An error in the previous day's entry — the James Penstemon (Penstemon jamesii) is now beginning to bloom. One sole and hardy plant has begun to put out flowers that are as beautiful as one could imagine. And, a mid-afternoon hike up the Forest Park Trail revealed a lone and fragile looking (but, apparently hardy) Northern Rock Jasmine (Androsace septentrionalis) growing in the crook of a limestone boulder.
It has been a long hiatus since my last entry. Now that it seems summer is on its way, much has been changing in the local ecosystem that confirms this postulate. The Black-headed Grosbeak (Pheucticus melanocephalu) has arrived in full force (actually, their first siting was near the end of April), along with a myriad of humming bird species. And, there has been a large raptor, which I believe is a Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) that has been dotting the local sky.
Wow! What a way to enter into Spring 2010 - 10 inches of fresh whipped cream like snow (see the full photo story). This must only happen in New Mexico (I wonder). This morning the temperature settled down to about 18° F and this afternoon a high of 38° F. And tomorrow's expected high is to be 55° F.
Sitting at the end of the first week in February, local snow accumulation exceeds even the most optimistic expectations for an El Niño year. Beginning on New Years eve of this past year, the level of moisture has been significant -- four major storms dropping, on average, about 8 inches of snow with each punch. As predictable, north-facing slopes gain depth with each new storm
On the cover, it appears that winter is both colder and wetter than last year. We have already had two reasonable snow storms blow through in the past few weeks, and there is still snow providing ground cover across most of the terrain. Our new cistern (1,400 gallon; about 1,200 effective gallons) is now half full (empty?) with only snow melt. I anticipate a full tank by sometime in January 2010 if the current trends continue.
