carrion

Often, pretty pictures can have ugly narratives. Disease caused by human activities can be devastating for some animals, but often a boon for others and is often a benefit to photographers! Reading about the stories behind them can still be satisfying none the less...

This gorgeous juvenile bald eagle was spotted in an unusual place. There were many theories by the small group that gathered to photograph the event. These juvenile birds don't have the white head until several years older. They don't stay here, due to unreliable fish supplies and weather. They also prefer to scavenge from bears and osprey rather than hunt for themselves, especially when they are this young and inexperienced.

Further sleuthing shows that there was a bunch of dead fish in the water that was attracting the bird's attention. More sleuthing (Dr. Google) suggests red mark syndrome; a rickettsial infection. Doesn't affect the eagle at all, not contagious. A fish stock release probably explains why the herons came back into the area briefly as well. I'm going to guess the raccoons and turtles will remove the evidence (5-6 dead trout that I could see) within a couple of days. The trout are stocked from fish farms maintained by government agencies and funded by fishing licenses. To an amphibian person like me, a grown trout is the equivalent of a shark to the other wildlife in the ditches. Luckily the water temp will soon be too high for them to survive...

This awesome picture shows a flicker sipping sap from an infection in a cottonwood. Wet wood or white rot is a bacterial infection that attracts many insects to the salts and water the affected trees leak. You can also see how the flicker braces it's tail against the tree, just like the woodpeckers do.

The porcupines are also in the populated areas. They are likely attracted by the buds on the orchard apple trees. 

This view from the bosque beach shows the graduation from  the river to the willows and on to the more mature trees away from the banks.

That area is not usually populated by geese, but this goose was alone in the river. Seemed pretty unusual for these normally social animals.

The MRGCD finished the job of mowing the cattails down in Scuzzy ditch, they must have been in a hurry as I haven't seen two at once before. The cattails will grow back quickly, of course. Time will tell how the wildlife and plants adjust...

My insect identification app still seems to be labelling everything as a "fungus gnat" I am pretty sure these two insects are not the same species.

I noticed the number of resting gnats were much higher right after the mowing activity of the tractors.

I wasn't the only one watching, the birds were swopping all around as the insects were disturbed by the mowing. Birds often follow plows and even grazing cattle to pick off disturbed insects. They often clean struggling bugs out of car radiators.