moving

 The two weeks of balloon fiesta coming up is always a great reflection about what it is that makes Corrales so special. It certainly seems to attract a lot of people who want to visit! The rainy weather also helps to highlight the rural nature of our "backyard".

 

I am seeing many more bird species that have moved into the trees of this riparian habitat. The birds are also flocking together a lot more than they have been. Flickers, crows, doves, and grackles are the most noticeable, but there are many other more solitary birds around as well. I have yet to be converted into a full fledged birding persona, but it is likely just a matter of time. This Coopers hawk is on high alert, likely hunting.

This Coopers hawk seems so different than the one in the previous picture. This one is fluffed out and is irritable about something, but not scared. I would guess another of its species is too close.

 

 Unlike in the other two pictures, this Coopers hawk is smaller and the colors are muted grey. The red colored eyes also show it is a older male, not breeding. This one was frightened out of the reeds in the clear ditch by a dog walker (me) and is hoping to get back to whatever it was doing in there.

 

These are the northern flickers. Their calls are resounding all through the bosque right now. In a small group like this I hear very different, less strident, sounds. Almost like it was a family group of birds.

I have it on good authority that this is a Perizoma custodiata I don't think it has a common name. It is a different moth than the ones I am used to seeming around the evening lights. Their host plants in this area is the fourwing saltbush. One of my favorite plants as it was the first one I ever learnt to identify. I've come a long way since...

There are many species of darkling beetle and they all look very similar to me. The activities and coming and goings of these beetles is an enigma. But I do know they spend the winter  under the piles of fallen leaves in nursery groups. There were many of these beetles on the stalks of pigweeds (kochia, amaranth, russian thistle) this morning. The plants usually like the same conditions, and often grow together on disturbed ground. If conditions are stable, eventually other plants replace them.

The simple striped eyes of grasshoppers do not do justice to their complex natures. Grasshoppers have a visual reflex where they jump out of the way of an object about to collide with them, in exactly the same way as people jerk their burnt hand away from a hot stove top. The big eye is striped and sees movement, but just above the big eye and to the right of the antennae base in this picture is the "other eye", called an ocelli. Grasshoppers have three of those and help with flight.

the butterflies are very active during dry, hot periods of weather. I have no idea where they hide in the damp, cold mornings. A creature this brightly colored should be pretty visible.
 

This is a different species of darkling beetle. This one is on the ground because it was disturbed by my trying to get a close up picture of it. They drop off their plant to the ground when they sense a threat nearby. Many insects were holding still during the rain we had this morning, but not this one.

 

  This is one of the true bugs. An actual stink bug. That name tends to be given to many different insect species. I think these bugs are breeding right now.

This huge dragonfly is well camouflaged. He was so still I could tap on his back. It would respond by wiggling it's wings once, but otherwise did not want to move. It's body length was about the length of my hand. A common green darner.

A rare species so far this year, this one is a tropical least skipper. The wings seem like they are brand new. The antennae have small clubs on their ends.

This is a damselfly of some sort. It seems a lot bigger than the vivid blue ones that have been around lately.

This one is  a checkered skipper, a medium sized butterfly that is not very active but seems to be around more in colder weather.

 

 This is a hatching of some sort of stink bug species. This is a good example of direct development, when the hatchlings look like the adults, just smaller.

In contrast to the prior picture, this is a picture of a leaf beetle, in a juvenile stage. This is termed Holometabolism when the juvenile looks different to the adult. This insect is feeding on a tamarisk plant. These leaf beetles were imported to try and control the plants, that can be very destructive to riparian habitats. Then things got difficult when a threatened bird species became reliant on the tamarisk....upshot is things have gotten complicated. Biological control is no longer the magic bullet it used to be.

I found an adult leaf beetle, I think... the patterns are very striking. It is a tiny insect and easily overlooked. However they can be present in huge numbers on their preferred host plants.

I often overlook flowers, but many people have asked for more blooms, so here is the bloom of a domestic pea plant. The flower is impressively colored and shaped when you get close to it. The stamens are also protected to improve the chances of successful fertilization of another plant that is not a close relative. Plants have been using insects to transport pollen for around 130 million years and have learnt some neat tricks.

Even the humble domestic tomato has very fancy flowers, the stamen here is also protected from being easily spread to it's neighbors that are likely closely related. These plants seem to used a trick of delayed flower opening by sending cues using plant pheromones. Tomatoes famously use ethylene gas to communicate.

 

Down by the edge of the river, the dense stands of young willows are being successful in smothering the invading Ravenna grasses, for now.

In more open areas along the ditch the Ravenna grass is continuing its relentless advance northwards along the Bosque preserve. This tussock has been de-headed by a good Samaritan already. But it is likely the seeds for next year have already been released on the wind.

 

Tomato and pecans seems to be doing well this year and there will likely be a bumper crop of both. The insects pests have not been very prevalent and the weather was helpful. The roots of the tomatoes do seem to have been attacked by this plant, however. It is a broomrape and parasitic on roots of tomato plants. The flowers seem very familiar, but he stem is white, without any chlorophyll to manufacture it's own sugars.

Many plants in the southwest are facinating when they get to be studies up close. This common weed is demonstrating the trichomes that have collected dew from the cold morning air. Many arid plants use these hairs to harvest water, or reduce water loss. They can also serve many other functions for the plant depending on species. Biology is endlessly complex and interconnected.