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.