Absent

 The bosque is remaining remarkably free of animals right now, but that's okay. Everything leaves a story from its passage through life. So it goes, as Vonnegut would say.

One of the bad things about the internet is that it can be hard to find your niche. There are a million pictures of sand hill cranes out in the digi-verse and most are spectacular. But THIS picture is mine, and documents the first sighting by me of cranes in our neighborhood, so it is the best for that purpose. The cranes are attracted by the locale...but also by someone who is feeding them, too. I suspect their numbers are not going to be great this year, but that is also fine. The acres of Bosque del Apache are managed almost exclusively for the use of these big birds and that is where you should go to see the jaw dropping numbers attracted by a perfect habitat.

The colder seasons seem less inviting, but I am noticing that many new plants are becoming more noticeable as all those greens fade to oranges, browns and greys. This plant is very prominent on open areas along the pathways and is identified as ragweed

I think this is honeysuckle, which is a very unusual plant. The delicate blossoms are still on the plant, and they seem to perk right up when cuttings are brought into the house...

Humans have long had a connection with soil. We really don't in these times, but it is still fascinating to feel it beneath our feet. Usually it is hard packed and dry, but sometimes you can get a sense of the potential of this interaction of sand, clay, humus, air and water we call dirt when you walk those areas less trod. This ditch has been dry for a while, but the area just below the dry surface is still wet, and this allows lubricity for the grains of sand and clay to slide when they are walked on. Basically, you sink a little.

This picture is trying to show the imprint where a carp died and left scales and bones in a messy jumble. This is the first stages of the aeons long process of fossil creation. If this skeleton is then covered by a fine silt to preserve detail, one day a future blogger might find a fish fossil in a badlands formation. Those degraded proteins form nitrates after being acted on by bacteria and return to the plants.

 

The scales of the carp are impressively large and distinct. The skulls of catfish and carp are also large and impressive, and scattered all over the mud under the reed patches where the last of the water finally disappeared. Only the carp have scales, the catfish are coated in a smooth skin that helps them breath in stagnant waters.

 

 The sides of  a dry ditch are not static. Here there is a hole that likely has been used by several species over a short period of time. Toads, mice, gophers and turtles all use tunnels and enlarge them to meet their needs. In the winters many birds will use them as well. Humans are totally oblivious to the network of interactions that are going on less than a few feet under their....uh, feet.

This hole is a snapping turtle nest that was dug out by a raccoon sometime during the late summer. The white bits on the lower right of the picture are the leathery shell fragments that were left behind.

The salt crystals left by the alkaline waters of the clear ditch form roughly hexagonal cracks as they lose water. Crickets survive in these moist micro-climates and are often heard late into the evening even on pretty chilly nights.

The turtles are often the last species to abandon a ditch de to lack of water. Often, they are predating on the stranded fish. Like most animals, they eat what is available. Distinctions between herbivores and carnivores are lessons best left behind in the high school classroom. Their distinctive trails show in the stream beds and is where the water will flow as the levels rise again, which they have already begun to do, (slowly).

This plant bug was just a random picture I took for general interest. I had not expected the little heart shape on the middle of the back. The magnified world of bugs is endlessly fascinating and even with the cold weather, is showing no signs of stopping.

The jumping spiders are very active right now outdoors. They come in many shapes and sizes and are incredibly fun to watch. Their eyes are highly evolved for distance and jumping so they seem to have very anthropomorphic attributes, like startling reflexes, aggression, and examining new situations. The usual disclaimer; totally harmless to humans, obviously.

 

This bug is a little notorious. A wheel bug is actually capable of inflicting a painful bite, unlike most of the insect panicking that is going out there in our internet world. This is one of the largest of the "true bugs" and is apparently domesticated by organic farmers.

The hour before the sunrise is an amazing time to be outdoors in the fall. Most people are hurrying to their cars for the morning commute, but if you have the proclivity, the dawn silence (no engine roars) is full of the sounds of large birds preparing for their travels, too.

Large flocks of crow roost in the trees of the bosque. They are found in flocks anywhere they can roost in large numbers above the ground. There are also ravens, but they are very different in habits and temperament. Grackles stay closer to human habitation, but starlings prefer trees in open fields.

 

 Here is a small flock of Canadian geese in their classic "V" flight patterns used to travel over long distances. Large birds do not like to take off from confined spaces like forests and are more often found on lawns, golf courses, and agricultural fields.

This plant is quite the conundrum to me. It has at least a half dozen common names and even two official ones. It is a native....just not of here, maybe. Apparently, internet sources indicate it was released by the USDA as a cultivar from seedlings collected in the Jemez district. I would love to know more about this... shrub, (maybe tree) from an expert (who isn't a gardener, too confusing). Most people here know it as the New Mexico olive. Most sources rate it highly as an animal food source, but the specific details and sources are amazingly sparse. People can't even agree if it's edible. Weird for such a common plant in the bosque, but at least it seems to have a very positive media relations image. This likely has something to do with the NM Forestry grants provided for bosque management. They maintain lists of invasive species, which is soon going to sound pretty archaic. I suspect you do not put a species on a wanted poster if you helped create it...