homes

I found this photo pretty emblematic about people's connection to the trees they live with. The plants adapt to humans by growing around them. And humans just chew through nature in pursuit of a single minded goal.

there are many examples of this, but every time I see these tree messages, there is also a small message of hope that maybe, one day, there will be a better way.

trees are amazing things in so many ways. Take this hole in a tree. I was created when water seeped into the heartwood of a mature cottonwood and began to rot it. Physical factors prevent the water from evaporating and insects begin to be attracted to the site, maybe even some carpenter ants. Eventually a hole develops and grows and decomes home for moths, spides, lizards, and others.

Of course, some animals prefer to use holes humans make for them. Rock pigeons specialize in nesting in road bridges. I hope to also find bats in those smaller cracks soon. This pigeon is sitting on a nest. Eventually the ledge will become coated in white bird poop as the nestlings begin to grow.

This is one of the most active porcupines I have met in a while. It was busy eating elm buds, and was in quite a hurry. It was the only one we saw on this walk though. His teeth are pretty easy to see here.

Humans also like to make homes from wood. There are more and more of these structures popping up in the bosque. Some of them must have taken quite a long time to build.

As well as the annual migrations of birds across the US,  there is a daily migration of geese and cranes from the fields to the safety of the river at night.

The crows and raven also use the river to navigate from the mountains and the towns to the dumpsites and the roosts in the Bosque. At this time of year, the air above the river at sunset is a whole seperate river of swirling black birds. We saw an occasional hawk make a mad dash into the throng and catch an unwary bird midflight.

The bosque is pretty dry right now, but plants like this mullein tell a story of when the water levels are much higher, and hopefully, might be again.

Here is another log that was cleared from jenny jacks, a old system of flood control that is slowly going away.

I love the great horned owls, but it is nice to see other birds once in a while. I think this is a screech owl, a much smaller bird that nests in the holes in trees. The first picture is a little out of focus, but I kind of like my imperfect pictures, they seem so much more... real to me somehow.

the insects are coming out finally, and the birds are already here to meet them. 

coyote

this coopers hawk is warming itself in the sun. You can tell because the feathers are all ruffled and spread open to let the sun's rays onto the skin.  Check out that awesome long claw on the branch. Those talons spread wide like a net to catch small fast moving prey. Birds actually do not have much time to get everything done they need to do. Time spent foraging is time they cannot spend defending territory and finding mates. As Spring advances (phenology) the ratio becomes reversed as food becomes easy to find and territory becomes harder to defend.

I think this is a house finch. Some of the perching birds are beginning nest season early. The coopers hawks are out in great numbers in readiness for the unwary. Usually the great horned owl is the first to nest in February, but things are different in warm dry winters, which is a all of them now.

This towhee was downing Olives like there was no tomorrow. It needs the oils and terpenes from the fruit to get into bredding condition. The fruit's stones will be pooped out all over the bosque and can then continue their relentless advance against the mature cottonwood stands.

I hate photographing birds, they just don't hold still at high magnifications. So I think this is a junco, or a flycatcher maybe. (Update, this is a chickadee). Either way, it is chowing down on tree buds (elm, I think).

Some neighbourhoods are much quieter than others. Those big yards with little traffic are more likely to have signs of porcupine like this on the roadways outside.

Porcupines are likely not appreciated in this apple orchard. Not the red branches with buds forming. This example has a beautiful wild growth fence that likely takes some serious work to maintain over the summer. However, farmland is being relentlessly replaced with urban houses. Many of the more affluent houses have walls instead of fences, this creates a tunnel effect where some animals benefit and others are trapped.

This road is in a more farmland area around middle ditch. The trees give shade and the dilapidated fences allow many areas for animals to pass through. This is easy to see right after a snowfall where the drama of coyotes, ravens and rabbits are written in the snow.

Coyotes are often confused and disoriented where there are block walls or "coyote fencing". There are no places to hide, which makes them easy to see. This picture shows a (admittedly well made) wall; good to block traffic noise, but awful as a habitat for wildlife. This time of year many mammals are spreading out their territories and looking for mates.

Obviously this also means many animals will die on our roads and become food for other animals (raven and coyotes are niche roadkill scavengers and thrive where ever roads are found). The deaths of squirrel, rabbit, birds, skunk and raccoon is crazy over the next few months. In the summer the toll becomes crazy as amphibians and reptiles are added to the pile. And this example is a quiet, short road with little traffic!

(This rabbit carcass was carried off within 1 hour of me finding it.)

others

this is a picture of a spider I found on the curtain. It is a common cellar spider. the two big eyes are shining in the light of the flash but it has four more at the front. It is absolutely harmless to people. This one is missing two legs on the left side. Spiders can shed legs as a defense mechanism

In the winter months, I can watch birds. But it is only when it snows that the other critters can be seen by their tracks. Most mammals in the wild have learnt to come out only in the ded of night. This picture shows something small like a squirrel gnawing on the nutrient layer of an elm tree. This is defintely different than a porcupine or beaver, maybe a rabbit?

this classic pattern of two big pawprints followed by two off center prints in a "y" shape is the marks of a desert cottontail, where the back feet land ahead of the front paws.

Usually coyote tracks show paw prints in a staight line, but the easier giveaway is that there is no human tracks nearby.

these tracks are a little harder to see, but show raven striding through the snow and probing the dirt

A lot of vehicle pollution is insidious, like the tire dust poisoning coho salmon. Or the climate change from carbon dioxide. However, after a snow the amount of oil dripping from old oil pans can be seen in these rainbow slicks. the numbers of these seen after 5pm when the communters have returned home is pretty startling.

volunteer

Corrales is rightly noted as one of the safest towns in New Mexico. It has some natural advantages that allow that appelation to exist, but but this state of affairs also doesn't happen by accident. There are many dog walkers who keep a close eye on things along the ditch. Neighbours usually talk with each other. Unfortunately, while cleaning trash from the ditch the downsides of a safe town (known to teenagers around the US) are also apparent. Everyone assumes you are up to no good. Everyone's dogs will bark incessantly.

And that is before the problems of clambering around in wild, steep sided muddy ditches full of snakes, snapping turtles, skunks and trash have been faced.

At the end of the day I spent a couple of hours picking up a half trashbag of garbage. You always have to get down into the weeds to learn new stuff. While there is nothng new under the sun, it is also true that humans know a whole lot less than we think we do. In the picture above, the scum on the top of the water is actually pollen, likely from gymnosperms out of people's gardens (pine trees).

The plants are being to sprout. This log looks prickly, but it is actually small saplings that are growing on wet bark of a different tree species. In the permanently wet Northwestern US forests, this is a common thing. But down here this is a new thing for me.

Also a new one for me is this group of slugs. Very exciting because it means salamander are likely around too. Here we see how this genus got called "three banded"

there are many ramshorn snail shells and golden clam shells around that show where the cold killed them, but somehow these shellless molluscs are doing fine under wet wood.

This is a chinese mystery snail. An introduced species and apparently tasty. 

One area had a large scattering of skunk fur. The original owner probably got hit by a car late at night.

Here is an abandoned aqequia being slowly reclaimed by plants. These have to be maintained and cleared out at least once a year, but since the user put in groundwater sprinkler irrigation, there has not been anyone to clear the vegetation.

not all plants are equally welcome, of course. These clinging seeds take forever to get out of clothes.

The thick stands of cattails have begun to attract red-wing blackbirds. I have only see nthe drab brown females so far. But am hopeful there will be the loud, black and red males once spring is in full wing, I mean swing.

Nesting is a learned behaviour, and takes practise. Here is an half-made finch nest that was blown down in the strong winds we had last night. Seems to be pretty early in the season, but I am not a bird.

storm

At this time of year, the clouds can bring in moisture to the Corrales area. The low temperatures means this "heaven sent" rain is more available for plants, because it can soak into the soil instead of running off into the river and into Texas.

Many new plants take advantage of a dead plant to grow in an area that is just slightly more moist than surrounding soil, with nutrients already locked in. This domestic yucca plant shows this idea the best, after the old "century plant" bloomed and then died, a new green clone is sprouting from its roots. This arrangement also lets the young plant take advantage of extra nutrients, shade and moisture to give it a better headstart on the growing season. Also protection, those spikes are still effective at warding off crushing hooves and nibbling teeth.

this same effect can be seen in this overgrown section of the clear ditch. The new grass growth has begun. this attracts rabbits, and hence coyotes to the ditch edges for those succulent, sugar laden shoots.

this I think is a species of millet, likely a feral plant that grew from birdseed sprouts. many birds eat this, and it thrives in marshy areas where the beaver dams are slowly raising water and soft silt levels.

this picture shows the water creeping into grassland to make tiny strips of marsh. The ditches follow the general rules of river hydrology and develop pretty complex habitats from them. 

Basically, fast water removes sediment, slow water deposits sediment. In this photo a shallow funnel in the river is opening into a deeper section. The water speeds up at the chokepoint,  and then slows as it spreads out into a bigger area. The sediment becomes segregated by size and you can see the whiter sand bar forming at the far bank. You also see this in the Rio Grande where the river bends.

This is the same location but zoomed in. A deep stillwater pool in the downstream of a tumbleweed is settling out the rich, organic mud and will slowly fill up with sediment. Wetland adapted seedlings will sprout here when the average annual water depth is about an inch or so. This system of pools and riffles occurs everywhere there is water flowing.

Eventually, the sediment load gets so high, the water table drops below the ground level, and the ditch enviroment becomes a meadow. Which is why the MRGCD has to bring in heavy machines to dig it back down.

after the machines have resculpted the banks, we have steep sided slopes with a wide ditch and slow moving water. Most of the sediment (but not dissolved nutrients) has been removed now, and the water is clear, allowing pond weed to grow in the summer. If the water was not moving, duckweed would form on the surface. Wind creates water currents, also moving the duckweed, and brings in tumbleweeds that trap sedminent

if the area is more than a couple of inches deep and has moving water, the filamentous algae can grow quickly clear water. This open water environment is relatively alkaline and many fish call this home.

where is this is still water and many trees, the decomposing leaves create an acidic, anoxic water rich in organic material. The black mud is hospitable to many animals we do not see; worms, snails, insects. those in turn attract many other creatures; bats, birds, reptiles. Often , you will see a colorful purple or orange slick on the water. This is a type of iron reducing bacteria that thrives in these water conditions and produces that swamp smell as a byproduct.

I don't usually see flcikers in a group (or even holding still) The seemed to just be enjoying the sun, and early morning stilness. Many bird species have a very clear zone of disruption that, if crossed, will cause them to fly away. Flickers are notoriously difficult to get close to.

this dove, is much more tolerate of dogwalkers, although he is still keeping a watchful eye out.