Territory

I have met this coyote several times over the last year.He has a knack for getting himself into "situations". He has a pretty well defined terrotory that includes a section of the Scuzzy ditch on Andrew's lane from Hess Road to Skylark Lane. He usually uses this heavily trafficked section around midnight, (according to my trailcam). But will be seen during midday at this time of year for some reason. He stays well out of reach usually. Today he trotted right past our car and down the ditch where there was a couple of dog walkers. I smiled indulgently and then gawped as one of the dog walkers took out a can of mace and got ready. Luckily nothing came of it, but it could have gone so badly for this dumb coyote. I see the damage domestic dogs do to people and wildlife. Then I hear the stories about coyotes that are wildly exaggerated. It's sad that I would probably feel safer with this coyote that I know than a large domestic dog that I didn't.

this kingfisher is likely going to be moving away soon, just like the herons already seem to have done. I watched this one successfully catch a large mosquito fish just after this picture was taken. He flew off cackling wildly.

Many animals, birds especially are beginning to snack on the insects that have emerged and are busy generating the next brood. For all the talk people make about mosquitos, the gnats and midges like this one seem to be by far the most fecund. You can see the feathers on the legs that allow this female to rest on the surface of the water while she lays her raft of eggs.

Many birds moving into the area now are insect eaters. They are getting ready to move in and are buying up the new real estate. The swallow nests under the bypass are intact over the water, but those on the shore side have all been destroyed, apparently by stone throwing in a time consuming and wanton sort of way. This bridge also has been shown to house hibernating bats, but I have never seen them, yet.

There are bird nests all over the bosque right now. Big ones like these could be by crows or horned owls. Many nests are used by different species at different times.

this one is much smaller and way too close to the ground. Still, it looks like it was used last year.

Near Albuquerque is where our family usually sees the highest abundance of porcupine, starting in February. No idea why. Here you can see the orange teeth that these rodents have. These teeth never stop growing , unlike our own.

Given the choice, they go after buds of trees like this elm. They seem to be very excited when they find them.

Most people think of porcupines eating bark from the tree tops. This russian olive has the classic cross hatching of porcupine teeth. I have noticed that the invasive trees like elms and olives seem to be prefered by both beaver and porcupine.
    

This great horned owl was a nice find, one of the few daytime owl hunters. This hunter is famous for being one of the few predators of skunk. Sometimes rabbits.

Under some trees, the ground is littered with pellets of sawdust from porcupine "scat". The small, round pellet is from a rabbit, for comparison.

modern camera resolution and zoom is pretty impressive. I have never had the chance to look up a porcupine's nose before.

You may notice the nose is a lot bigger than the tiny eyes. The range of hair color is also impressive. The coats go from black to almost white. The blond porcupines are the most noticable.

the daytime temperature are getting warm enough for the insects to be foraging. This european transplant (pillbug) has some impressive color and patterns on his carapace, when viewed up close. I'm happy to have something other than birds to photograph finally, no apologies.

This common wolf spider is totally harmless, and still scared the willies out of me. The male has obvious "boxing gloves" on his pedipalps. (where you would look to see his "hands")

Many of the cold adapted moths have this "fabio" haircut. This I have described before. However, during the glamor photoshoot I noticed a much more interesting fact.

He has a passenger who was trying to get off

some sort of mite. I know of ear mite infestations that some moths have, but I have never seen one up close. I have a feeling me and my brand new macro lens are going to be busy over the next few months...