warm

 I was pretty surprised to see there are many small perching birds that are eating the elm buds that are forming now. They are small buds, but very numerous.

Song by SmashMouth

It's a cool place and they say it gets colder
You're bundled up now, wait 'til you get older
But the meteor men beg to differ
Judging by the hole in the satellite picture
The ice we skate is getting pretty thin
The water's getting warm so you might as well swim
My world's on fire, how about yours?
That's the way I like it and I'll never get bored

The ice on the ditch is getting pretty thin. This picture above shows something that has dug into (or out of) the ditch bottom. The mud is still settling and the ice above is intact so the activity is either fish or turtles, both of which have started to become active in the last few days. The water at the end of Andrews Lane is getting more murky, as the ducks are able to disturb the ditch bottom searching for food. They paddle in place with their feet "puddling" and then probe the disturbed area with their sensitive beak in a characteristic "duck dive"

Under the ice the water is crystal clear, but where the ice no longer freezes at night, the ducks can begin to change the habitat.

Water is flowing into scuzzy ditch from the clear ditch slowly, but well irrigation has rapidly lowered the water table as the warmer temperatures stimulates private lawn growth.

 I'm pretty sure this was unintentional, but here is what I imagine to be the perfect care of elm trees. A short stump and many straight branches which could feed many native birds. This is also what the cottonwood stumps left by beavers look like in the willow forests by the river's edge.

Young porcupines can be seen occasionally in the branches of the large trees. They tend to nibble surfaces of trees like in this picture. Beavers and porcupines both eat the nutritious cambium layer of the tree, but only the beaver actually cuts down trees.

Humans also have strong direct and indirect effects on the Bosque. There has been many different management strategies used over the years, with differing degrees of success. In some areas the thick stands of invasive Russian Olive prevent all access to anything above knee height, this area has the coyote dens. The open areas with the mature Cottonwoods are havens for the bigger birds and porcupines, but he ground shade prevents new trees from taking root.

Beavers are ecosystem engineers and are intimately connected to the willows that grow at the loose soils at the edge of the Rio Grande. I haven't seen any signs of browsers like deer or elk yet this year.

All birds in general are an important transporter of nutrients from the fields to the river, where most spent the night. The kestrel hunts chipmunk in the sand dunes above the village, and is solitary. But all birds migrate to some extent

In the evenings, small groups of crow, raven, cranes, and geese fly in from the surrounding hills and gather in huge flocks. They defecate plant nutrients by the river each evening.

The weakest are also scavenged (like this crow, eaten by a coyote) and hunted by predators (usually the geese are hunted by bobcats)

 

To some extent, even some plants can migrate. These cockleburs are adapted to travel on the fur of mammals. But man-made fibers can work just as well. the thick hooks also discourage small birds from eating what would otherwise be a great source of food for them.

As the pandemic drags on the sounds of engines has once again begun to fill up the quiet spaces. The background hum of cars is only noticeable when it disappeared. The contrails in the sky have returned, and also the balloons from people visiting the Albuquerque box

Many dogs around Corrales used to get pretty anxious by the roaring bags of air. I always wonder what the animals make of the mass ascent.