Heraclitus

 The Greek philosophers always argued about whether the world is unchanging and inviolable, or constantly changing and different. This dichotomy continues down to the present day. Phenology, the study of changes within a cycle of change straddles this divide.

For example. This IS a butterfly, and also a common chequered skipper. However, it has not always been a butterfly, and was placed in a separate superfamily (this classification is not yet widely accepted). What something IS, will always be a philosophical question. But the world can twist itself into knots over tautology as well. How does it make sense that we cannot define a butterfly when everyone knows what one looks like?

 

Here is another butterfly genus, Colias. It is called a clouded yellow EXCEPT outside the US, where it is called sulphur (generically). The genus often is lumped in with near relatives. Basically, humans do not seem to care to look that much at these cold tolerant species when it does not affect our activities that much.

This is a moth, very definitely. The structures of the antennae are definite for the moth genus. We care a lot about this [particular species because it is a pest. We spend money studying pests.  Meet the evergreen bagworm (Thyridopterx ephemeraformis), a male. The genus name means transparent wing, which is unusual for a moth.

 

Grasshoppers spend the cold mornings sitting near the top of tall stands of kochia and tumbleweed. They can become mobile and move into the short, young grass shoots of meadows during the hottest part of the day. Turkeys and cranes seem to seek them out when they are slow and vulnerable in the early mornings.

 

While blanket flowers are native to the west, it is a little unusual to see inside the bosque. This one is likely an escaped cultivar from a garden. The family of asters in general are pretty remarkable. I often watch a purple aster open and close its petals in response to the sunlight during the day. These flowers are often the only high energy sugar and pollen boost for insects such as flies and beetles who need just a little extra boost during the cold months. When the plant is in a sunny, warm spot they often have many insects still buzzing around them during the winter.

 

This flower is also an aster. But it is also a sunflower flower. I think it is a nodding beggar tick. One flower with a multitude of names. This one flower is also a multitude of flowers working together called a capitulum. Some plants, like Christmas pointsettas, mimic a flower structure by turning some leaves red. They are likely how plants first began to attract pollinators. Specialized structures called flowers developed about 130 million years ago. Humans like to breed and control flower development and some of the history of this is jaw dropping. A good book on this subject is "the botany of desire"

Creating order out of chaos is a uniquely human experience. It is always worth remembering that that chaos is never truly defeated though. Watching nature at work helps to remind us that, even though we can manipulate the very molecules that create life, and create flowers that can't even reproduce (orchids), nature itself is always inscrutable.

Along with pumpkins, another sign of autumn is the appearance of the buffalo gourd. The Latin name translates as "stinky gourd". The reason they are visible is not only that other vegetation has been died due to autumn, but mostly that the covering vegetation has been mowed away by the MRGCD ditch clearing process. The migratory bird nesting season (March-August) controls when much of the forest management can happen. This plant is very charismatic, with a long line of small pumpkins on a string and a deep root that looks like human legs. The leaves emit a pungeant odor when brushed. The domestic gourds like pumpkin and squash do not produce the bitter substances that the plants uses to limit grazing activity by rodents and coyote.

 

Plants do not move. A term for this is that they are "sessile". They make up for this by adapting to the environment instead of migration like animals do. Now that the drainage ditches are dry, the bare soil is growing into a wetlands meadow. This may or may not become permanent depending on...humans basically. If the soil continues to build up, this ditch will fill in just like a beaver dam.

 

 The lack of standing water means that the soil heats and cools at a much faster rate than a pond. But not as much as a dry, dusty soil. The colder temperatures probably is what killed this crayfish.

 

This Chinese mystery snail needs water to breathe, so it suffocated when the water disappeared. This species is widely eaten in China and Thailand and has been established in the US since 1914.

There is a wide variety of "weeds" growing along the edges of the ditch. While we treat them all the same, these plants are organized into different ecological niches. The brown and red stems here are spiky and brittle. They belong to the Russian thistle. the thistle breaks apart easily and scatters seeds over a wide area. The green plant in the middle is a pigweed. It is still growing in profusion and is adapted to a longer growing season. It uses the extra growing time to make many more seeds. Both are tumbleweeds, which describes a process, rather than a specific species. 

Humans are very weird about naming plants. Kochia is an tough agricultural pest, but summer cypress is a cultivated plant in the Southeast US. Mexican fire weed is a different ornamental plant in gardens of the Southwest. Same plant. Plants are endlessly adaptable.

The early nights and colder mornings are getting crisp as the first frosts begin. There is practically no  free moisture, so frosts can be an important form of water for plant organisms. Here, the "hunter's moon" behind high clouds is looking very Halloween like. The haze is created by ice and water particles suspended in the clear air.

This great horned owl is a year round resident of the bosque. It is preying on the first of the ducks that are coming into the area. It is one of the few birds with the power to hunt the abundant skunks that are also around eating apples and compost. The bright moon means that the prey is more likely to see the large birds, so this one is resting and relaxed while it waits for something interesting to happen tonight.

The red tailed hawks are coming into the bosque as the rabbits retreat from the more open areas following the growing grasses. This is the first one I have seen and it is pretty shy, an indication that it hasn't established a territory yet.

This is a black phoebe, a common visitor to the bosque and pretty noticeable in the winter due to it's "in-your-face" attitude to life. They usually hunt insects by darting from a perch and back. They do not tolerate other birds nearby and the constant challenges and posturing must be exhausting.

A slower, but no less intense battle is happening with the mallards that are arriving. A female will rest and feed on duckweed in an area and is almost always closely followed by a male who is hoping to breed, but is mostly keeping other male ducks away as a service to the female. Mallards are pretty tolerant of humans when in a small group like this. As the flocks get bigger, there is a lot more noise as competition for attention heats up. These gluttons eat a lot, and their presence can be inferred wherever there is muddy water and no duck weed on the surface. They are a dabbling duck species feeding at the water surface.

The wood ducks are much more likely to fly away if humans are in the area. They have a high pitched squeaky alarm call that many animals listen for as an early alarm. These ducks are small and fast and often hide under the Russian olive trees to avoid the attentions of hawks. Ducks are vulnerable only if they leave the thickets because hawks are not fans of tight, wet spaces where they cannot move freely.

This is a siskin on a perch wire. The chest feathers are puffed out to allow the morning sun to warm its skin. The small songbirds really do seem to enjoy the first rays, and bask quickly (∼ 20 minutes) before they get down to the business of the day.

 

According to several sources (Hawks Aloft) , Corrales bosque hosts some of the highest concentrations of Coppers hawks ever recorded. This bird shows the dark, red eye of a smaller and older male. You can also see the thin, wide yellow feet this bird uses to clutch and constrict its bird prey. The feet can spread wide to catch a bird in flight like a net, but it cannot kill with a powerful dagger claw like the bigger mammal hunting raptors. Notice the big bulge in the lower chest that houses the huge flight muscles needed to sprint after the fast moving doves.

The bosque is a landmark for may birds as they travel about the state. Here the cranes are migrating between their nightly roosts of the river and their feeding grounds (right now Los Poblanos fields) during the day. The crows are also traveling along the river; from the willows by the river at night to the landfill dumps during the day. Both of these flocks are increasing rapidly in size each day.

Often mistaken for cranes, this heron is watching over the last few puddles for the medium sized fish it favors. The classic perching style and long pale beak are very unlike the terrestrial habits of the social cranes.

Perching snags are very important to the larger birds, but are also a danger to humans below due to gravity. We go to great lengths to fight gravity, as seen in this photo of an tree removal. I have always found it odd how....thorough... humans are when it comes to destroying tree habitat. I guess when you have this much expensive iron and petroleum involved you have to be fast and focused. I have never seen anyone other than a couple of kids actually climbing a tree. Arborists and lumberjacks are not found in this part of the state it seems. Low value lumber from cottonwoods do not seem to encourage this sort of industry.

Bullfrogs are an endlessly adaptable species. They need permanent water to survive in an area, but this one shows the classic muddy head that shows it has been burrowing into the soft bank of Liam's pond to find shelter until the fierce sun (after 10am most days) can provide the warmth needed to move and digest its food.

The water also provides safety for the young frogs. They are capable of impressive, explosive speed in their jump back to the safe water depths. Here, this young frog is surviving in a ditch puddle. It is not likely to survive unless it can feed on a lot of insects over a mild winter.

It seems strange to see reptiles out during the day, but there is a lot of migration going on right now. The young bull snakes are traveling and finding new hibernaculum until Spring. They can be very visible to humans during this period. Unfortunately, most are found dead in the road when hit by cars.

The lifestyle of a large bull snake is very different, as they will have an established territory and still actively hunt for rodents like mice and squirrels. Here is a shed from a large (five foot) bull snake that was still damp. It used the tunnel sides to scrape off the skin in one single, large piece. These non-venomous constrictors get this big because one of their main prey items is any snake smaller than itself. Who knows what battles go on under the soil?

This tunnel in the grass was inhabited by a grey squirrel that seems far too large to fit, but I watched it slide inside easily enough. Most of it was a giant bushy tail.

Ground squirrels have adapted very well to humans and their strange ways. They like large old cottonwoods, but only if they are in wide open spaces near to bird feeders. This one knows it has been spotted and is trying to look like tree bark. It does blend in pretty well. When the raptors are around the squirrels spend much more time close to solid objects. In the summer when there is less of an aerial threat they are more often out on open perches looking out for cats and other ground predators while advertising their squirrel fabulous-ness to other glam rock star squirrels.