headwater

A big problem with knowing stuff is that it's very hard to know that you don't know more stuff.

it turns out that up in Colorado, there is a start of the Rio Grande at this park. This river is the sixth longest in the US. Yeah, Corrales shares the Rio Grande with many other states.

one of the things we do not have in common is we do not have elk around Corrales, just too many people and animals squeezing into the same space. This elk is from Chama. They seem to have no shortage of wetlands at the Colorado border.

I have always wondered why we don't see magpie near Corrales. These birds seem to prefer colder weather.

this red wing blackbird is very common up at Chama, but is also seen in Corrales. Some animals are just more adaptable than others.

these marsh flowers are found at high altitude where the growing season is much shorter than down at Corrales. So all plants are in a much bigger hurry to grow.

I knew of marsh marigold, but had never seen white marsh marigold before. These flowers, like many that grow in short growing seasons, do not develop long stems.

these frogs are unlike anything in Corrales. They are tiny, about 2 inches long. Bullfrogs and crayfish cannot survive the cold winters at high altitude, so these delicate amphibians are relatively safe from predation in mountain ponds

But they have to mate and reproduce in a hurry. They do so with loud calls (sounds like fingernails along a plastic comb) and being able to begin amplexus (mating) as soon as there is liquid water in the spring (there is still snow on the border with Colorado.)

Ironically, the riparian zone in Alamosa is to prevent buildings from displacing wildlife. In our section of the Rio grande river we still (sort of) manage to live with (some of) nature. Caterpillars are sometimes welcomed, yet mule deer are quietly pushed out. There are many solutions in different places as to how humans can live in nature. Of course, that just means no system is any better than the others...

meadows

The official start if summer can be a bit odd as everyone packs up their things and head out on a house with wheels to a new landscape.

This young muskrat is busy moving into new digs in the Scuzzy ditch

The heat has brought out many dragonfly species.

The spring has clearly been good for the wildflower season. The flowers here are from the meadows in northern new mexico

Many plants can grow all over the state, but many are local. This unknown flower seems pretty specialist.

while this sunflower is common.

As Heron lake drains, the boggy mud dries into meadows and lush early succession plants grow up from the delicate soil. This dry soil very easily turns to dust under the assault of tires and feet. But the water is close to the surface and accessible to the plant roots.

The flowers are beautiful, but short-lived. Sometimes only for one night.

the fields are big further north, as the populations of people are not as severe.

This osprey is often found near lakes, but there is also a nest at the northern diversion channel in Corrales. They look fierce, but are strictly fish eaters.

Near heron lake there is an emergence of clapping wing cicadas. Nothing like brood X on the east coast, but definitely noticable.

They emerge from holes in the ground and climb into the branches to let their wings dry. Unlike the bigger cicadas, they clap their wings instead of using a "timbal"

There are many chipmunks is the drier parts of the state. I never see any in the bosque, however. Probably explains why there are no rattlesnakes...

The meadow flowers are blooming in profusion. I have only the vaguest notion of what they all are. But they are delicate.

Purple and yellow predominate as the preferred colors of day pollinators like bees, flies and beetles.

But the moths are out there too, and their time should be coming as the nights become warm.

There are many flowers out in the desert, but they often need a lot more work to find them in the heat...

fish

How do we know when we know enough? Most people are content to know a little about nature. Even if they know some facts are just wrong, it doesn't matter enough to bother learning the real facts. But sometimes, what we don't know can affect us very deeply, and once it's gone, it is too late to find out what it was we did not know, like the dodo and the passenger pigeons. Extinction is permanent, unfortunately. Everyone knows Corrales is changing quickly, and most people agree the changes are not for the better, yet it continues.

These sunfish are currently in the ditches. I guess they have always been here, but I suspect they also have migrated in from wherever the ditch waters out of the siphon come from.

This species needs a clear, gravelly bottom to lay eggs. The new eggs would be smothered by silt and mud, so the males clear an area by wafting water over the silt until there is a bowl shaped depression in the bottom. Eventually, the floor is covered in these hexagonal depressions, then the brightly colored males fight for dominance and simultaneously entice females to lay their eggs in the hollow to be fertilized. Many people can see them from the bank and try to fish for the males, but these fish are not interested in eating. Mating is exhausting and serious business for them.

This vulture is not showing the classic white stripes under the wings, but I am assured that is what this bird is. Many creatures seem not to have read the rulebooks humans have written for them. There is always plenty of food in the bosque for this pack of vultures. The ravens are more specialized to handle the roadkill of the desert roads.

This picture is hard to see, but shows a female bird on the right encouraging a fledgling on the left that is fluttering madly trying to keep it's balance on a branch after making a maiden flight across the ditch. There will be many baby birds that do not master this vital skill. This family is likely to be okay this year.

A birder identified this as a 2 year old male summer tanager. For some reason, these tanagers seem to attract pestering from the hummingbirds. They have a pretty impressively thick bill

The snowy egrets are pretty big birds. They have a cool bill. Not as big as the herons, but pretty cool to see them using these slim, delicate tools in action. They have great concentration.

This egret is looking for stunned fish coming out of a ditch drain into the clear ditch. I have been noticing a lot of sunfish recently, those would make a decent meal for a lucky bird.

Looking closer, you can see their yellow feet. I don't know why so many waterbirds have flashy colored feet. Some seabirds have red and blue feet (genus Sula, also known as boobies). Many birds have yellow feet, mallards have orange feet. Crested penguins have pink feet.

the water levels passing through Albuquerque sections of the Rio Grande are awesomely high. Which is unusual in the severe drought that exists in the Southwest. The levels of water in the river for this section are completely human controlled and managed for the benefit of many interests. Is is interesting to speculate how things would change if people living in the city could see the river drying up in their backyards...

Bird parents need to gather a lot of food until their fledglings can hunt for themselves. Along with the many insects, there are many fruits on trees that are beginning to come out. Some of the earliest are the mulberries. Here is the more common red mulberry, there are also white mulberries around. These trees are the favorite food of silkworms.

Many of the birds in the bosque have plenty of food choices right now. many birds like the mulberry fruits. The seeds get to be scattered far and wide in their droppings. Squirrels also eat many fruits, but the more efficient digestive system and grinding teeth of mammals usually means the seeds will not survive digestions to germinate.

There are many cultivated flowers, like these red hot pokers that are used by gardeners to attract pollinators to a garden, especially hummingbirds.

Wild flowers can have more nectar, but often are much smaller. They make up for this by being more abundant. These clover flowers are tiny, but seem to be much appreciated by bumble bees.

High in the canopy of the largest elms, there is a lot of activity going on among the insects. These caterpillars are tiny right now, but they will rapidly grow in size during the summer. Many are dropping out of the foliage right now. Soon there will be frass as they devour bushels of tree leaves in a huge army of caterpillars, each one wearing their own silken sleeping bag.

the other common insect is the ladybird nymphs like this one. Aphids are usually found on young shoots, but the ladybirds seem to be hatching high in the canopy. So there is a lot of traveling for a small insect.

 

This warrior ground beetle eats a lot of pest insects like bagworms and moths. They are often found close to the grounds of the local farm (ARCA).

Most of the local lizards have not yet figured out how to deal with the irrigation ditches, so I was glad to see the lateral ditch being dry this week. These whiptails often try to swim across water stretches when they when startled. They usually swim strongly, but have trouble getting out at the other end. Often they need to be warmed back up in the hand before they should be released. They appear to appreciate the chance to rest.

Many, many lizards are killed by domestic dogs and cats (mostly dogs) their movements naturally attract many dog's hunting instincts. This one appears to have been stamped on by a pair of paws, breaking it's pelvis. Sadly, this in not a common species of lizard for this area (some sort of whiptail, but not the common, local blue tailed species) so who knows how much damage was done to this species?

There are many plants growing up on the mesa (westside) among all the new houses being build. Most are waiting for the monsoons to bring their beautiful and delicate flowers out. I had not realized until I started looking, how many species of ephedra there are. With a little practice it is easy to pick out their pale green, thick stems. But the species all look different

At the Alameda bridge, the Nothwest west parking lot is heavily used, but this also means it suffers from a lot of trash. I don't know who else picks up all that discarded trash, but I picked up 5 gallons in five minutes....then put it in the dumpster there. Seemed easy, but never seems to happen.

People often have trouble seeing a public space as anything more than a recreation area. Each of us also has responsibility for maintaining places we visit. This bird box appears to have been mistaken for a trash can. But at least they threw away their trash, right?

hidden

The summer tanager was eventually chased off by hummingbirds. The bosque is gradually being cleared of birds are the flycatchers and hummingbird become more aggressive about protecting nests.

Up in the high desert, the quail are also protecting young, and territtory, but mostly from other quail. The males perch on prominent spots and call loudly to advertise their presence.

Pollinators are super important for high desert plants that are otherwise isolated from each other. This bee fly is not exclusive to this flower, however. In the wetlands areas there are some insects that will only land on one specific flower, and these symbiosis are critical to both species survival. The link has a great blog article for the Xerces society, a nonprofit group that focuses on pollinators.

This picture shows the caterpillar of a beetle. It also shows the gall of a wasp's nest on the left. The wasp produces hormones that causes the plant to grow a nest chamber around the wasp eggs.

I think this insect is some sort of katydid, but the jury is still out

Roses are amazingly adaptable plants. This flower is a species of rock rose, very distinct and cultivated for dry conditions. The flower only blooms for 1 day, but the plant seems to always have one bloom open.

This plant is an Ephedra genus. "Mormon tea" is a stimulant and banned dietary aid. I have seen the bizarre effects it can have on some people.

Flowers come in many types and flavors, this is an "inflorescence" a whole cluster of tiny flowers

These common plants are called milkvetches. It can cause a disease called "Locoism" and in bad cases causes permanent neurological disease in browsers like horses.

While cleaning the ditches by the elementary school of human caused trash I was able to examine the ground closely. The soil is damp and full of roots, woodlouse, and land snails, great indicators of moisture. The long grasses

I was surprised to find cottonwoods thriving in the shade of the russian olives. They seem very happy growing in this ditch. The roots are clearly able to reach into the water table

Also surprising was the cattails growing up through the grass. They usually indicate low oxygen soils

I am hunting the sand dunes for a specific type of grass. The problem is many plants look similar to the untrained eye. However, 80 degrees and full sun is great at motivating a person to find what they are looking for quickly!

These leaves belong to the mustard family and look crazy to me. I think they are seed pods, but am unsure. they should be leaves...

This is scorpion weed. The myth is they are used to relieve scorpion stings. Not going to recommend this myself. They are some of the first plants to colonize disturbed full full ground. They also seem to be among the first to flower.

Dimorphocarpa. There doesn't seem to be much in the literature on this plant. But I am not anywhere near a flower expert. Working on it.

This shell belongs to an old snapping turtle. If it wasn't moving, it would be very hard to see. The temperatures are now warm enough for active hunting of fish, frogs, and any other meat source. These turtles are not aggressive. Their bite is not as strong as their alligator snapping turtle cousins, but their beak is still sharp.

The pale circle in the picture center is the eye of this very old turtle. It seems to be having very deep turtle thoughts.

This nose is pivitol to the frog hunting this big turtle is doing right now. Often these turtles will scavenge carrion, but they are hunters too. You can often see frogs and ducks with cuts from close encounters with these ambush hunters.

I am not sure what would cause these round punctures in the turtle shell. I have opinions, but should probably keep those to myself for the time being.