Fish

 One thing I have not talked a lot about is the fish found in Corrales. We have a lot of them, but I don't know much about ichthyology. We have some native species like suckers and silvery minnow, but most are introduced; like the trout, catfish, carp, mosquito-fish, and goldfish. The silvery minnow now only occupies 10% of its historic range, and the Rio Grande used to have huge fish like sturgeon, and Longnose gar.

I see a lot of problems created by heavy recreational fishing, but I also know many aquatic wildness areas couldn't exist without the money and interest fishing brings to them. Today the thick ice covering the water at the end of Andrews Lane prevented any fishing, so the carp were free to be out and foraging in safety. Interestingly, when they felt noticed, the shoal wriggled and vanished into a thick cloud of disturbed sediment. They even maintained the cloud to stay hidden while I waited. Pretty smart for a bunch of fish brains. 

Further down the ditch, the usual fishermen were hauling out trout that had been placed their specifically for their fishing enjoyment at a pretty high cost. It seemed kind of pointless to me, but I like looking at frogs, so to each his own.

The ducks were feeding in the moving water of clear ditch, where the water was ice-free. I noticed the males had green heads when dry. Today everyone was feeding furiously underwater, the wet heads were all a dark blue-purple color instead.

The canada geese prefer the new green shoots of open fields. A large flock is safest. So some can eat while others keep look-out. This group is alert for something nearby

this flock all have their heads down and are in danger from predators both from land and in the air.

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At the boundary of the field where the geese were feeding, was several piles of goose feathers. I suspect bobcats were picking off several each morning.

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A new hobby requires a new camera. Birds need a high zoom and a rapid focus. It also helps to have a big aperture at fast shutter speeds for fast work in low light. This new camera sure has a lot of bells and whistles, but it should also help with everything from birds to bugs. This merlin really pops and seems to be a new neighbor. The small hedrow birds have suddenly moved somewhere else too...

Today the small birds came back into our yard. They were attracted to the pockets of snow still lingering in the shadows of the fence, they are scooping up beakfuls to drink. It makes sense, as all the regular water sources are frozen into solid ice.

Weirdly, both the two birds shown above are closely related species; Juncos. They look different as heck to me, but I am not the expert here. I usually use Inaturalist apps for novel animals, and those human curators on that site are...bird people, enough said.

This photo is unfortunately at a rather extreme zoom level, but shows a crow harassing a red tailed hawk. We have seen quite  a bit of this behaviour this winter. The crows calls were very distinctive.

Another animal with a distinctive call is this domestic guinea fowl. In profile, this bird has an amazing head with bright coloration and a bony crest used for running through thick brush. These birds are found in Africa, but are incredibly hardy and adapt well to other countries. They have a loud call completely unlike chickens.