Develop

 Spring is a big change, the first of the plants have begun to transform the landscape and the whole color of the world alters from browns and greys into reds and greens. The changes are partly predictable year on year. But with each annual cycle, deeper changes also continue over time since biology began.

Western tansy mustard is a native annual plant that specializes in rapid growth on bare clay soils. The family Brassica is very important economically. It contains many other vegetables developed through selective breeding. This particular plant is classified as a therophyte and survives hot, dry conditions as a seed, lots of them that right now carpet anywhere there is dry and disturbed.

This is a plant called purple mustard or cross-flower and is in the same family as western tansy. It is an introduced species, but the family is amazingly tough and adaptable. Plants that have many common names usually are found over a wide area and all mustard plants seem to have many names. Cruciferous plants like these are readily domesticated and have been developed into everything from turnips, radishes, cabbages and brussels sprout.

 

Botany is confusing, and made worse by the conflicting needs of biologists, gardeners, and farmers. This plant (Sisymbrium iri) is also a mustard plant, colloquially known as a cruciferous plant, in the Brassica family. The common name "london rocket" is crazy in that a single reference from 2010 suggests a physician from 1666 found them in London. The name "rocket" is an anglicized version of the latin name that encompasses several, unrelated species of mustard. While botany is uniquely crazy, the real world of biology can be just as odd. This plant was never designed to survive in hot deserts, but by virtue of being an annual was uniquely adapted to flourish in the fleeting spring conditions and then hide in the soil as an impervious, tiny seed.

This dock species pops up in the ditches in the early spring, Unlike the mustards, this amaranth family plant is a perennial which means it lives for more than 2 years and does not grow wood. This distinction is rather arbitrary. The root-stock survives underground during the winter and roots store energy reserves in the form of carbohydrates. Bitter tannins protect this storehouse from browsers such as underground voles.

 

 I think this is a globe mallow. This plant is a cornerstone of the insects that come once the frost threat have passed and the minimum temperatures stay above 40 degrees. The dry, center stalk is the remnant of last year's growth.

This plant has the common name of summer cypress.As genomic science advances, the scientific name of this plant has also changed. It is often called kochia locally. In the summer and early fall, these plants will dominate and spread seeds by forming tumbleweeds, although there are other plants that also have that same name.

This insect is actually introduced from Japan. It has since traveled widely by thriving in greenhouses and living in plant pots sold in stores across the world.

Botany is a relatively calm discipline. Mobile organisms have a much more abrupt life. This is a young assassin bug. It uses a needle proboscis to suck juices from the insect prey it hunts in the new leaf growth that is just beginning in the Siberian elms.

Night time in the bosque is certainly a lot more active that it would seem to those of us who snooze through the night. The flat molars show a lot of wear and suggests an old beaver. This rodent is one of the favored prey items of mountain lions. It would almost certainly be too much for a coyote to handle, unless it was very unlucky.

Sunsets are always spectacular as the low sun colors the Sandias pink, red, and golden for a few minutes each evening. The clouds have not yet delivered any moisture, but they still provide a blanket to keep the warmth of the earth from bleeding out into the vastness of outer space.

As coyotes interact with humans more and more, interactions are going to get more intense. This one, however is most likely trying to find that beaver carcass in a crowd of dog walkers and not, quite ready to give ground.

All the fresh green growth has encouraged rabbits to nibble the new leaves, while the gophers seek out the new roots below. Both types of activities draw the attention of predators such as this red tailed hawk.

Beavers and water rats live together into a small community based around the dam of sticks that are used to build a still pond. The bigger beavers do the actual work of engineering the dam, but the musk rats act as daytime eyes and ears. They also trim cattails and provide housekeeping duties while not competing with the shy beaver's food sources.

Porcupines rely on their sharp quills and inaccessible heights of old trees for protection. They are numerous in the bosque but very spread out and they tend to avoid busy areas. They do not draw attention to themselves much and their dense fur coats break up their distinguishing facial features, which are very small in any case.

Birds are ridiculously the opposite to mammals, they flash bright colors and often have loud calls and exaggerated movements that draw attention. Wood ducks epitomize this excess of stimulus, which is odd given how much they try to avoid attention when not in breeding season.

Red wing blackbirds are spreading in the Corrales region as the cattails spread. The two species are linked closely. The distinctive calls have begun to fill the mornings as the males ward off each other and entice the females.

unlike the wood ducks, the towhee is never surreptitious or silent. Like other birds, it also has that crazy red eye as it searches for food in the forest floor.

Western bluebirds are common now and many have begun to create nests in old buildings that dot the Corrales landscape most birds have begun their various breeding rituals, which are impressively varied.

This whip tail was enticed outside by the warm temperatures. It probably was paralyzed by lower temperatures and died. Sometimes changes can come too quickly for a chance to adapt, but the species will become very numerous as the heat of summer allows them to spread out once more over the ground. New Mexico whiptails like this are all female, not requiring a separate gender. This parthenogenesis is exemplified by this species and can be found in organisms that need to spread quickly to take advantage of resources of space and insects. Aphids also have this ability. Just one more strategy of animals and plants that surprise and provoke wonder of the natural world we live in.
 

Song

 Life and death are but one thread, a thin line viewed from different sides - Lao Tzu

As the signs of spring spread across New Mexico it really does feel as if the earth is waking up, albeit in fits and starts. There are many ways it is seen; in the mid afternoon warmth, bird migrations, flower and bud emergence, or new problems such as flying insects or weeding in a constant yearly cycle.

 

 The beautiful birds go through the most obvious changes as some come, and others go. The sandhill cranes leave, and the colorful hummingbirds eventually take their place. In Corrales, the ducks are some of the most obvious migrants to notice. This male merganser is very striking. Among birds, and ducks specifically, the beak identifies what the bird eats. This long, hooked bill is designed well for catching fish and is edged with tiny, backwards pointing serrations that act a little like teeth.

 

The gadwall is a small duck very much at home in small ponds out in the prairies. It is a vegetarian dabbler, but will eat insects and snails during the breeding season. This can be seen in the short bill used to grasp and shred vegetation.

The red shafted flicker is a common winter bird, but can be found in Corrales year round. During the summer it feeds on ants, and in the winter it eats berries and seeds. It is a type of woodpecker, but uses its long bill to probe soil rather than soft wood. It hunts in trees, so has the stiff tail feathers common to all woodpecker species.

The house finch is a common bird that feeds on weed seeds, and plant buds. The thick bill is also ideal for opening seeds found at bird feeders. It is native to the Southwest, but has colonized the whole of the US due to New York pet stores in the 1940's which sold them under the name of "Hollywood finches"

Western Bluebirds like to ambush insects from a low perch. Their delicate bills are perfect for plucking small insects from the air, or the ground.

Woodhouse scrub jays look a bit like blue birds, but are much bigger and stout. They can be found anywhere there are peanuts being offered at bird feeders, they are common in the lateral ditch in Corrales due to several houses putting out peanuts for them. That tough bill is the perfect compromise between many different feeding styles.

A clear sign of spring is the return of the wood ducks. These small ducks have claws for gripping the furrowed bark of mature cottonwood trees where they roost and nest. Their distinctive warning whistles will become very common by the time summer has arrived.

There are some insects we know little about. The cockroach is not one of them. These insects are actually pretty rare in Corrales due to all the natural predators that feed on them. They are often found near farms and houses in the evening due to the need for moisture. Their presence often suggests a water leak, and refuse.

Small cobweb spiders are outside during the day and dominate the sides of stucco houses until the ants become widespread in the summer. Their common name is "comb footed spider" but there are many different species in this group.

While the mass hatchings of insects is still months away, there is some mayflies coming out. This small hatching is enough for the birds and fish to become more active, and presages the flood of insects used to raise the next generation of fins and feathers.

This carpet beetle is a common pest of museums where they eat natural fibers. Some of their famous cousins in the desmestid beetle group are used to clean skulls for taxidermy. They are also famous for being model organisms for studying circannual cycles in birds and mammals (including humans). While these adults feed on pollen, their larvae feed on...humans. Specifically their discarded skin particles, also known as household "dust", along with leather, silk, feathers, cotton, and wool products. They are not bed bugs, but you'd be forgiven if you got confused during research among the plethora of pest control articles on carpet beetles.

 

 While that beetle doesn't look like the voracious scavenger that it is, this animal needs no introduction as a dangerous, bloodthirsty.... okay, whatever. I'm not out to change anyone's opinion of coyotes. I will say I know these song dogs mostly eat small rodents and apples in Corrales, when they can find them. They are VERY misunderstood and demonized creatures, but they are thriving in spite of human misunderstandings and clearly don't need my help to thrive. They do rarely kill domestic animals, but also are prey animals themselves to mountain lions. Unsupervised dogs are a far more dangerous canine in terms of risk to people and their pets.

The warm weather has just enticed the first of the turtles out of hibernation. These masters of camouflage are not the snapping mousetraps the internet makes them out to be...at least in the cold of spring. But like all animals, they are worthy of respect. The small ones also release stinky musk as a way to deter those who get too close. Those "holes" are elm bud caps landing on the thick mud of the shell.

The ditch banks are a complex mosaic of interacting ecosystems. Here, the banks have not been mowed. The long grass strands have become gothic arches leading into sun dappled tunnels used by frogs, birds, and rodents to travel while protected from predators of both fur and feather.

Dead plants, like this stand of willow bacchus are vital to controlling moisture, temperature, and shade to other plants. The dry stems are nurseries to grasses and sensitive tree seedlings as well as hiding the seeds. The plants also collected cottonwood leaves around their bases and the extra nutrients foster further plant and insect growth, sustaining the whole bosque ecosystem. The roots not only stabilize soil, but also aerate and break up soil below ground.

Spring time is also a period when many animals are vulnerable. Those that are weak from cold or starvation will fall prey to bacteria and viruses that begin to spread as the temperature rises. This dark eyed junco likely died from an infection. They often catch colds such as conjunctivitis at bird feeding stations, which is lethal as they slowly starve to death while blinded.

Turtles are slower during the cold evenings of spring. Often, the earliest to leave hibernation will die as they migrate to breeding sites. This one looks like it was run over by a vehicle as it warmed up in the evening sun. It is a maxim of biology that life and death are the same thing in the endless evolution of species. Each death also leads to life for other species as energy travels through the trophic levels as species use it to resist entropy. The beauty of a merganser's bill, and the pale intestines of a dead turtle are all part of the same circle that links all of us people together.