Dark

"When we consider we are bound to be serviceable to mankind, and bear with their faults, we shall perceive there is a common tie of nature and relation between us."

Marcus Aurelius

It is always so easy to find fault with things and so much harder to see common ground. So when Corrales residents have to share the bosque with both nature and a wide variety of natural space actors it can lead to misunderstandings. It probably helps to reflect on how all the people benefit in open spaces in these situations.

"No form of nature is inferior to art; for the arts merely imitate natural forms."

Marcus Aurelius

Winter can be a decidedly unfriendly time of year for mammals to be outdoors. An upside is that we can see the many types of birds who thrive in these chilly conditions. While mallards are common in our ditches, ducks like these green winged teals can provide an aditional splash of color in the bleak landscape. This male is very fancy in his colored stripes, but exactly how this fancy but clownish feather display is alluring to other birds is always a bit obscure.

"Nature has given to each conscious being every power she possesses, and one of these abilities is this: just as Nature converts and alters every obstacle and opposition, and fits them into their predestined place, making them a part of herself, so too the rational person is able to finesse every obstacle into an opportunity, and to use it for whatever purpose it may suit"

 Marcus Aurelius

Birds in general have some remarkable adaptions. Thise feathers a pressed into service for many uses. The wings shapes in the picture shows how a simple change in shape of an aerofoil allows migration in a much more refined way than those noisy jets that ceaslessly roil the skies.

A flight feather is pretty stiff, with a curve, witth interlocking barblets and a specific form and function. They overlap to provide a shape to provide lift. Even the color has a direct purpose, dark feathers are denser in melatonin, a protein that provides toughness and also is used to create beautiful designs on the birds themselves.

Below the flight feathers are the insulation feathers, which are designed to trap air, preventing the cold from reaching the delicate skin of the actual bird's corpus. These feathers are much more fragile, and need the overlapping scales of the stiff flight feathers to stay dry and clean. Humans have been using feathers for insulation since prehistoric times, but have still not found a material with better insulation for the weight and compressibility.

Feathers can be used for many other purposes, a true multi-tool. This woodpecker uses extra stiff tail feathers to prop itself against a tree truck, examining old wood for insects and nesting potential. The tail feathers use a strong, symetrical central shaft, or spline, to act as a third leg to brace and allow for hammering.

Cinnamon teals don't have the same green stripe on the face, but I don't think this is a cinnamon teal. There are three species of teal in north America green and blue wings on the east coast, with the cinnamon teals in South Amercia but visiting the western states from time to time. Like most birds they are very mobile and like to stay here for the winter. Many writers have discussed their habits.

"For nowhere either with more quiet or more freedom from trouble does a man retire than into his own soul, particularly when he has within him such thoughts that by looking into them he is immediately in perfect tranquility"

Marcus Aurelius

Mallards are a large and vexacious duck, which has been easily domesticated. They are boisterous and skittish around humans until they acclimatize to a location and settle down to uniquely mallard enterainments, which seems to mostly involve squabbling and showing off to each other.

Robins vist the bosque in the fall and winter as they wait for a chance to return further north. This bird is actually a thrush and looks or acts nothing like a European robin, other than having an (almost) red breast. A pretty robust bird, they have the latin name of Turdus migratorius and there are about 370 million of these turds in north America, the most numerous land bird on the continent.

"Think not disdainfully of death, but look on it with favor; for even death is one of the things that Nature wills."

Marcus Aurelius

Raptors return to the bosque in the winter, likely simply because the birds they hunt are here. The Coopers hawk is a bird specialist and often can be seen watching the bird feeders during the winter. Who knew the feeders are doing double duty?

Smaller raptors like the American kestrel catch pretty large insects, but in the winter they also hunt small mammals or the occasiona bird. The bosque concentrates the prey animals into a small area, making ambushing easier. This one is staying warm, with its feathers fluffed out in the morning sun.

"Do you have less respect for your own nature than the engraver does for engraving, the dancer for dance, the miser for money or the social climber for status? When they’re really possessed by what they do, they’d rather stop eating and sleeping than give up practicing their arts."

Marcus Aurelius

Red tailed hawks seem to prefer the larget prey; rabbits or large birds like ducks. They often are found roosting in tall trees overlooking open fields.

Tree stumps in the bosque seem weird because they can be very hard to remove. Other times they are placed as bumpers. The tire track in the dirt show that a truck was stopped by driving into this stump at low speed. The stump waas dug into the ground by the impact, one can only wonder at the state of the truck's axle...

But then again, look at how far from the road the tracks were. It seems like judgement was delivered here.

Be tolerant with others and strict with yourself"

Marcus Aurelius

Grey heron are solitary birds and always seem very judging. They rely on lightening thrusts of their bills and very mobile necks, hunting small, unwary fish in shallow water. They are often around when the water level drops, or there is a recent Game and Fish stocking of disoriented fingerlings.

Mallards are able to feed on almost anything, as well as being able to beg for bread at the nearby tingley ponds. They need the ditches to do typically duck things like preen, dabble and pair-bond.

"When people injure you, ask yourself what good or harm they thought would come of it. If you understand that, you'll feel sympathy rather than outrage or anger"

Marcus Aurelius

It is coyote mating season, so these canines are out doing things to get noticed and be generally outragous. They now spend more time examining things carefully, such as dog walkers. They are far less aggressive than the average off leash dog, but it takes quite a few seasons before people get used to being scrutinizd by those topaz eyes. They are prey for large animals such as cougars, bears and wolves, but most people just assume they are wolf-like, which is quite untrue.

"Nature does nothing in vain, and so whatever is, is for the sake of something else"

Marcus Aurelius

Rabbits are not really seen as very philosophical subjects,  but the reason of their amazing fecundity is a secret of how they can adapt so easily to human adapted environments. They have amazing bursts of speed, and easily change their behaviours to be less visible to humans and dangerous activities such as crossing a road. While they can live up to ten years, the vast majority never make it past 1 year old.

“When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privelege it is to be alive-- to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love”

Marcus Aurelius

Porcupines are much less active than rabbits. They are usually seen sleeping in trees as they try to conserve their meager energy stores by resting during the winter.

"Sum Up: The body and its parts are a river, the soul a dream and mist, life is warfare and a journey far from home, lasting reputation is oblivion"

Marcus Aurelius

Open water is usually the most stable, temperature wise, during the cold nights and the hotter afternoons. This is where the first insects and green vegetation usually begins to grow again as soon as the conditions allow. Even in January the flowing water contains many species that are thriving, from bacteria, to insects and green plants

"The blazing fire makes flames and brightness out of everything thrown into it"

Marcus Aurelius

One of the tings that snow brings to New Mexico is dust. Each snow flake forms around a particle which then is brought to the ground. This atmospheric dust is actually a source of nutrients for desert adapted plants. Sometimes the dust has travelled from places like the Sahara desert. A surprisingly large variety of microscopic creatures can survive frozen conditions, ready to come back to "life" when conditions are right.

"Observe the movements of the stars as if you were running their courses with them, and let your mind constantly dwell on the changes of the elements into each other. Such imaginings wash away the filth of life on the ground"

Marcus Aurelius

The dust and debris in the atmosphere conspired with the thin atmosphere to produce these spectacular susnsets that New Mexico is quite famous for, usually on windy evenings. The particles found in the atmosphere is severely understudied, but contains many spores and likely microplastics.

"All that is harmony for you, my Universe, is in harmony with me as well. Nothing that comes at the right time for you is too early or too late for me. Everything is fruit to me that your seasons bring, Nature. All things come of you, have their being in you, and return to you."

Marcus Aurelius

Gardening is a strange pastime, where humans try to show they understand Nature by producing a poor fascimile of it. In the process they learn how efficient and interrelated the process of biology actually is. This fruit is a crabapple, these trees are planted as a way to produce shade and reduce dust in New Mexico strip malls. They are pretty hardy, but do drop fruit that attracts crows and other birds. The crows have learn to vacate the area during business hours. Naure in harmony indeed.

This is a wasp, one of the seriously understudied Chalcid species that are insect parasites. They are small and difficult to study. Pictures are hard to get also, as macro photography is definitely not as easy as the professionals make it appear.

"What do I have to complain of, if I’m going to do what I was born for—the things I was brought into the world to do? Or is this what I was created for? To huddle under the blankets and stay warm?"

Marcus Aurelius

The afternoons are often warm enough to encourage insects to warm up to operating temperature. Exothermy is an ability to reduce calories in cold weater, but means they cannot continue to stay active in cold weather periods. So when the temperatures heat up just enough, the insects rush out to start activities as soon as possible before the bigger insect eating repitles also get a chance to get out.

Dragonflies usually can't fly in cold weather periods, however there is a strong pressure to be active as soon as possible. Meadowhawks specialize in being out in the brief warm afternoons. They are usually the first to lay eggs. They can vibrate muscles to raise their internal temperature as they strive to warm up. It helps that they are small because less heat is needed to raise their hemolymph to a certain operating temperature.

Marcus Aurelius was a roman emperor who was an avowed stoic philosopher. This school of philosophy emphaised the value of using adversity as a source of growth and the Corrales bosque likewise faces a range of challenges that can help development, but only if challenges can be overcome. His writing contain a lot more than just the college 101 ideas of growth through self denial. He often stated that Nature holds a beauty in not fighting what is its nature. Humans who spend time examining their own surroundings can often see this wisdom in our bosque after a short period of reflection, too.