A little warmth brings out a lot of wildlife

In the past week, temperatures have shifted upward dramatically. It’s above freezing every night, and plants and animals have responded appropriately. There is so much to see.

We made a quick trip down to Bosque del Apache Wildlife Refuge near San Antonio, NM. The sandhill cranes are all gone, but there are plenty of ducks and songbirds. We stayed at a house near San Antonio, and were treated to a small group of wild turkeys. The females spent a lot of time foraging near the house, and a male would occasionally stop in and try to woo them.

There were also a few mammals, such as javelinas and coyotes.

We also came across an Eleodes, probably E. gracilis

Back at the lab, spring is in full swing. Winter birds, like juncos and robins, have moved on, and summer residents, including lesser goldfinches and Say’s phoebes have settled in.

Some of the year-round residents, such as western bluebirds (and, of course, screech owls) are taking their jobs as parents seriously.

As added enticement, we replaced the old bluebird box with a shiny new one.

Stink beetles are very much making their presence known. One can now find multiple species of Eleodes on a casual stroll around the neighborhood.

Now that the weather has warmed up, this month’s pitfall trap survey was a bit more interesting.

There’s plenty of traffic through the field with the traps, including this big, fuzzy coyote that strolled through the week before the traps were set.

We caught a few Eleodes sponsa in the traps, along with wolf spiders, ants, and weevils.

So the natural world has gone from quiet to extremely busy this month. Don’t forget to check out the updates on the owl cam page if you have a few minutes.