottonwoods that I kept from the spring "snow". i have hard a lot of stories about how these trees grow, and am learning the nuances for myself. So far, I can report my findings are that elms and mulberries like wet acidic soils, bu the cottonwoods do not grow in wet or dry mulch and need still, clear water and pure clay with bright sun. Also, spadefoot tadpoles eat green seedlings in the water of all species.