August in the Pecos- Journal Entries One and Two

8/3/23
On 8/1/23 arrived at my family’s cabin with Rachel and Julia, to stay for a week. Thus far, there has been an incredible quantity and variety of life, mainly insects, to observe and photograph. Species (known and unknown) include: hover flies, Adejeania vexatrix, Police Car Moths, a crab spider, Melanoplus, Blues, Commas, a Wandering Garter Snake, possible Aculepeira, slug, bat (inside the cabin), Ladies, aphids, Erigeron, Paintbrush, lichens, mosses, Antlions, Fireweed, Mule Deer, Golden-mantled Ground Squirrels, hummingbirds, Flickers, and much more.
Daytime temperatures peak at about 80°F, nighttime hovers around the high 50s. Mainly sunny, with some cloud cover. Last night a distant storm was visible, as lightning flashed and thunder rolled.
We have mainly stuck around the cabin, venturing only to the valleys to the north and south. Today, however, we drove to Winsor Trailhead and walked the trail up to the point where it heads uphill from the stream.
Some notes on natural history:
-Contrasted to a previous cabin trip in June 2022, the coneflower is very visible. Now is clearly its flowering season.
-I saw many harvestmen on thistles during the daytime. I was intrigued, since in my experience, they are normally more ground-dwelling and nocturnal.
-There seems to be more fungi around the cabin this year.
-At this high elevation (more than 8,000 feet), the selection of animals that occur is fascinating. Two species of snakes, one species of lizard that I know of. Very few arachnids, but many insects. In a word- why?

8/4/23
Seems a bit cooler today, more cloud cover. A bit after noon I went out to the stone wall, covered in birdseed being eaten by a number of chipmunks and Golden-mantled Ground Squirrels. Steller’s Jays swooped to and fro.
I sat as still as I could on the wall; the chipmunks dared to come close to me and the Ground Squirrels, even closer.
Then I sat by a stump that was also covered in birdseed. A particularly bold Ground Squirrel came close, pawed at my ankle, then, to my surprise, climbed up and sat in my lap for a moment.

Posted on 21 January, 2024 23:26 by ectothermist