color

"The world is full of obvious things which nobody by any chance ever observes" 

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

 

"Bias, like beauty, is often in the eye of the beholder"

Tom Brokow

As apes, we are very fixated on pretty things, like this butterfly. We also like to celebrate success, like protecting domestic bees and monarch butterflies. This inclination is exploited by other apes, and the conservation narrative can get rather warped as a result. Things that are beautiful are perceived as having more value. However, in nature, displays are usually much more subdued, except in a few notable cases like poisonous bugs (aposematism) or birds (sexual selection).

With insects, the human world divides them into "pests" and "other" no matter how beautiful they might be. This spotted cucumber beetle is an agricultural pest, but widespread control with insecticides have also removed its natural predators, such as flies, beetles and wasps. This allows the pest to spread unchecked. DDT was only banned in the US in 1972 and as of 2007 its effects are still being seen on bald eagles in south California. This was certainly not the original intention of this chemical.

In Corrales, coyote fencing is a popular form of privacy. At the start of spring, there are many long horn beetle males darting around the untreated wood looking for the females that are just emerging. This beetle is a wasp mimic and hoping to be mistaken for a one by potential predators.

Moths are the thinking person's butterfly. They are a vital part of the food chain and come in a huge variety of shapes and colors, not to mention sizes. Most are tiny, but some, like the sphinx moths are larger than hummingbirds. This Spiny Looper is not often found in New Mexico, and its camoflage stands out a bit too much against the stucco.

Moths are masters at camouflage. This lappet moth has extra frills to break up its silhouette and acts more leaf-like as well as blending in perfectly wherever there are dead leaves.

At the start of spring, a lot of spiders migrate and often end up inside the house. I'm still not sure this is a typical parson's spider. The internet memes worrying people about evil spiders has already started, sadly. For me, spring begins when then the forest spiders begin throwing webs across trails in the early morning. The feel of those gossamer strands against the face while walking reminds me that ever day is a new start.

This long horn beetle shows the very distinctive long and segmented antennae. As the weather continues to climb, the size of the beetles will only get larger. Unlike the earlier, flashy beetle, this one is not trying to be a wasp.

Most beetles start out life in the soil and leaf litter. Even though the grubs look very different than they will when grown up, they still have the distinctive six legs up at the front end that all insects do.

The total number of ants is always huge, but the different styles of ant mounds also showcase the sheer variety of ant species that have returned to the surface now that ice is unlikely.

These ants could have been poisoned, but that is so pointless. They could also be caught in a cold snap and will revive once the temperature increases by a few degrees.

In the earliest stages of spring the first fruiting trees have come out. White blossoms are usually a pear species, both fruiting and ornamental. Mostly the buds will be destroyed by late frosts, but they are planted for their beautiful colors until the green leaves and develop.

The purple/pink species are more likely a plum, or closely related cherry species. Late frosts often will destroy these flowers also. The trees are rarely allowed to grow to old age in people's yards and public spaces, and are often replaced. This means they do not have to be especially hardy or adapted to the local climate. This is a very wasteful system and could never work in a natural setting.

There are actually eight native species of elms in north America. While they are already dropping seeds, those seeds are immature enough to actually be eaten like a salad green. Taste kind of like snap peas. nature can be studied using all the senses, by the way.

Nature is in a constant state of change, both short term and longer term. The bird migration into this area from South America has begun. Hummingbirds and vultures are among the most notable, and the turkey vultures are definitely the easiest to see. This one is solitary and early, these birds are usually very social when migrating into new areas.

Many other animals do not migrate, and have to develop other ways to avoid the cold. This lizard was found while clearing leaves. She is in a cold torpor and not able to move easily. By hiding in leaf litter she can stay protected, but also find the insects, like beetle grubs and moths she will need to lay eggs. It is strange to think of all the living animals lying either underground on just under the surface that will only be out for a few months of the year.

Even the bare soil itself has a seed bank ready to sprout once the climate is right. Farm soil is actually not very conducive to plant growth without fertilizer, water and tillage. This is mostly to prevent unwanted plants from dominating the area by growing haphazardly. Irrigation is Corrales is slated to begin April 4. The village of Los Ranchos appears to already have it's arterial acequias filled.

Ameliorating the soil with fertilizer can be very complex, or it can be as simple as a load of weathered horse manure dumped on a field and plowed under. The soil is a balance of clay and sand, with some silt, or other organic sources thrown in.

All the new growth is attracting the desert cottontails back out into the open. The youngest shoots are the easiest to digest and have the higher sugar levels, therefore easiest nutrition. Most people who are farmers see this animal as a pest to all plants, but these mammals are mostly found on lush backyard lawns with coyote fencing near to a good hiding space.

Plowing fields attracts many birds that use the disturbed soil to find insects and invertebrates to feed on. This western bluebird is of course gorgeous and not seen as a pest, even though most of the worms it removes would have helped to enrich the soil. Beauty and utility is clearly in the eye of the beholder.

seep

Biology is a peculiar science that tries to use past experience to predict future. Nothing odd there, it's built into the human psyche to learn this way. But the nuances can be strange. For example;

I know from experience that this long snouted bug is a weevil, a beetle, insect that is an invertebrate. But I have never seen one like this guy. Familiar yet strange (genus Scaphomorphus).

It is also odd to find familiar plants in strange places. This is a currant bush at the bottom of the path into Montezuma Wells monument in Arizona. It's blooming here while the bushes in Corrales are under snow!

This is a cinnamon teal duck migrating through, but taking a break at the spring in the middle of the desert near Rimrock, AZ. The beak is muddy as it digs for amphipods in the alkaline mud. They are also rare visitors to the Corrales ditches during the summer.

I have not found any male red wing blackbirds in Corrales yet, but by listening for the distinctive call, I was able to get a quick photo in Arizona, not showing those namesake red patches, though.

Cliff swallows have begun repairing and building their nests under bridges and cave cracks. This picture was at Montezuma Castle in AZ, but they can be found anywhere there is a cliff.

Coreinae genus, no idea what this weird bug is. It is a pretty big true big, maybe a leaf foot, but was up in the desert, not hiding in leaf litter.

This is a darkling beetle, usually they are in the open desert areas, but it is not unusual to find them in forests. The juvenile beetles grow up hiding in the leaf litter.

We found a few of these very distinctive plant seeds. This is devil claw, a classically Arizona plant that wraps around hooves to travel and scatter seeds.

The air temperature is still cool, so small reptiles bask in the sun to be able to hunt insects, just like small lizards everywhere.

At the edge of the marsh there was this mesquite with deep grass. There was evidence of deer and javelina on the ground. In Corrales, this space should have been willows. This area has been managed until recently with fire, I wonder if that's why no willows?

Some things do not change, here a beaver is trying to figure out how to get to tasty leaves. I think it took on more than it could handle and went looking for smaller trees.

With no more clearing, the cattails quickly take over, especially if the water level is constant. Beavers have opened spots in this thick growth, creating new ecosystems for many other animals.

This is a recent migrant; an Anna's hummingbird male claiming territory, using stink-eye and a lot of noise. Migration maps show many birds heading north right now as temperatures rise. I don't think they are in central NM yet.

Marsh areas and groundwater are vital to wildlife in the southwest and far too rare to treat as an afterthought by land managers. While the science of urban planning is well developed, developing land use for wetlands in the west seems to be in the toddler stage. It probably will stay that way until people can relate to the value of "unproductive" land. In that sense, the past also predicts the future, unfortunately for the environment and maybe people too, based on the ruins dotted all over the southwest.

Jerome

Look deep, deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.

Albert Einstein 1951

Visiting Jerome, AZ is a little bit of a culture shock. While it is also a desert in the southwest with different biomes, those biomes are clearly different than Corrales, NM.

After the flatlands of the river valley, the hills and mountains look familiar, but different.

Saguaro cactus are clearly different. These plants of the Sonoran desert abuptly disappear when grassland mesa views pop up in the foothills. For the geology buffs; when we climb onto the Colorado plateau via the Mongolian rim, the Saguaro vanish instantly.

There is a huge number of animals that rely on saguaro to produce shelter, just like cavity nesters need cottonwood trees. I had not expected to see a feral lovebird nesting in one, however.

This common plant is desert ironwood. However, any wood denser than water tends to be labelled as an ironwood, so I prefer the Spanish name; Palo fierro. This heavy wood is sought after for use as knife handles. Looking at the prices it fetches in the tourist trap shops in Sedona, I have trouble believing it is the same "rare and sought after desert ironwood" I'm seeing everywhere. Exotic woods is a strange trade to be in.

I have never seen this flower in New Mexico, but in the suburbs around Prescott, AZ it seems very prolific. It is a chuparosa and well liked by many birds.

The octotilo plant is very distinctive and only found cultivated in New Mexico. While not prolific, is is pretty easy to find in Arizona. While it looks and acts like a cactus, this plant is apparently related to blueberries?!

This tree is a Palo Verde. It has distinctive green trunks and branches that photosynthesize all year round. I have read a few studies looking into this using stable carbon analysis of "cortisol photosynthesis" and basically, no one is sure why this would be helpful.

Seeing leaves on plants growing in the desert is always odd, and many plants in the southwest are spiky. The oaks take this to another level. Oaks in New Mexico are high altitude species, found in the north of the state. There seems to be a wide variety of species of oaks in Arizona, most of their leaves are spiky and the acorns are tiny.

Looks are deceiving, however. This plant is a barberry and have small yellow flowers that are being well pollinated right now with butterflies, flies and bees.

In the high desert meadows around red rocks state park, there are actually many flowers about after the recent rain squalls, in site of the still pretty cold temperatures. This is a mock vervain, growing while but easily cultivated in containers.

The small lizards warm up fast and are locally abundant. These are not the fence lizards that are common in Corrales in the summer, but ornate tree lizards that have adapted to living in rock crevices in a local park, where there are practically no predators.

I found many in the center of busy shopping malls, but always near water sources like drip irrigation. This brave one is displaying to others nearby, when it wasn't dodging people's feet.

Near a spring in Jerome I happened to look up and see some very quiet mule deer, so many other animals are found where humans are kind enough to meet all their needs. Basically water, food and shelter.

This paper wasp is a different species that I find in Corrales, and looks a lot bigger. While still not as aggressive as legends suggest, I noticed they prefer holes in concrete, rather than producing the familiar paper nests.

In Arizona, the butterflies seem to prefer high altitude and solitude. There are still very few around gardens, but up on the mesas in the state parks they were very abundant (and still hard to get a good picture of). This one is a grey buck-eye.

We see many giant swallowtails in New Mexico in the summer. This one seems to be in the same family, but smaller, maybe a black swallowtail.

There is a whole bunch of stuff I could blog about on ladybugs, but most people already have. Some of the interesting bits are that they overwinter under logs in large swarms and are really to chase aphids as soon as the weather warms up.

Actually many insects in Arizona seem ready for spring, which seems early from a New Mexico point of view. This shield bug is already laying eggs on the Miller visitor center. The familiar red box elder bugs are already all over the surrounding leaf litter and mating.

I don't know which butterfly this larva is, some can overwinter, but those eggs must have been laid a while ago for this caterpillar to have grown so much. The spines and bright colors are warning predators to stay away.

This spiky, green stemmed plant is a canotia. It is also known as the crucification thorn, but then so are a bunch of other, unrelated, plants. There is something about the threat of excoriation that puts people in a religious frame of mind.

This plants looks similiar, but is unrelated. This is a male ephedra species that used to be used for it's stimulant properties commercially until recently.

This is a banana yucca, a common plant often grown in xeric landscapes.

This is a cultivated tree in Jerome that I think is a plum. Their blooms are all over the hillsides here right now. As a cultivated species they are definitely popular. Their blooms are so early though.

Jerome for a an odd little town that has reinvented itself from a mining town into a tourist attraction, successfully it seems. COVID has not dented it's growth much. It feels a lot like the town of Madrid, or maybe Silver City. Yet it is also so different. I guess travelling helps a person notice what they have at home more...