First Day at Bosque del Apache

We made a leisurely tour of the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge on our first day (November 13) – not trying to get there in time for the fly out which happens at sunrise. We’d arrived at our hotel after dark the day before and took in the scene of the Magdalena Mountains to the west – and the moon -  from our hotel parking lot as we got ready to go to the refuge for the first time.

After a quick stop at the refuge’s visitor center, we drove around the wildlife loop. There were flooded fields and one of the first birds I saw was a yellowlegs – a bird I’d also seen on the west coast.

Cattails were also prevalent.

There were lots of crows that moved around together as we took a short hike.

A train came through.

I was so focused on photographing the train that I was startled by two javelinas coming toward me! After they crossed the path, I managed to get a picture of them as they continued to move away.

We saw sandhill cranes feeding in the field. The sometimes raise their necks and heads straight up and make lots of noise…and they ‘dance’ too.

I was close enough to zoom in to get a picture of vegetation through the nostrils of a sandhill crane (nostrils are on the upper part of the bill)!

There were many Northern Pintail Ducks on the ponds

And American Coots

And Northern Shovelers (male and female)

And Buffleheads which are notoriously hard to photograph because they go under the water so frequently

And turkeys

And two morphs of snow geese (white and blue, they are distinguished from the Ross’s goose by the dark mark on their bill).

The cottonwoods were still full of yellow leaves since the weather had been mild until the later part of the week we were there.

It was a lot to see in one day!

Gleanings of the Week Ending July 9, 2016

The machines that run the internet – A short film.

A Murder of Crows: When Roosting Crows Come to Town – We don’t have large number of crows in our area – but we are seeing more than we were a few years ago when West Nile Virus killed so many of them.

Picky Eaters: Bumble Bees prefer plans with nutrient-rich pollen – The protein to lipid ratio makes a difference to bumble bees!

Ocean Acidification and Chemical Signaling – How ocean acidification impacts chemical signally of shell fish…an infographic about research on peptides that are involved in detecting predators, homing, and reproduction.

How one of history’s bloodiest wars eventually saved lives – By the end of World War I, combatant deaths has reached 10 million. Twice as many were injured. Post-traumatic stress disorder was recognized for the first time – called ‘shell shock.’ Blood transfusion, oxygen and treatment on the front lines became the norm. See some of the devices developed and used during that time period in this post or at the Wooded exhibition at London’s Science Museum.

Floating Solar: A Win-Win for Drought Stricken Lakes in the US – Will this idea become reality? It seems that in places where water is scarce that reducing evaporation and producing power at the same time would be a positive thing.

Humans artificially drive evolution of new species – Human drive extinction but also speed up evolution of new species as well. For example – a common house mosquito has evolved into a new species that thrives in subterranean environments – like subway stations; it can no longer interbreed with its above ground ancestor species.

Beyond Sightseeing: You’ll Love the Sound of America’s Best Parks – A project to record the (non-human) sounds of national parks.

Boosting potency of broccoli-related compound for age-related macular degeneration – Macular degeneration impacted the last few years of my grandmother’s life and I still notice articles about current research on prevention and/or remediation…. macular degeneration might happen to many of us as we get older.

Vanishing Act: Why Insects are declining and why it matters – Another example of the importance of biodiversity to our future…and the future of the planet.

Gleanings of the Week Ending May 14, 2016

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

Nanoscale solutions for hospital acquired infections – Antibiotic-resistant pathogens are problematic…and racing to find new antibiotics is getting harder all the time. Seeing different solutions – like these (click in the red circles to see the description) is reassuring.

Umami Flavor on the Rise – The ‘pleasant savory taste’ of soy sauce, hard cheeses, and mushrooms or nutritional yeast….but how to get the flavor without high sodium.

Changing the world, one fridge at a time – What can we do about food waste? The problem is in the production side in the developing world and the consumer side in the developed world…so in the US, it is in each of our refrigerators and pantries. I’ve gotten better over the past few years and rarely have anything spoil. I also dry orange peels instead of putting them into my compost!

Green light for plant-based food packaging – Part of the solution to food waste? Based on this story from Science Daily – I’m not sure this one is ready for prime time.

How Safe is Your Drinking Water? – A well-organized article with some tips on how to find out more from Berkley Wellness.

Enthusiast Builds Website to Collect, Share Free National Park Maps – Find it here. This is a site to bookmark and check when you are planning a trip to any National Park.

A Surprising Look at Crow Family Life – We are seeing more crows this year – recovering to the numbers from before West Nile Virus killed so many of them. I welcomed hearing about cooperative breeding among crows in this article (and maybe it includes the blue jays too).

9 Dangerous Beauty Trends – How many of these did you already know about?

How a Cancer Drug has saved people from going blind – My grandmother was blinded by macular degeneration so I’m always interested in the ongoing research to prevent or treat it.

Kids win another climate change lawsuit – A Superior Court judge ruled in favor of 7 young plaintiffs ordering the Washington (state) Department of Ecology to promulgate an emissions reduction rule by the end of 2016 and make recommendations to the state legislature about how to reduce the state’s greenhouse gas emissions in the 2017 legislative session. Similar legal action is pending in North Carolina, Colorado, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts.