Drift

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The elm seeds have dropped their seeds and the drifts have scattered far and wide thanks to the windy last few days. The first of the cotton drifts have also begun, but those seeds have a different strategy, so are not plentiful right now. Humans still rely on plants far more than most of us would like to admit

 

The cattails are also shedding their cotton tufts. The stalks left behind are platforms that are being used by this melodic bird, the red winged blackbird. They are trilling to other males right now.

I think this is a black chinned hummingbird. These birds literally chase other birds away from the trees and are fiercely territorial. Their sharp trills come from their frantically beating wingtips. They feed on sugar water, but also collect spider weds for use in nests and eat small insects as well as pollen.

 

The recent arrival of the snowy egrets signifies a change in weather conditions. There are several egret species that visit, but for some reason they don't stay very long. Likely they are on their way to another place with less human activity.

 

 The Canada geese are very adapted to human presence, but no longer roost on the river in the evenings. Probably because the river flow is now much higher than it was during the winter.

 When the turkey vultures first come back to Corrales for the hot weather, they usually are roosting together. During the summer they will spread out into territories and then only meet up while feeding on a carcass.

Meanwhile, the opposite is happening with the crows. Having spent the winter together on the landfills above Corrales, they are pairing off on nests. This one is located on the cellphone tower in the center of Corrales Village. The family have used this nesting site before, and appear to make a very good living feeding from the dumpster outside Village Pizza. Our family have christened this nest "5G"

Grey squirrels have often been released into the bosque by pest management companies. It makes sense that they would be both worried about people but also stick close to human habitation. Bird feeders (especially those that use cheap bird food full of corn) are ambrosia to a hungry squirrel in a brand new location

Corrales does not have as many muskrats as on the other side of Alameda (Albuquerque side), but in the summer they clearly move north along the clear ditches. While they can remove many cattails they are also surprisingly elusive in part due to their small size. Corrales residents often forget that without the refugia of Sandia pueblo, our village would have much lower animal diversity. The river above the town of Bernalillo is a favorite of beavers, because people do not go there in large numbers.

The many turtles have begun to come out to bask on the sunniest days. Their metabolism requires lots of radiant sun to both move and digest their food. Sometimes they host leeches which can be controlled by drying them out in the sun.

The young whiptails have begun to come out into the open as the days and nights warm up. These speedy lizards prefer open ground to hunt and fight each other. Most are quite young right now, but the bigger ones will be coming out soon. There is low diversity of lizards in the bosque compared with the high desert mesas. The few species we have are very locally abundant, however.

 

 

 The tiger swallowtail has begun to visit Corrales. But these two butterflies in the pictures here are still far more common right now. This is the mourning cloak butterfly

A variety of cabbage white. These smaller butterflies like to be found on brassica plant species in the spring and pollinate small yellow flowers of different types

There are many insects starting to grow in the new tree canopies. The aphids are quickly multiplying and the predators of those aphids are also trying to catch up. Other insects are like this weevil, which eats pollen from flowers. This is a willow weevil species and even though it has a tiny mouth, it chews circular holes in the underside of leaves.

 

Crane flies have a double life cycle, with grubs that eat decaying plant material and adults that pollinate flowers while feeding on pollen and nectar.

 

 Earwigs have a pair of forceps on their abdomen, but only on the males. It has many uses, but is not used to pinch people or climb into ears (where do people come up with this stuff?)

There are many spider types in New Mexico. For those who choose to learn about the arachnids, jumping spiders like this one are fascinating because they seem so anthropomorphically smart. They have large eyes and larger personalities.

Mayflies have begun to appear and will become much more numerous in the next few months, along with all sorts of small, winged annoying insects. They often rest on the sides of stucco houses as they progress from subimago to adult imago stages.

this is some sort of flower beetle, usually these beetles are found on large aster flowers, but those are not out yet that I can see.

Many bugs are not often what they seem. This is a genus of assassin bug, which sucks juices from other bugs instead of plants. People often fear them, but only if they know what they are looking at. Of course, this is why many people kill every bug they can. A much less effective strategy that it would appear.

This tiny wasp could be one of many different species. There are more species of wasps than beetles, and there are a lot of beetle species.

Crab spiders, like this one, are ambush predators. Others in this genus can be superbly camouflaged. I think this a male, as it has the distinctive "boxing gloves" on the front pedipalps.

 Spring is the time to plant crops. Corrales is the best place to farm, but many establishments have become too small through constant subdividing within families. The acequia system is also not as maintained as it once was (it takes a village) so many farms are drip irrigated and suffer from salination and compaction as a result. New Mexico. While the state is known for chile, it is also the largest producer of summer onions in the nation. After World War I, grape vineyards in Corrales disappeared, but before that, they were nationally well known.

Most people who live in the shadow of the Corrales preserve feel they know they bosque pretty well. Many walk in it's shade several times a day over many years. However, there are many odd and hidden plant gems and this is one. Hemp dogbane produces an excellent cordage back in the days that these were needed. it has many other tricks and skills I will cover in another blog.

 

 I often feel that people transfer their prejudices onto plants. This really applies when discussing "invasive" and "native" species. However, this is a true native flower Lithosperum incisum. It is best to keep to the latin name, as there are lots of common names that are frankly, hilarious sounding. Narrowleaf puccoon, Fringed gromwell, or plains stoneweed.

This is an oak leaf, but not from a species that I am very familiar with. Oaks grow well in New Mexico but not often cosen for people's yards, due to many misconceptions.

This is a new leaf from a gambel oak species. Oaks are very speciose, but there are about 100 species in North America. Some species thrive in New Mexico and can be very drought tolerant.

While the honey locust tree is fast growing and rot resistant, it can also suffer from infestations of fungi and insects, especially in old age
 

Mushrooms and trees are very close interwined. The hidden world of fungi is far more complex than we realize, but the fruiting body, the actual "mushroom" is often found at the base of trees that have too much water.

Captive plants like this yucca can become very odd plants. These days, the plants are ornamental. However, yucca has been used for centuries for many, many uses; food, shelter, cordage, forage, alcohol, insecticide, and shampoo. The story of how yuccas reproduce using cohabiting moths is bizarre and really goes to explain how complex life can become, given enough time.