Cool

 Fall is coming. We have ducks and Canada geese have appeared, there are more hummingbirds around. There are more of all types of birds.

The most classic example of migration for the general public is this bright orange butterfly. An official monarch butterfly.

This Swainson's hawk appears to be moving into the Bosque. They are far less seen than the Coopers and Red tailed hawks for most of the year.

Possibly the same hawk cruising over the bosque in slow circles, getting the lay of the land. Old mature trees are important roost sites for these big birds.

At a pinch. a telephone pole will work, as well. These bigger birds seem to have the place to themselves for now, but there are some other raptors I haven't been able to identify or photograph yet out there.

Says phoebe and other flycatchers appear to be the only birds that can winnow bagworms out of the bags by banging them on branches. They also tolerate hummingbird harassment better than other birds. I have watched them coolly stare down a frantic hummer.

We are seeing more hummingbirds than last month. I suspect the sugar will be important for the arduous migration back down into central America that should be starting soon.

There are starting to be a lot more bird species around as the fall begins to be felt

Webworms have a communal net they hide under. they are also spiny. I see a few nests each year. I hear they can be very prevalent at certain places.

This poor picture was quickly snapped because I noticed the weird, darting behavior. It turns out it is a spider hunting wasp that was looking for a spider to paralyze and feed on.

I think this is a satellite fly, there are many buzzing insects around, but there is a lot more variety than people would expect.

The insects are very vocal right now but are likely to start getting smaller as we enter fall. This katydid has a back leg that is bent weird. It likely still has a soft molted shell that hasn't hardened yet.

Almost all the birds should be done with nesting by this time of year. Of course that doesn't mean that the birds read the rule books This nest is reused each year.

This bullfrog looks a little skinny. He has probably been defending his patch of the water for quite a while now. The clear water of scuzzy has been replaced by the milky brown water backing up from the irrigation ditch.

There are many skinks around. This great plains skink is an adult and has a damaged, forked tail that is not seen well in this picture. You can see where the tail has grown back about halfway down. The juveniles are black with bright blue tails.

As the nights begin to cool, the more delicate plants begin to sprout. This is the time for many trees to grow in the shade, like elms. Any bare ground with some moisture and shade is likely to have some pale green popping out.

Rainbows are unique visions that require the full sun to be close to the horizon and fine droplets of rain in the air. Someone has coined the term "spotsoon" for the patchy type of rainfall we hare having now.

Rain, of course, means water washing into the ditches. This water contains all sorts of things like fertilizer and animal waste. This creates blooms of duckweed that shade water plants and hide insects

The edges of paths are usually thickly coated by pigweeds (in the amaranth family) and other plants that get pretty tall and thick. Out in the open, the strong light washes out the colors but helps with the contrasts by having deep shadows.

The grasses growing under the mature cottonwoods really look pretty this time of year as the days begin to get shorter. The delicate pinks of the flowering grass stalks need a neutral sunlight to bring out their color.

mountains

New Mexico is quite the contrast of deserts and mountains. We are a very high altitude state in general. But the world at 10,000 feet is very different than in the flat lands of the Rio Grande central valley (Corrales is about 5,000 feet). Today, we will first make a quick trip into the misty forests at Cabresto Lake.

The area is huge, with few people and (mostly) unspoilt. Like most places, you have to be prepared to travel a ways to get away from the crowds.

The area has periods of heavy mists that drip moisture. The very air condenses onto the trees and the soil is perpetually damp under the plants and mosses that grow everywhere. Life is literally oozing out of the ground.

Insects would normally not do well in damp and cold conditions. This bumblebee is stiff and cold as well as wet. It is alive and moving, but very slowly.

The butterflies also are cold and slow. Notice the drops of water on the wings. These insects are waiting in a torpor for the fierce sun to come out and dry off everything. By waiting out the cold conditions on their feeding spots, they are ready to collect nectar as soon as conditions are ideal. This one is called a Police Car Moth, go figure.

Moths seems to be sturdier. Most of them have furry bodies and scales that repel the cold water and keeps the heat necessary for flight muscles to work properly. They utilize fat as an energy storage and can shiver to warm up. This expands the time they are active in a cold climate, but they appear to not be interested in pollen or nectar however. This high elevation world does not seem to have caterpillars in it. so most insects move here from lower elevations.

The hiking is spectacular, but I am not here to sell a travel blog. The best part is that the 2 mile approach road is not for the faint hearted. Do not try it in a passenger vehicle. It also sucks that rented ATV's have torn up and created their own trails along the approach road.

The walking trails are narrow and dangerous in places. The early morning was by far the best time to see the misty views. People are usually late risers unless they have camped at the trailhead.

By the afternoon the fierce sun was hammering down and the wildflower fields were alive with insects. Although the diversity did not appear to be very high.

There are very few trails in this area (officially) and the steep terrain is great at keeping people away. The elevation gain was about 1000 feet. This area apparently is not stocked with fish, thankfully. Fishing tackle festooned the branches all round the banks.

Penstemons have a gorgeous color  and seem to prefer tall ground cover. The drooping blue-bells like short grasses better.

This flower has some beautiful symmetry and appears to be adapted for "buzz pollination" meaning it likes bumblebees, which were bountiful.

At the higher elevations, the spanish moss was very thickly festooned from the trees. They definitely helped create a quiet and sombre atmosphere, like a cathedral.

There were many familiar edible plants, such as strawberry, raspberry, currant bushes, but also elderberries.

Never eat plants you are not more than 100% certain of. I did try a few raspberries and currants. This was identified as a chokeberry. I'm not convinced, and gave them a wide berth. Choke berries are edible, but not a person's first choice, hence the name.

Daisies were a common plant in the meadows. However this was the only spider (a crab spider) I saw. There was also very few spiderwebs as they don't work so well in the mist. So the spiders that are around are usually ambush hunters

Beetles tend to hide in heavy cover and come out when the sun comes out. Their dark color means they absorb heat well. They are important pollinators, but beetle are diverse enough that there will be a species that fills just about every role in nature.

Not too sure what this butterfly species is. There was a lot of them around in the warm meadows.

This butterfly took quite some work and a lot of luck to snap a picture of, as the heat had re-invigorated the whole population and they were in quite a frenzy. Ended up being a pretty standard fritillary species, oh well.

This smaller butterfly is a purplish copper. Butterfly namers tend to be focused on families of names. There are many types of coppers.

This is some sort of Crambid snout moth that bores holes in grass stems. This one is looking a little bedraggled.

This bee is holding onto that flower with a death grip until it is warm and dry enough to continue feeding. I saw many insects jockeying for position on the same coneflower

This impressive wasp fell out of the foliage while I was checking the raspberry bush for fruit. Appropriately enough, it is called the raspberry crown borer.

Now the bee has dried out, it is happily digging around for nectar. This is a rust belted bumblebee. It is usually found much further north of here.

The range of fungi was pretty spectacular. These had a slimy top and were growing on a dead tree. Mushroom season appear to be about to end.

this appears to be a very widespread mushroom. The gills are important for identification, but I would never try eating any of them.

In the Rio Grande valley we tend to see small mushrooms, but some of these fruits can attain pretty large sizes. This monster is unidentified at the moment.

The stalk of a mushroom appears to be optional, as evidenced by all the shelf like this one.

Mushrooms seem to incredibly widespread when the conditions are right. Those gills are how the spores are released, but they also serve as structural support for the cap.

This little one might be called the deceiver. Apparently it can be hard to identify correctly. Not one to practice with.

A young Amanita muscaria subsp. flavivovata. They are not deadly poisonous, but are unpleasant. This is the fairy tale version of the family of mushrooms that covers about 14,000 described species.

This weird fungus is called the violet crust. It is usually found in complex communities with other species. Here, there are some orange species mixed in with it. These organisms work hard to break down the cellulose they use to produce energy.

This little egg is an edible (pretty sure on this one) puffball. When mature, these puff spores into the air when stepped on. This one is solid inside. Mushrooms are composed of chitin, glucans and protein. There are no carbohydrates here.

Back in the river valley, I found these stretchberries. I had never heard of this species before. Apparently they are popular with wildlife but there is not much out there about the species.

Goldenrod, the flowers are clear sign of the height of summer. Soon the nights will become colder and the days have already begun to shorten again.

This very round beetle is a species of darkling beetle found down on Candelaria farm. I haven't found them in Corrales. But apparently we have javelina in the bosque as well, so anything is possible.

Juvenile bullfrogs are appearing in the ditches as irrigation continues into the fall. The juveniles are impressively energetic, as anyone who has tried to catch one during the day can attest...

This tiny translucent caterpillar reminds me of the character "Slimer" from the Ghostbusters episodes.

Turtles are impressively designed. They are well adapted to a life of sunbathing and lounging by the pool. They are also a lot faster than they seem.

While the valleys have much less diversity of fungi, these Conecaps are usually found on the over watered lawns of schools as the school season begins again.

I think this cluster of caterpillars are from a type of tiger moth. Their tiny hairs are usually enough to prevent birds being to interested in them.

This skipper has just emerged from its cocoon and the wings are still stretching and filling with hemolymph before it begins its aerial life

New Mexico trees are not very good for lumber. The ponderosa and aspens in the mountains are tall trees, but not very good for building. The cottonwoods and elms in the valleys are not exploited either. This is good for conservation, but having no value means trees are not exactly valued or protected here. Handling a large tree is difficult, but I always wonder if maybe there is a better use for large wood than turning it into wood chips for mulch? Most of that ends up in the waterways too.

 Corrales has a famously low crime rate, but that does not mean this community is immune. There have been reports of people shooting a raptor. Mailboxes are regularly reported as being raided. This bullet casing was found  at the end of Meadowlark Lane. It could be coincidence... Just because we don't overexploit nature does not mean we respect it either.