flight

 now that the hummingbirds have left for Costa rica, the birds are moving back into the bosque, chief among them are the raptors. This owl watched our backyard fire pit for a short while, taking a moment to chill in a busy schedule.

I was lucky to get a close shot of this guy just before sunset on the clear ditch. He is watching a flights of cranes, ducks, and geese that are flying into the bosque in large numbers.

With a little practice, it becomes easy to tell the strict V shape of the honking Canada geese from the ragged lines of clattering Sandhill cranes; to the tight, low flying V's of the ducks that whistle as they fly.

The image came out blurry, but this is the unmistakable shape of a great heron, with the double bow in the neck and a loud annoyed grunt. The ravens are in the orchards, dropping pecan shells all over, too.

The crested kingfishers have returned, with their raucous, rapid fire warning cry.

As the bats wind down for winter, there is a lot more varieties of moths out, which is good, because my bullfrog and spadefoot frogs have really big appetites .

This picture didn't come out so well, but looking closely you can see many aquatic larval insects, such as mayfly and dragonfly nymphs being trapped by the receding irrigation waters.

Those small pools attract all sorts of critters and their tracks can be seen in the mud pretty well. There is a downside: This time of year I usually see a few dead raccoons beside the dirt roads.

Historically, cars are usually the culprit, but there are probably infections going around that pets can spread, like distemper.

Bad news for mammals, but a boon for the flocks of vultures passing through. They look like giant Halloween bats, but very, very different. These huge birds are warming up for the day in the fierce New Mexico sun. These guys are way too slow to eat roadkill, so the ravens have adapted to handle that side of things.

Surprisingly, there are still bugs around, some are weird, like this little Jerusalem cricket (they get WAY bigger).

Others are a little weirder, like this moth.