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.