Shallow Thoughts : : nature

Operation Snakeweed Reseed is a Success

We don't get as many wildflowers here as I'd like, but one reliable bloom every year in late summer was the snakeweed.

Terrible name. In fact, it's quite a nice plant, which around early September explodes into a carpet of yellow flowers.

Until 2023-2024, when a severe drought managed to kill it all.

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Mythical Creatures

(A Toastmasters speech on Jul 14, 2025.)

Humans have told stories of mythical creatures for as long as there have been humans.

Creatures like mermaids, or unicorns, or fire-breathing dragons. But of course, today we know that mythical creatures don't really exist.

Or do they?

Let me tell you a couple stories of mythical creatures I've seen -- or not seen.

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Christmas Bird Count

Sunday was the annual Christmas Bird Count, and we had unusually good weather for it: sunny, windless, not too cold.

It started with a bang at Overlook Park when a bunch of starlings flew over ... followed by a small falcon. I'm not good at identifying falcons because I see them so seldom, but fortunately I was with an experienced birder who sees merlins at her house and confidently IDed this one. A life bird for me (I'm sure I've seen them, but never been sure enough of the ID to count one), and also a bird that was on the list of birds to watch for since they hadn't been seen so far during the count week.

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A Bullsnake Imitating a Rattler

Riding my bike to the market, I came across a bullsnake stretched across the road, sunning itself ... in danger of becoming snake pizza.

I nudged it to try to get it to move off the road, which annoyed it into doing its pretend-rattlesnake defensive posture.

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Antifreeze and Critters

My Miata blew a radiator hose and dumped out all its coolant, so I needed to do a radiator flush and fill.

Turns out that's kind of a nasty job on an NB (second-gen) Miata. The radiator drain plug is accessed through a hole in the tray under the engine. Once you get it loose enough that coolant has started to drip out, if the screwdriver slips, it's impossible to get it back on without getting coolant all over the screwdriver, flashlight, your arm, your face and hair, etc. And once you do manage to loosen it enough, it pops out, sending coolant gushing everywhere onto the engine undertray, from which it comes out the back and sides and it's impossible to catch it all in a drain pan.

So that left me with quite a mess to clean up afterward. I started by pouring the used coolant into a container with a secure cap: I've always heard warnings about how kids and pets will try to drink the poisonous stuff because it tastes and smells sweet. We don't have kids or pets, but there are plenty of wild critters and we want them to stay healthy too.

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Bighorn on the Trail

On a mountain bike ride on the White Rock Canyon Rim trail yesterday, we stopped at one of the overlooks to admire the view, and turned to see three bighorn sheep crossing the trail behind us.

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Identifying Trees and Shrubs in Winter: a PEEC Plant Walk

Last week Craig Martin led a tree and shrub identification walk for PEEC around Kinnikinnick (yes, I had to look up the spelling) Park in Los Alamos.

It was a very welcome addition to the summer flower walks that Craig and Chick Keller have led in the past. Nothing wrong with flowers, but I get curious about the non-flowering plants I see around me. I guess I'm not the only one who feels that way, because the walk was very well attended despite the mud and snow.

And it was fabulous. I scribbled notes as I could, but I'm sure they won't make any sense to me a week from now, let alone a year. Hence this writeup.

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Beaver Ponds at Bandelier

A couple of years ago, while hiking up Frijoles Canyon in Bandelier we came across some hikers one of whom carried a huge boxy backpack with a sheet over it.

We asked about it, and it turned out they were carrying a pair of beavers for release.

Like many places in the western US, Frijoles Creek used to have quite a population of beavers, but they were all wiped out for one reason or another. Now, park officials are trying to repopulate them.

It looks like it's working. We had heard rumours of beaver dams and beaver ponds, and about a month ago we hiked up Frijoles Canyon to see what beaver evidence we could see.

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