change

The bosque keeps changing. Even the length of the day and the size of the moon seems to change right now.

The porcupines seem to be coming closer to people, maybe because the trees that still have buds are closer to the people. A lot of people don't even knowe they are in the trees right now. Often, people think the mistletoe clumps look like porcupines resting, however sun coming through their fur makes it look like they have a yellow halo around them, that stands out pretty well.

the bosque is a highly human modified place. The placing on animal feed for birds defintely changes animal behaviour of some birds(it explains why the mallards are around, they do well in large groups snd are bossy). More hidden is subtle effects of natural processes, such as diseases, on bird gatherings that would otherwise be much more dispersed.

Human sources of food probably delays migration too. For the big flocks this traveling timing is controlled by length of days and temperatures , but for a few individuals the extra food around might encourage they to stay over the winter.

This heron feather also hints at another big event that is pretty subtle. That is the nesting issues that come with being a waterfowl bird. All birds molt, but the process can be pretty complicated. .

BIrds have crazy colors that change at certain times of the year, according to breeding codition.

Molting is one of the reasons birds have such crazy behaviours, this process also affects their migration, and so much more

The spiders also are having changes. Right now is their hey-day, as they have low competition from insects such as ants, and low predation from insects such as wasps.

The biggest spiders, like the tarantulas,cannot be out in these low temperatures, so no need to get worried about creepie crawlies just yet. These spiders are a couple of millimeters long at most. They feast on the gnats that are swarming.

For some reason the moon is very prominant in the sky. The clear skies combined with the full moon are giving a lot of light at night, which encourages the moths to disperse. However, there are few bats to eat them this far north.

The sun is also acting weird, it is staying out much longer. It is very difficult to get a good picture of a sunset without any clouds to make the sky orange ad pink. I used the diffusion effects of tree branches to make this picture. But I am never happy with lanscapes.

The moon is still tricky for me, it doesn't have strong contrast to stand out. The moonrise time and location also makes it difficult to plan things right. It is..quirky.

These blackbirds are flying in flocks. They migrate daily from cattails to fruit trees to forage and socialize.