Bubbles

“The world kept turning and the Turtle moved.” —Terry Pratchett

“Take a walk with a turtle. And behold the world in pause.” —Bruce Feiler

The interior drainage canal is coming alive with activity now. Occasionally, you can watch a line of bubbles slowly moving down the central channel. This activity don't produce good pictures so I haven't included it here, but this indirect sign of the turtles stirring up the river mud as they come out of hibernation is a sight I look forward to each year.

 

 Great horned owls are some of the first birds to nest in the spring. Often they will start in February. This is the male of a pretty famous Corrales couple who use the same site every year.

The female owl stayed more hidden, as these big birds are often harassed by other nesting birds in the area. Her camouflage would be perfect if she was not glaring at the photographer.

Moths are also masters of illusion. They are attracted in the evenings to the many white blossoms that are on the ornamental apple and pear trees right now. The actual fruit trees usually bloom later, after the threat of late frosts is past.

 

 The next crop of grasshoppers is growing. This little one is only 2 mm long. The bright yellow will eventually become the muted brown or green disguises of the adults.

There are a few ant swarms on the ground right now. I wonder if they know the ant eating flickers have traveled north and not going to eat them? A large mass of ants like this makes it hard to appreciate their awesome features up close.

This is one of the bigger, carpenter ants. All insects are fascinating up close but the ants have a lot of unique features that help tell the species apart, if you can get them to slow down...

 

 When moths are out, there will be wasps in the Orphidian genus around, as they parasitize the caterpillars and lay their eggs inside them. These elfin wasps are not stingers or aggressive.

There are many types of large flies coming out with the good weather. This is a fly in the genus "phoridae" these flies tend to scuttle away rather than fly off when they sense danger. Many of these species also seem to parasitize insects, especially ants. Not all flies are dung layers. In fact, most are not.

A common, and easy to spot vegetative beetle is this metallic flea beetle. These beetle often play dead and fall off leaves when surprised. But if that is not enough, they will spring away like their namesake, the flea. In the summer they can occur in high numbers. These beetles were found on a patch of old milkweed and sprouting salt cedar.

The salt cedar is sprouting along the river point bars, long before most other species. You can actually see the water line receding where these seedlings occur in large numbers, by watching the darker line of damp sand.

Porcupines would be a good biological control for tamarisks, except they live in a separate world. It sounds odd to say, but porcupines like tall trees without lots of branches, and tamarisk are more often in the shrub category found out in the open by the rivers.

Many animals in the bosque can be surprising picky about their choices. Raptors, like this red tailed hawk, like large  dead trees for good roosting spots. Like people, individual tastes matter. Some are out in the open, others keep their nests hidden away. Some like to reuse nests, others like turnkey ready.

 

 This male coopers hawk breaks off sticks and brings them back to the female in the nest which encourages bonding and nesting behaviors.

 

 Most of the year, fish live a quiet existence in the ditches (other than being caught by fishermen). It is hard to even see this fish in the water as it quietly browses on plants. However, that all changes during the spawning season. Fish practice external fertilization, so the males have to be very close to the females as they release eggs (spawn). The female can totally choose when to spawn, but she has less control over how many males are in attendance.

Often early in the morning the water churns as these powerful fish writhe and thrash in the shallows. They are powerful swimmers, so they can swim into areas of very shallow water. The dragging of mud over the underbelly of the female stimulates release of eggs, so the males often form a conglomeration below, and just behind the female. Often, there are trout and other fish swimming behind to pluck up the freshly released (and fertilized) eggs.
 

It is spring for the plants as well. I am beginning to start learning about trees, so bear with me (or chime in) as I mis-identify and figure out how to identify trees. This seed with wings is called a samara. I think this is a linden ash, with fruits from last year's bloom.

These common fruits are from a honey mesquite. Selecting the best trees for urban landscapes  is strange to me, kind of like trying to look for the best fish to ride a bicycle. But this one is a common choice. This tree was one of many at the south edge of the Taylor Public library park.

 

 Planting trees is not easy if you are the ABQ Parks and Rec. department and you need recommendations for a tree that is good for all park conditions. This tree is a Chinese pistache, and seems to be a park favorite because it is hardy and showy...obviously not now...but check back later in the year.

Trees are an odd hobby. the debate over whether a tree is native or not, whether a tree is a shrub or not, ornamental or not, or "climate ready". I find the odd-ball trees the most interesting because I learn a lot from the rabbit holes than ensues from internet research. This seed pod was identified in a Facebook group as an "American sweet-gum". No one would pick this east coast hardwood as  good choice of a Albuquerque park. Yet, here it is.

Corrales Village is part nature preserve and part park. The water here is being pumped in this year like they do in California (using diesel pumps) because the old wooden siphon under the Rio Grande is kaput. This siphon brings Corrales the water from El Vado dam via ancient canals and it transforms the landscape, as well as the animals.

Those that benefit include these bullfrogs, remnants of domestic species brought in as a farming experiment in french cuisine during the Depression, and escaped during sever flooding episodes (no, not making this up). I have eye witness accounts from a person who was a child on her parent's farm in Corrales where this happened. The internet, of course, has a billion other versions. Truth is always even stranger than fiction.

 

 Of course, when the bullfrogs arrived, they (and the crayfish) ate everything else into extinction. Among the losers of irrigation are these newly hatched fence lizards. Not only are they inexperienced and slow, but they are not used to surface irrigation of fields, and often get caught in the acequias as they flee from danger, such as domestic dogs out for a walk. They are poor swimmers and the cold water prevents them from being able to move quickly. If not rescued quickly they will often drown very fast. Bubbles in the ditches that we could do without.