theater, natural history and conservation, the utterly mundane, and Etruscan 8-tracks
A postscript to my visit to Mesilla Valley Bosque State Park: Interpretive signs on the observation blind solicited photos of the local birds, so I submitted a couple of my best iNaturalist shots. Sid Webb added my Greater Roadrunner and Northern Harrier to the current poster. Thanks, Sid!
Continuing to bounce around the state, let’s go to White Sands National Park next.
I did the short walk on the Playa Trail, and then across the road I did the longer Dune Life Nature Trail (pic). I spotted a Southern Checkered White (Pontia protodice) (I was so surprised to find a butterfly in February that my first thought was that it must be a moth) and what turned out to be Sagebrush Sparrow (Artemisiospiza nevadensis). The sparrow would have been a lifer, but I can’t really say that I saw enough of it to make my own identification. So we’ll get it next time.
Much sand in my boots (sorry, cleaning staff!).
Also in the central-to-south part of the state is Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge.
I was too late in the season to find the cranes. The loop road is generously wide, a good thing with cars stopping at random to look at critters. 70 degrees and sun, but some cooling breezes off the impoundments. I found my first ever real live for-sure Coyote (Canis latrans). The birding highlight was seeing a small group of geese out of the water, drifting into the grass. Snow Goose (Chen caerulescens) AND Ross’s Goose (Chen rossii) side by side! C. rossii is REALLY much smaller.
An update on our nest boxes:
Another short report. Two new clutches; still only the one (box #4) incubating, but it’s possible that boxes #6, #1, and #67 will be incubating by next Sunday.
I will bring some kit to refresh the painted number on box #1.
We have a discrepancy in report for the species in box #1. Hopefully we can sort that out next Sunday….
In April, we’ll go to a fortnightly cycle. When we meet this coming Sunday, we’ll decide which Sundays to work in April. giving consideration to holidays and other events.
Thanks thanks!
Connections
Puzzle #645
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The purples: obscure or not?
About a hour and a half east of Santa Fe is Rio Mora National Wildlife Refuge and Conservation Area (look sharp for the tiny sign for County Road 016-Loma Parda County Road, which leads to the parking area). The Juniper Trail is easy to follow across the grassland, marked by cairns; the cairns are a bit of a challenge to find when the trail follows the rocky cliff edge overlooking the Mora River.
I found twittery groups of Bushtit (Psaltriparus minimus), a better observation of Woodhouse’s Scrub Jay (Aphelocoma woodhouseii), and Mountain Bluebird (Sialia currucoides). And a first (for me) observation identified by scar only: Pronghorn (Antilocapra americana).
“When The Wormβs In The Core, Let It Eat,” by Mike Bendzela.
… this worm is rugged. It can survive Maine winters (its predecessors hail from Europe) β sometimes cocooned on bark, sometimes in dropped apples, other times in soil β and begins pupating in spring.
Can we at least use “modern” to refer to the same time period across all media and disciplines? Utahraptor says no.
Antique technology roundup:
Two pics of neon signs in Greater New York that I’ve happened to catch in pixels over the years.
Boosting signal: two articles (The Conversation, Yale Environment 360) on the efforts to archive federal government websites and databases, in order to keep them online, accessible, and useful. One initiative, with Eric Nost in its leadership, is Public Environmental Data Partners.
See also GovWayback, which leverages the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine, and End of Term Web Archive, which takes snapshots at the end of administrations.
(Meta: I don’t know what of my categories to tag this post with. This isn’t a post that I’d ever imagined I’d need to write.)
Here and there:
I simply had to stop for this Googie sign on the I-25 business loop of Socorro. No time to drop in for a quick meal, alas.
The Museum of International Folk art in Santa Fe’s Girard Collection includes hundreds, probably thousands, of small figurines. Every human type is on display, including mine.
Maria, my rental Ford Edge, and I stopped at Embudo Creek on the way back from Taos, in a fruitless attempt to find American Dipper. At left, the guardrails for the bridge over the creek are visible to the right. At least I could catch the bus there.
Back to the POV pix. Here’s my desk for Kindertransport, with the nifty keypad that Jeff lent me. Godzilla is making sure that I don’t miss a cue.
Folks have sometimes commented that there are no people in my photos, and no action. So here ya go, with a little of both: the VNPS Potowmack Chapter’s “grass bunch” inspecting specimens in the botany department of the National Museum of American History, with the kind assistance of Rob Soreng.
(You may have gathered that these trip reports are not in chronological order.)
The NPS’s driving directions to Chaco Culture National Historical Park read, in part, “13 miles (21 km) of rough dirt road (CR 7950). The 4.5 miles (7 km) before entering the park are very rough.” (Empasis added) “Very rough” means almost constant washboard conditions, 1 to 2 on my 5-point impassibility scale, mercifully little in the way of ruts, rocks, or potholes. This is not a place to drop in for a casual visit.
But O, it’s worth the drive. As the gravel road gives way to pavement within the park boundary, you’re confronted with Fajada Butte.
The centerpiece of the park is the (reconstructed) remains of Pueblo Bonito, a ginormous complex of what once comprised 600 rooms and 40 kivas, according to the NPS brochure. It’s so vast that trying to capture it in a photo or two seemed futile. So I snapped a Rock Wren (Salpinctes obsoletus) instead.
Hungo Pavi is of a much smaller scale. I was taken by the rhythm of small windows and openings for the roof supports.
Casa Rinconada is a large kiva, roofless but otherwise restored to grandeur.
Turning Maria back to base, I abruptly stopped for a small herd of Wapiti (Cervus canadensis).
The next day, I visited another unit that is managed with CHCU. Aztec Ruins National Monument is much more accessible by vehicle, and more interactive, if you will. A walking path takes you through the fully rebuilt Great Kiva, as well as a series of rooms—it’s not a walk for the claustrophobic.
On the grounds just outside the monument, Gunnison’s Prairie Dogs (Cynomys gunnisoni) were keeping an eye on things.
And then on to Navajo Dam State Park, for a stop that wasn’t too fruitful, before moving on to Santa Fe. But I did find a second species of ground squirrel, Rock Squirrel (Otospermophilus variegatus) and a life bird, Woodhouse’s Scrub Jay (Aphelocoma woodhouseii).
Masterful work by Drew Sharpe as Jason and Tyrone, the child’s hand and rod puppet that spirals from Lou Costello’s side of the “Who’s on First?” routine into an Audrey II.
From this week’s nest box report:
Ice on the ponds, so we made like the icebreaker ships.
Predictably, we already have one Hooded Merganser nest started, with 6 eggs.
We used nearly all of the chips in the shed, and what’s left we’re going to use to top up a couple boxes next week. So we’ll need a new package of chips in several weeks for replenishing boxes that hatch early this season.
Your coordinator took a tumble climbing out of the new pool by the tower, significantly scraping his dignity….
Thank you, and see you on the 9th!