Abscission

The leaves are turning golden in the bosque and the days are noticeably shorter. hoodie weather is not far away. The death of these leaves is planned, the nutrients are recycled for future generations of plant roots.

 

I noticed the younger cottonwoods in the bosque that grow up with the willow groves have fully begun to turn brown, this process is called Abcission. There is a lot of science that goes into this. But basically the trees drop those leaves when they need to save a resource. The shorter days prime all the trees to get ready to lose their leaves through changes in the green chlorophyll. The drier than usual air moisture means the younger leaves are turning yellow before the the mature leaves on the taller trees near to the ditches.

This butterfly was killed by a car. It is a mourning cloak butterfly. I have not seen many of these this year. The butterfly season is drawing to a close now, so I hope this bit of colorful blue helps to round out all the yellows and oranges we are seeing these days. The wings of this butterfly are impressively tough.

There are many checkered white butterflies still around in the flowers. They are strikingly colored up close, but tend to be ignored by most people.

Monarchs are much bigger than they seem to be, but there are also many other closely related species that look similar. You have to look closely at the patterns of black lines on their wings.

This is one of the milkweed species (horsetail milkweed) that the larvae of the monarch might use. The adults seem to use nectar flowers like the sunflowers shown in the picture above.

The monarchs also like to puddle, which is a term for butterflies drinking from protein rich sources. This monarch is taking advantage of the overwatering of a lawn used for soccer practice.

Humans in the bosque seem to have very strange ideas about water use and conservation. Many other areas of the bosque are bone dry. These ant lion traps are built in areas of clay dust under bushes. The flowers above are dropping nectar and pollen into the dust that attracts the ants the antlions are preying upon.

The upper irrigation ditches on Loma Larga are full still, but down at the clear ditch the water was been trickling to a stop. I am curious when the irrigation water and associated silts are vanishing to. It is certainly not making it to the river.

The clear ditch has no permanent water at the moment. All puddles are maintained by the level of the water table. This area was dry but then received a small water influx.

Large crayfish survive for a period by digging a burrow into the mud. These holes become valuable to other species if the drought persists. you can see the small seedlings beginning to grow out of the still wet soils around the hole.

Younger crayfish congregate in the last areas of water. When the water leaves, the young leave and collect in damp areas like under logs. Further drying will then desiccate and kill them.

Dry autumn days are when grasses are putting out seeds in the lowland meadows. Many grasses spread by using runners to cover an area of good moisture. If the grass is tall enough (more than a couple of inches) the growth keeps moisture levels higher and the ground temp cool enough for secondary species to sprout, like tree seedlings.

Bunchgrasses like this Ravenna grass clump spread widely by using seeds. If not controlled, these hardy plants will dominate an area and prevent forests from forming. Ther is currently no good system for preventing the spread of this Class A noxious weed from invading the bosque. In areas of the bosque near to Valle Del Oro to the south, the river banks are dominated by this one species.

There are over 12,000 species of grasses, and a lot of specialization. This seed head is a food source for many small birds.

This type of grass is called bristlegrass. In the family of over 100 species, they run the gamet from food crops (millet) to invasive weeds (foxtails)

This plume is from a giant reed. This plant is often called bamboo, which is not very accurate. Plants like this were imported from the Middle East. Apparently, there used to be a market for their attractive plumes in the early days of modern America.

This grass is some sort of Amaranth. The small russet seeds are very nutritious and used to be cultivated by marsh cultures.

I have noted many grasshoppers in the desert mesa areas at night. During the morning, the largest are found clinging to the pigweeds on the edge of roadways. Young roadrunners are reported to be eating large numbers of them at the moment.

This is a globe mallow leaf beetle, but I like one of the other names "calligraphy beetle". People who study beetles can be very poetic.

Here is  a collection of bumble flower beetle feeding on the exudate of a elm tree stump. This is formed from an infection of fungus and/or bacteria in the tree. The bubbles seen suggest the sticky product is some sort of fermenting sugar.

The cool morning air is showing the webs of the ground spiders well. These webs don't trap insects so much as create a door and a sensing platform for the spiders to launch themselves out of.

 Wolf spiders are robust, pretty large spiders that rely of hunting for their food, rather than ambushing or trapping it in webs.

This close relative of the spider (solifuges) is a non-venomous arachnid that is hunting insects at a light source at night. Freaky looking, but not at all dangerous.

This click beetle is showing off its great feathery antennae which are likely being used to find a female that is in a nearby tree.

The coopers hawks are beginning to come back slowly as they follow the doves back into riparian habitat. The hummingbirds have starting leaving and no longer dish out their constant harassment of other birds.

This seed eater is some sort of bunting (a perching bird with a heavy, short beak for collecting and opening small tough seeds.

Tyrant flycatchers are birds that are insanely territorial during the nesting season and drive off many of the larger birds. This one was loudly proclaiming its territory, but not getting many challenges.

There are still many beautiful flowers out right now, like the large Datura, bindweeds, goldenrods. This honeysuckle got my attention as it peeked out from the hedgerows.

The herpetology season is winding down, but the stout, tough toads are still to be found (hopefully not by your dogs). Technically, studying amphibians is called batrachology
 

This little snake was sleeping under a pillow abandoned in a homeless camp on the river's edge. The flat shovel shaped nose shows it is a hognose snake. These guys are one of the most calm snakes you can find. I replaced it's pillow after a quick picture and let it get back to meditating.

This young gopher snake was flushed out of the fields by sprinkler irrigation and then run over by a car. It has a broken neck and can't move. So many animals are killed like this that no-one can keep count.

This Canada goose is feasting on new grass in a horse field. Horses need room to roam and the geese take full advantage of the attention Corrales gives to its horses. You can see the amount of water need to maintain this grass in a lush state.

Elsewhere on the ditch, this picture shows water meant for a new tree running down into the dusty roadway. Water waste is a complex issue, but there are many simple things everyone could do to reduce this.

This odd picture shows a hose being used to try and keep nearby fish alive in the clear ditch. Sadly, not only is the water going to waste, but the energy being used to pump this water is also being lost, used for no discernable benefit. Ironically, this hose water might supply enough water to save a few mosquito fish, golden clams and red virile crayfish, all invasive species that negatively affect the biodiversity of Corrales. The large perch and carp are all dead on Andrew's lane, victims of a lack of oxygen in the diminishing water.