drive

 "Every calculation based on experience elsewhere, fails in New Mexico" - Lew A. Wallace

A lot of the general ideas of biology seem to come from experiences in the North East of the US. Many things we have learnt about rivers do not apply to New Mexico. Even thought the rules of physics apply equally, the murky brown silt that winds randomly through the soft soil leaving uprooted trees and pools throughout the floodplains are nothing like the lush green banks of grass envisioned in a reading of Lew Wallace's autobiography. The river level bucks up and down through the seasons as well. Floods and droughts confound our predictions every year. In response, humans invented dams, concrete channels and buried pipes. But what we gained in control we lost in other ways. Lew Wallace had a great appreciation of an area called the Grand Kankakee Marsh, which is now on the verge of being eliminated. Corrales is well on its way to a similar fate.

 

  “The smallest bird cannot light upon the greatest tree without sending a shock to its most distant fiber.” - Lew Wallace 

Great blue herons use the isolated pools as the river recedes to feed. They are solitary hunters and  have preferred locations to perch. They are not too fond of distractions, either.

"There the lake, cool and clear rippling but a few feet under the surface, and helping the trees to their long life in old age" - Lew Wallace

The wetlands of Corrales are still there, just below our feet, usually anywhere from a few to tens of feet. In most areas of Corrales a topsoil has been brought in to place under buildings. This is used by builders to prevent subsidence. It is impervious to water and compacted to be free of tree roots. Even though we live in a valley, our houses all rest on shallow plinths. The cranes and turkeys are attracted to Corrales for the fields and food, usually placed there on purpose to attract them. They cannot wade in flooded fields during the winter and seem to prefer human creates environments, if they are quiet.

"Better death in the canal, however dreadful, than death in the temples,—for the soul’s rest, better!" Lew Wallace. 

Wood ducks don't usually like to be in groups. They are not like mallards and seem to place a premium on privacy. They will gather on the Rio Grande however. Many eyes provide the best safety during feeding and courtship.

" While birds of calm sit brooding on the charmed wave" - Milton.

While it does not seem like nesting season, this gull sure looks like it is on a nest. However, you should bear in mind that gulls are usually nest in groups, and that the season is also wrong for nesting. Most likely this bird is just resting mid way into it's migration.

Ducks will visit most areas of open waters. Dabbling ducks like this one mostly focus on insects and plant roots found along the edges of permanent water sources. This requires a very inquisitive and bold disposition, which is likely why these birds adapt so quickly to bread handouts from obliging humans.

"Those close by looked at the gift, and saw, for the first time, that it was not the crown, but the crest of a chief or cacique. Then they knew that the trial was merely to make more public the honors designed." - Lew Wallace.

    Blue jays prefer our state's high altitude pine forests, where they can rummage though the duff of the forest floor for pinon nuts, acorns and pupating insects. Like the towhee found in the bosque, this lifestyle seems to favor the bold. They sometimes come into the bosque looking for peanuts in the bird feeders.

 

"His features were gracefully moulded, and he would have been handsome but that his complexion was deepened by black, frowning eyebrows." - Lew Wallace.

 

    The thick and chiselled bill of this large black bird identifies it as a raven. Crows and ravens are as different as humans and neanderthals, but can be hard to tell apart. The best description I have found is that if it's a black bird with a bill, then its a crow. If it is a massive bill with a bird attached, then it's a raven.

"Apprehension always paints in black. " - Lew Wallace.

    Crows have adapted well to human activities, like many animals. However, they also maintain a high level of independence. They can often be seen flying above Corrales this time of year.

"they went by in haste; eager, anxious, crowding, all to behold one poor Nazarene die, a felon between felons" - Lew Wallace.

Crows are attracted to more than just food. They congregate anywhere there is anything that interests other crows. This small group appears to be interested in spoiled meat that was thrown out in an area known for vagrancy.

"Waiting in ambush was by no means new to him. He was not in the least troubled by impatience. To be sure, he would have felt more comfortable with a piece of bread and a cup of water, yet deprivations of the kind were within expectations"" - Lew Wallace

    The presence of raptors profoundly changes the ecology of the bosque, and the dance between the those hunting and the hunted in very complex. raptors like this red tailed hawk don't scavenge like the crows, but actively ambush small mammals. This style of eating calls for patience and introspection.

"I remember how more than Acadian the view appeared, and how like profanation it would be to spoil it with a battle" - Lew Wallace

    Prairie dogs thrive in open fields but they are dependent on their burrows and often run into trouble in marshy areas. Their use of sentries are a great preventive against aerial attack and they seem fond of existing close to roadways, which messes with the meso-predator hunting strategies in an area. The activity of eat-and-be-eaten can be intense.

"And thou shalt say when I can help thee best, and prompt the mode by labor, life, or death indifferent" - Lew Wallace

This picture shows an interesting story. A fresh rabbit kill partially covered by leaves until nightfall is a quintessentially cougar style of hunting. This was on a pretty busy section of trail. To my mind it shows how little we have to fear from the large cats. They are the ultimate ninjas and choose to watch from the shadows.

"yea, the mere listening—would suffice, if told in the right ears, to send us both straightway to the tigers." - Lew Wallace.

    Deer are strongly drawn to areas around human houses now. The grasses are growing in the newly cleared area where constant leaf removal and gardening, along with few predators, creates the perfect environment for their style of browsing.

""Ho now! Hood the hawks, and leash the whimpering hounds. The day is done."" - Lew Wallace. 

    The end of the hunting season is approaching in Angelfire. The antler-free females graze on the fields of the golf course most evenings at sunset. The males rut and keep constantly on the move in the heaviest brush to avoid hunters, but the females behave the exact opposite.

""These, with other yells of like import, broke in upon the hosannas of the part of the multitude too far removed to see and understand the cause of the interruption"" - Lew Wallace

Chipmunks in the alpine forests are very vocal, far more than those in the western highlands. Partly they broadcast warnings, but a great part are also territorial disputes.

"" The violence with which he denounced me was the chief argument in his favor" - Lew Wallace.

Aberts squirrels are much more confrontational, after all they have limited food stores to protect and the forests can get quite crowded. Getting scolded by a squirrel seems to almost be the rite of passage when walking in a pinon forest in the fall.

"“His beard and hair are very white. They have always been so.”" - Lew Wallace.

    This very common plant is commonly know a pussytoes and is often cultivated in dry areas because of its velvety leaves. It is also a common plant is dry cold areas. The silvery hairs on the surface are a common plant adaptation known by many terms, depending on the context, but a common one is pubescence.

"“The long, long cycles—two,—four,—eight—pass away, and I see the tribes newly risen, like the trodden grass" - Lew Wallace.

    Botanists often tie themselves up in knots trying to prepare for climate change In spite of the billions of lines of print on the subject, humanity has very little understanding of the dynamics of our sylvan future. Trends come and go as the various parties vie for dominance in our thinking. Even the most simple observation of forests can show that more junipers are now growing where they did not before.

    "“Consider the Lichen. Lichens are just about the hardiest visible organisms on Earth, but the least ambitious.” ― Bill Bryson 

    Biology and botany in particular is rapidly trying to figure out why it did not study the interactions between fungi and tree roots before now, The needle of public opinion has swung wildly from bad to good, and back again. Of course, the answer is more nuanced than that, especially as the benefit is nutrient cycling for the whole ecosystem, rather than the narrow view of just the plants in your garden.. The symbiosis involved in tree lichen is even more cryptic. Sadly, the functional focus of modern science means it takes a crisis before interest and resources are focused on a problem. Lichen is just not viewed as useful.

"In the shade of a ceiba tree he stopped, and said, “There is a service you might do me, that lies nearer my heart than any other.” - Lew Wallace

    Many pine trees have shelf fungus growing on the living trunks, particularly in the autumn and fall. Most trees have fungus threads growing on some part of the trunk. When the fruiting body, or "conk" is visible, this makes it easy for an arborist to use them as a reason to need a tree felled. But it is likely fungi that feed on the wood directly is also in a mutual relationship, along with the valuable threads working in the earth to trade nutrients through the roots. This teamwork won't be understood as long as its visual presence is used to justify tree felling rather than fungal growth. Even parasites are a sign of a healthy and thriving ecosystem.

"Sitting in the lake, she shines lustrously as a star; and though in a valley of gardens, she is like a great tree shadowing in a desert. But the ravager comes, and the tree shall be felled, and the star go out darkling forever." - Lew Wallace

    Fallen trees are enough of a problem that we have a whole industry devoted to removing them. The industry of growing them seems so much smaller. The actual process is different in a city than in a national forest. It is worth a moment to think of all the ways different people relate to trees. Tree hugging, carbon sinks, fireplaces, log cabins, ecosystems, shade structures, parks, climate control... Either growing them or removing them, humans spend a lot of effort relating to these organisms in a myriad of ways.

"The path led into a grove of cedar and wild orange-trees, interspersed with ceibas, the true kings of the forests of New Mexico" - Lew Wallace

    A lot of twaddle has been written about New Mexico and its trees, but there is room for a little romanticism from time to time. Cedar and juniper trees are often mixed up when east coast travelers come to New Mexico and look for what is familiar. Lew Wallace might have written a little about ecology, but his interests were far more related to hunting and fishing than to botanical accuracy. Of course, the boundaries of New Mexico were different then. Still the plant species quoted here grows in Central South America.

" It was the unspeakable joy of souls on the shores of the river of life, resting with the redeemed in God's presence" - Lew Wallace.

    The level of the river is very variable, even with dams and canals to control flows by human means. It is strange how much people who live in Albuquerque have a blind spot for our river. The flow is 100% human controlled and planned. We have obligations to Texas, and federal protections. Ephemeral backwater pools like this one are critical to the unique bosque ecology. There are extensive measurement gages and it can be illuminating to see how the level fluctuates over time.

"Strangely enough, it enables us, among other things, to merge our identity into theirs often so completely that their sorrows and their delights become our own." -  Lew Wallace.

    Insects and trees are very intimately connected. Many insects are specific to only certain types of trees. Unfortunately names can cause problems. This is a native species of moth that is still active in winter. Sadly it is named a "winter moth" which is the same name given to a European species of moth that has been invasive in the US since 1990's. the two species hold not be confused, not all immigrants are welcomed equally.

"“We pray you not to think ill of your slaves if we say that the verses which come unbidden are the best; no song of the bird’s so beautiful as the one it sings when its heart is full.”" - Lew Wallace.

    This daddy long legs is part of a growing list of animals known as a "Synanthrope" the distinction is a rather silly one. An animal that relies on humans either for food, shelter, or to migrate, but is not domesticated. This distinction is important to people as a population, I think on this often as my gaze turns to my hounds sleeping under the table, who domesticated who?

    Lew Wallace's writings, especially "Ben-Hur" was, in part, an exploration of respect for all people and compassion. It is ironic how this book was finished during his tenure as governor with the Lincoln county wars and the bizarre double crossing of Billy the kid, which doesn't get as much press. 

    Forgiveness doesn't always have to be a grand concept. We face a testing of faith every day in the bosque and seeing dog poop bags left on the ground for others to pick up. A suggestion sign is usually seen as a challenge. While it is amusing to see other people grind their teeth over such minor infractions, it nevertheless remains a fact that wetland wilderness is vanishing rapidly under our very noses (or feet). Lew Wallace and his surviving museum in Indiana discusses this obliquely.
 

Data

"If you really look closely, most anything is worth the trouble." - Julia Child

Living next to the Corrales bosque needs an odd mix of of relaxing contemplation, and keen eyed vigilance. As the last of the insects retreat from the cold, the birds and their riot of colors becomes more prominent. Of course, there are still the oddballs; some flowers have begun to bloom. There are plants that are only now beginning to grow, There is a paradox here that needs to be looked at. Just like the "French Paradox" noted by Julia Child; looking closely can lead to illuminating questions and open surprising ideas.

 

 The Western Pygmy blue is a small butterfly seen more during the colder months. It is odd how a change in a sense of scale can help thinking about the big things in life. There is a row of small black hearts along the wing margins. There must be a reason for that, but what the heck could it be?

  Sooner or later the public will forget you, the memory of you will fade. What's important is the individuals you've influenced along the way.- Julia Child 

Buck-eyes are very noticeable butterflies seen in the bosque on sunny days where they open their wings to warm up in the sun's rays. These butterflies prefer plants that produce iridiod glycosides. A hormone that encourages caterpillars to eat more, but which also deters predators of those caterpillars. The bright colors help predators remember the bad taste associated with eating these insects.

Buckeyes are also know for their habit of resting with their wings upright, their undersides are a plain brown and very hard to spot against a blanket of leaves.

Some of the most sought after birds are the iconic, majestic sandhill cranes. Most cultures see them as the epitomy of grace and poise. They spend a lot of time communicating with each other. They are courting, after all. That small cap of red feathers becomes brighter as the bird becomes more adult, and also reflects their social status.

The heron is another stately bird that is sometimes confused with the crane. These birds are more likely to be solitary, found in trees and they keep their neck short most of the timer. They don't have the red cap of feathers and they tend to be more "sulky"

 

"It's so beautifully arranged on the plate, you know someone's fingers have been all over it." - Julia Child

Mallards have a secret life. While these ducks are so common they are the archetype of a duck, it it often forgotten that they have an incredibly complex social life away from the bread handouts and squabbles. During private times on the Rio Grande, each female is followed by a jealous male who is never far away. Without his protection, the female would be constantly harassed by unpaired males and lose time feeding that she needs to build up egg laying fat reserves.

 " And if the food is truly vile, as my ersatz eggs Florentine surely were, then the cook must simply grit her teeth and bear it with a smile -- and learn from her mistakes."" - Julia Child

 

This beautiful male wood duck should be paired up, but in spite of it's clear finery, it is alone. It has plenty of time to try and woo a female away from another duck, but is likely this individual will not have real progeny this year.

"I don't believe in bottled salad dressing… why should you have it bottled? It's so easy to make. And they never use very good oil." - Julia Child

Duckweed is a one of the smallest vascular plants in the world, yet it covers vast areas of water. It has adapted well to human irrigation practices and thrives in areas with high nutrient levels (ahem, leach field run-off). Fish and ducks feed on it directly. Turtles and frogs hide beneath it. Clams and crayfish live in the clear water the anoxic conditions these plants create beneath them.

The loveliest thing you can cook for someone who's close to you is about as nice a Valentine as you can give." - Julia Child

Widgeons are much calmer and quieter than mallards. Their courtships are more reliant on aerial displays. The male also mirrors the female's movements in a sort of dance that appears to have no other reason than to show attention.

 

 “It’s hard to imagine a civilization without onions; in one form or another their flavor blends into almost everything in the meal except the desert.” - Julia Child

Doves are so common we can often forget these birds where one of the first animals humans ever domesticated around 10,000 years ago. They have been used for everything from war, food, religion, farming. Each fall there is a population of around 400 million birds in the US, even though 70 million birds are shot by hunters each year.

"The only time to eat diet food is while you're waiting for the steak to cook." - Julia Child

The colder weather seems to have brought the smaller birds out of the trees to glean seeds from the ground in larger numbers. While seeds provide a food source, most birds seem to prefer insects if they can get them. Seeds take more work, and their longer extractions means the flocks on the ground are more vulnerable to predators.

“The only real stumbling block is fear of failure. In cooking you've got to have a what-the-hell attitude.” - Julia Child

Predators have quite a tenuos life because they work hard for their food. However, once acquired, food is quickly consumed and allows time for other activities, such as protecting territory. Individuality is more beneficial compared to community, at least for parts of the year,  for these animals.

"People are so fearful of what they eat, they are no longer enjoying food the way they once did, and the dinner table is becoming a trap rather than a pleasure.'' - Julia Child

For other organisms, like honey bees, their survival depends on collecting food for the winter. Individuals are sacrificed for the benefit of the hive, a queen especially. The drones are even less important during the winter than the workers and often ejected when the temperatures get lower.

"Don't for the love of heaven let anybody rush you into anything" - Julia Child

Worker bees get worn out by their constant activity and those who are foragers work the hardest. . This means many die before the hive needs to eject many workers for the winter. The oldest and most experienced bees are usually those that forage for new sources of nectar.

Carpenter ants change their foraging depending on the weather. They gather seeds, or insects. Forage more or less depending on the seasons. They don't consume wood, but can often be found in or near old wood. Oddly, there is far less issues with ant infestations in a rural area than in a city, where they have no other place to forage.

“You should look at your food intake over the week, leaving room for two or three binges.” - Julia Child

I find crickets  hard to raise in captivity. Not because they are hard to feed, but because they are hard to keep clean. They are famous for being able to eat anything. Recently, a group in the bosque marked a path using a white substance that then attracted many woodland crickets. Whether it was chalk, cornmeal, some other starch, or even a protein, the crickets were able to make a meal of it all.

 

 “You don't have to cook fancy or complicated masterpieces - just good food from fresh ingredients.”

― Julia Child

The process of leaves turning into soil is both amazingly simple and eye poppingly complex. But the breakdown of cellulose into soil begins with fungus. One of the most common species is sooty fungus that is innoculated from the honeydew of aphids in the summer months. Of course, there are many species and most are not studeied or known. Our lack of biological knowledge is some areas is really quite shocking.

“If you're afraid of butter, use cream.” ― Julia Child

One of the reasons gardeners like certain non native plants so much is that they give the right behaviours for the gardener. Even if this is completely wrong for the environment. Honeysuckle is know to flower into the fall, and varietals that flower for as late as possible are selected for. Walking along Andrews lane you can often catch a whiff of what smells like artificial home fragrance, but it is actually artifical selection  at work.

“...no one is born a great cook, one learns by doing.”― Julia Child

This picture is trying to show a brown cottonwood sapling against other brown trees. The cottonwoods are losing in a decades long race to adapt to changing conditions. They are adapted to a short growing season by using light and temperature cues to know when to grow quickly and when to shut down. In the current environment, they stop growing too soon, and the russian olives, salt cedars and elms are still shading them out with new growth.

 

Cottonwoods are trees that have evolved to take advantage of a very specific series of environmental changes. They use runners, hydrophilic seeds, and resprouting branches to take advantage of moist areas with receding flood waters. The young trees then grow very fast both downwards and upwards with all the other pioneer species. The large trees then prevent the next generation from growing by heavy canopy cover, until the next river scouring event from high water levels.

the saplings need a moist and heavily vegetated environment to get the stimulus to grow fast. Cottonwood is one of the softest of the "hardwoods" because of this initially fast rate of growth. Trees tower over the grasses on river plains so can usually afford to go into dormancy relatively quickly and so be more cold hardy and drought tolerant.

Other trees have a different approach to climatic conditions. Russian olives have a very long growing season. As the weather gets colder they tend to quickly grow low sprouting shoots. These are called epicormic shoots, and are often found in trees prone to fire damage. Any stress can cause this effect.

 

 Forest dieback is a term for when a forest dies without any clear cause. in the 80's this happen to vast swathes in North America and Germany with no clear cause ever discovered, but plenty of speculation about a tipping point reached that causes cascading effects throughout the ecosystem. As the cottonwoods disappear in the bosque, another slow growing species is appearing. Junipers normally are too specialzed for arid grasslands to compete, but they have begun appearing in increasing numbers.

All trees are keystone species used by animals for food, shelter, or something else. This is coyote scat that contains digersted remains of Russian olives that can be transported long distances and maybe resprout in a new location. The official term for this is zoochory.

Coyotes eat a large amount of things that they should not be able to digest. Along with seeds, they often snack on human discarded trash and a surprising amount of vegetable matter.

 

Everything can have drama if it's done right. Even a pancake.” - Julia Child

To some of us a coyote is a daily occurance, to others it can be a declaration of war. This dog walker clearly has no idea there is a coyote behind him. The unleashed dog either doesn't know or doesn't care. My personal theory is the coyote is hoping the noisy people will scare out a small mammal, or that he will drop some trash. 

In the evenings the coyotes work in a group to flush rabbits, gophers, or mice from tall grasses towards the river's edge. They use loud howling to both co-ordinate and scare the rabbits. It can be pretty scary to the owners of livestock and domestic pets as well to hear those sreeches howls and cacklings this close to Halloween.

“Once you have mastered a technique, you barely have to look at a recipe again”― Julia Child

I like learning to ask the right questions about what I see in nature and I have noticed my predictions of natural events get more accurate each year. I also like that I am far from knowing everything and the mysteries left can be fascinating. It can be refreshing to not know an answer, but a focus on actually asking the right questions brings its own clarity.

For example, everal people other than me saw this object in the sky just before Halloween. It moved in the sky like nothing I've seen before. I'm sure the story with either become more conflated with repeat telling, or it will be explained away by someone else with more knowledge. I can say the initial sight inspired a new sense of awe, similiar to what I feel when a new concept in introduced to me that opens a new vista of the imagination. Maybe more of us need a sense of awe in seeing the unknown. Far too many of us feel the need to explain things for our own satisfaction without knowing what we talk about. Or maybe more of us should.

“I was 32 when I started cooking; up until then, I just ate.” - Juila Child