seeds

Many times old comfortable ideas can become rooted in little more than a person's imagination. This legume (related to a pea plant) grows very commonly along clear ditch. I got used to calling it "donkey's fodder". Now it turns out this plant is actually called "Illinois bundle flower" but is not found in Illinois!

Likewise, the common, purple flowers of the "deadly nightshade" turns out to be silverleaf nightshade. This plant well visited by bumble-bees even this late in the season. The plants have silver hairs that reduce evaporation and so are specifically designed for our climate.

as the water table continues to fall the ditch wetlands are undergoing a transformation. Some animals are quick to take advantage of the changes, like this heron, hunting stranded fish, frogs, insects, snakes and even turtles in the newly created shallows.

One of the animals just about every predator eats is baby lizards. Plus they are easy to outwit with just a little observation. Most creatures fall back on instinct in a panic, making them predictable.

On the morning walk I got to watch a skunk heading home to it's burrow in a drainage pipe. It fluffed its tail at our dog and meandered on its way. Didn't get time to snap a picture but I also didn't want to take my eye off a skunk that was displaying it's displeasure!

Animals that are easy to see are likely to be acting unusually. I think this is a male mantis. It was struggling to fly but is missing it's head and front legs.

fall

Fall

the first of my desert tadpoles have turned into a frog. Notice the square irises! I fed them very little so they grew slowly. Keeping the food low increases the chances they will live. Usually they grow fast and get out before the pond dries with 2 weeks, but over 80% die in the process. The ones that die are usually cannabalized by their siblings.

there are many weird and strange goings on out there in Corrales. So much is unknown. I found this huge snail in the ditch. Apparently it's a Chinese mystery snail, it's huge.

this guy is identified as a Sonoran mud turtle. Like this tortoise, many animals are on migrations right now.

The hummingbirds will be leaving soon, just in time to let the other birds come back into the bosque to forage for seeds, now that insects are becoming more scarce. This raven is moving back in after a summer scavenging the Rio Rancho dump. They appreciate all the mammals hit by cars on the main and high roads.

   The big migratory birds like the geese and sandhill cranes should be coming down the Rio Grande corridor soon.

    Of course, they'll have some challenges. I got to watch a small merlin being harassed by 5-6 hummingbirds while it was itself driving off a much larger Cooper's hawk. The smaller birds are more manoeverable, so are able to stay away from the danger of the bigger bird.

    The ditch is now partly made up of isolated pool where the tadpoles are trapped. They wriggle frantically to excavate a shallow hole to live a little longer, but that just attracts raccoons into the mud. Many tadpoles survive this, because raccoons cannot get out into the softest mud areas. However, the garter snakes clear out all the rest. 

    

Don't assume this swamp is now a bad place. The areas of an inch of water are ideal for the frog's, who use the thick cover from the rushes to ambush insects attracted to the wet mud,decaying plants, and dead tadpoles.

Wetlands like this are stinky, but in terms of biomass, are the most productive per unit area of anywhere.

 

  In the dry ditches the insects are busy fighting for food and territory. But they also have predators of their own.

 the toads make it outside when there is a sprinkling of rain, but have been very shy this year. Mostly the hide in the entrances of burrows make by other animals.

fangs

I'd be the first to tell you I like my nature untidy. But that comes with issues.

the only reason this snake was visible was a lack of ground cover, and it was still using all that was available. I only saw him because I was low to the ground doing push ups.He left quietly on his own shortly afterwards. Snakes have learnt not to be too sociable.

He is probably always around in the leaves, and invisible. He broke cover to take advantage of a cold wall and some shade from the high heat.

Of course, most people try to control nature too much, with bad consequences. This bee was dead and "trembling" likely a sign of neonicotinoids, a non discriminating form of pesticide. This guy was not the target, but suffered along with the aphids that were targeted. Many other pollinators seem to be fine, though

 these are a mixture of flies, wasps, and bees. On a clump of sunflowers. There were many other wasps that looked spectacular, but wouldn't hold still enough for a portrait.

Of course, in Corrales we are lucky to have this nature all around us, free for the looking. The city of Albuquerque has wilderness, but this is a local area of wetlands.

there is also a lot of wildlife, but it just isn't as pretty. There are a few bats in these overpasses as well.

 Some places are likely prettier, too. Like Shady Lakes, which blows me away whenever I visit there.

a juvenile whiptail. Easy to catch; their brains haven't come in yet.

the main pond had juvenile frogs in it. All trying to avoid the bass lurking in the depths. The smaller pools without bass had the big frogs.

these ramshorn snails thrive in the still, clear, weed choked water.

 as do these amphipods.

shaving

It's time to shave the ditch.

A sad time of change. It helps to know what the ditches are completely human managed, and this growth of wildness requires a lot of human intervention.

 I took quick pictures of these, minutes before the tractor came through. There were a lot of other pollinators affected. 

Looking for the positive, I noticed there were also many pollinators on the nightshade flowers that were not touched. Also, the fences had health grape vines that were also hosting different ecosystems. I also know these great plants will be back, probably before Halloween.

The heavy machinery that is constant going up and down the ditches compact the soil. When the air is squeezed out, the soil is less of a sponge and more like modelling clay.

Being impermeable to water is bad usually. But not if you need a small pond to grow tadpoles in the desert. The fine clay particles are ideal for hiding in, reducing evaporation, and seems to prevent the growth of micro-organisms, probably by stopping light, and being pretty alkaline from dissolved salts.

Of course, if there is no water, the soil lacks any kind of binder to keep the particles together. The ditch banks are compacted and above the level of the ditches, so they are bone dry in this drought. This is good,,,if you are an antlion. These small cones help the predators set traps for the unwary ants and means there should be a lot of dragonfly looking insects in a few months.

Many animals need humans to live now. Grackles lives in human parking lots picking up scraps from grocery parking lots. Ravens live on human structures by the dumps on the mesa. These birds move into human habitations to avoid having to migrate when the weather gets cold, and natural food and shelter become scarce.

Morning doves have a dapted very well to a mixed urban lifestyle, along with the rock pigeons in more build up areas. They survive on human handouts and roost near building heaters, they drink evaporative cooler drippings. The large number of roosting sites from dead branches, power lines, or lighting poles let them see potwntial threats, like coopers hawks.

Of course, many plants can only live because of humans. Like these apples, grapes and chiles. They, of course need the soil to be decompacted with plows before planting.

night

Sitting outside at night in late summer is not for the delicate. 

Apart from biting insects, there are some awesome true monsters out there in the darkness. The large size of some insects can create bizarre rustlings in the dry leaves and undergrowth just outside the lamp light. They sound just like the footfalls of some much larger creature. Also, there is a wide range of shrieks, buzzing, and clicks in the warm August nights. A few are birds, like owls. Some are clicks from bats.

Most are from insects, like this katydid. Of course, the scary animals are usually silent, and look boring, like this black widow.

This male is brown, and not dangerous. But usually, the more skittish and distinctive black and red female is often nearby.

There have been many reports of preying mantis hunting black widow recently, and where there is a wide variety of spiders there are usually no widows, so this spider's reputation is probably a little undeserved.

The coyotes have been calling often in the middle of the day and they sound a lot less scary than the same coyote pack calls in the evenings.Great horned owls and other raptors can be seen as dusk falls, and are absolutely silent as they hunt.

These fearsome ground beetles look tough, but are many are likely to be eaten by those coyotes.

This dobsonfly is a fearsome large hunter, with large jaws, but only is looking for small moths. I still stay clear of them.

The bagworms are now behemoths compared to the size they were in spring just a few months ago.

These insect larvae, species unknown, are tiny, but they have six actual legs, so are true insects and not worms.

These guys are huge in the world they live in , which is thick mud. Usually they can't be seen, except when the frog's water needs to be replaced. There are other parasites in this water. But I haven't been able to see them yet. Working on it.