travels

Studying nature in your backyard helps you when you travel to new areas.

      

One of the biggest benefits of studying nature is that studying, helps you study... Looking closely at plants in the Bosque meant I was prepped to see them when up on a mountain meadow recently. Learning how to see with the mind is a valuable skill that takes time. A lifetime in fact.

Of course, I love teaching what I can see, too. Beginners to nature can also often see things that older hands do not. Looking at an old idea with new eyes is the essence of learning, and communication. In a mountain meadow I was looking at flowers and insects, but the "beginners" with me were noticing wild turkeys rushing off into the nearby wooded area. Or maybe they just had younger, keener eyes.

They blend in, don' they? Of course, except for that amelanistic (albino) youngster. We counted 11 chicks, not bad for a recently re-introduced species.

Of course, along the ditch we also have areas of heavy vegetation that is good for hiding many creatures. Because of the heavy human presence the animals using the shelter are, by necessity smaller, and able to avoid the attentions of dogs. These tend to be insects

Mosquito fish are eyes and ears

    The insects are often very approachable during the heat of the day, when they are hiding and lethargic. In the ditch, however, many animals will use the ever alert mosquito fish as an early warning system. The fish are experts at sensing vibrations and movement, but most creatures are. Because of the use of the ditch by vehicles, movement and vibrations are pretty much constant. The mosquito fish are better than most animals at discerning specific threats, such as people. Ever notice how the water ripples when people approach the water's edge? That's the mosquito fish in the shallows warning the other critters to freeze and act like a leaf.

The heavy vehicle use causes a lot of problems with drainage.

 The picture on the right shows a collapsed bank where overflowing acequia water flowed over the compacted clay of a vehicle track and wore away the uncompacted edge of a drainage channel. Over time this will narrow the track and undermine the soil, as well as infill the ditch with soil, maybe creating dams and raised ponds like on the left. Scuzzy ditch is a living system, and a dam that raises water levels even a few inches can inundate a wide flat area as the water level rises and falls over the weeks and seasons.