oxygen

It's weird watching oxygen bubbles popping on the surface of the ditch. This is because most floating vegetation traps these bubbles. The algae that produces them, however, needs sunlight to produce the bubbles.

Of course, that was before the monsoons started on Tuesday. The skies are overcast now, and the algae has stopped producing oxygen bubbles. The floating algae nets are no longer buoyant and are sinking to the mud to create a bacteria rich, anoxic mass of sludge. The influx of cold rain water is driving away the large beetles as they succumb to infections and parasites. The walkways along the ditch are now clay rich, slippery and muddy slip and slides.
While the dog walkers are muttering about the mud, the ants are suffering so much more. Standing surface water is a real problems for all ants, but they have some behaviors to help counter the problem. They also benefit a lot from conditions as the waters recede.

There are many different ant species in Corrales. They have many different styles of adaptions to wet conditions; both physical, and behavioral. On of the common things that is pretty easy to see, is the ant hills that are built to prevent ingress of water, and to remove sticky clay particles from inside the nest that can trap water and prevent drainage. 

Many insects, including ants use high humidity as a cue that its time to mate and migrate. There are two pictures of ants. The species is probably the same, but the one on the right is a drone looking for queen pheromone trails.

 Around the farms, the snails and warrior beetles are emerging. The garden snails come out of the undergrowth, while the beetles are emerging from the roots and giving up their grubbing ways.

Many animals like this season. The geese and feral turkeys are returning to the empty parks and their fields of bugs and grass. The photogenic bullfrogs are surprisingly quiet, but are probably migrating back into the quiet, still waters of whatever wetlands they can find.