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 One of the ways the species avoid too much competition is to operate in different niches. What one animal does not need, other animal will take advantage of.

For example, yerba mansa and grass are much more shade tolerant and short lived than the muddy rhizomes of the sun loving cattails. So, in the scuzzy ditch, the shade from the cottonwood trees kept out the cattails seedlings a few years ago. Those cattails built up sediment over the last four years and have stopped the carp moving upstream and reaching other young plants. The cattails will be dormant this year as the water table is too low for growth. The shady, protected pools left this year are growing yerba mansa and grasses and are likely to be more attractive for insects and bullfrogs. This is a protypical "wet meadow". A whole different ecosystem is developing based on water levels from the last few years...and 40 years of cottonwood growth.

These new environments suit different birds in different ways. More and more phoebes are moving in as this winter's birds are beginning to move out. These birds are pure insect eaters, so the winter seeds are of no interest to them. Which is good, as the stores of Russian and New Mexico olives are just about gone. There are still a few mistletoe and domestic pyracantha, however. 

That tiny, thin beak is perfect for tiny gnats. For an AMAZING read about how various birds use their tongue to eat, follow this link. Being a specialist feeder of gnats means there is always food, but the amount of effort needed to get it means most phoebes are solitary for most of the time.

Another common bird now is the bluebird. While they also eat insects, they are much more generalist than the phoebes. As a consequence of their broader diet, there is less competition for food, so they can be much more communal than phoebes. They are often found in large flocks around bird baths and small groups around bird feeders.

The mallards have been in Corrales since the end of the summer, and are now quite used to human presence. The flocks are never very large because the mallards are actually very intolerant of each other....unless there is bread being offered, of course. Although they can tolerate the presence of each other for food rewards, they much prefer the solitude of the ditches in breeding pairs.

These sea gulls, on the other hand, are very much communal birds and in New Mexico act a lot like the American crows. They avoid competition with those crows by roosting in water instead of the trees, and are not often found on the landfill feeding sites in the middle of the day, when the crows prefer to be feeding. This flock can be found near the Alameda bridge most days this month.

The red tailed hawks that are around right now are the biggest I have seen in a while. This is likely because those are females look for nesting and hunting sites. This one was watching the ducks with great interest. The ducks, were also watching. They did not fly very high or far from the safety of low hanging branches and the safety of the water.

The diversity of spiders in most evident when small numbers of many species first begin to come out in spring. At other times of the year different spider types tend to dominate certain environments, so there is less diversity. This is a trachelas species trying to figure out if it likes the indoors or not.

There are still a few sandhill crane around, but the migration back north has definitely started. A few crane will stay in New Mexico year round in isolated pockets. But for breeding, most are lured to better locations.

While wood ducks are clearly beautiful birds, I tend to be annoyed by their flighty attitudes and constant bustling over seemingly nothing. They are not stately birds like the mallards are. They also do not hold still very long to be admired like the cranes will. That impressive red eye is a common bird motif to advertise a healthy, breeding male.

I see a lot of doves along the roads in the morning at the moment. I am not really sure what they are looking for , but I suspect it is salt or seeds dropped from muddy car fenders. Like most birds, their motivations are sometimes enigmatic to amateurs like me.

All the porcupines seem act in concert and they have recently all left their usual trees and moved somewhere else, following some sort of secret signal that only porcupines can sense. This one has tucked its dark face into the hollow made by it's furry forearms to keep out the cold winds. You can just make out the tiny, teddy bear ears by their dark bands above the face. Staying ball-shaped keeps these mammals as warm as possible. While all porcupines seen to act together, they usually keep their distance from each other.

 

 This woodpecker is very interested in the branches of this apple tree. Hopefully the farmer appreciates the efforts it is going to, keeping down the boring insects. There are many woodpeckers, all spread out and communicating with their neighbors by loud tapping.

 

 Humans have long visited these river banks for many different reasons. This is a stream gauge used to measure water flow. For some reason there are also 6-7 parking stops thrown into the ditch as well, in a random act of vandalism that a volunteer is going to have to climb down into, remove, and then place back in the parking area. Some areas of graffiti have been covered, but there is always going to be more. Vandals have endless energy.

 

This patch of gravel is actually one of the growing number of glass chip piles left over after a smash and grab in public parking lot. The Cabazon trailhead is much smaller than the Alameda site, but has seen much more theft from vehicles from the recent high levels of bosque visits. While the area is considered safe, people should remember that valuable personal items in cars are still tempting to thieves. People usually avoid conflict by keeping away from each other and visiting the outdoors, but this can't be avoided when a parking lot is designed to bring groups together. Groups who, apparently, have different ideas about personal and public property.