Clearing out an old wood pile

We have recently acquired a library copy of "A Field Guid to the Plants and Animals of the Middle Rio Grande Bosque." I've been wishing to make a study of the life around Sunflower River, and this book has finally catalyzed that.

This is the first blog entry for the Sunflower River Plant & Animal Catalog, a photo blog documenting the plants, animals, and insects that call Sunflower River home.

I hope eventually to both document everything living here, as well as provide habitat to increase the number of creatures that can live here. I can't provide good habitat unless I understand what lives here and how it contributes to this ecosystem. This project is also a way for me to learn what I can do to increase biodiversity at Sunflower River.

This blog should also serve as a seasonal and historical timeline of habitat activity, allowing us to measure our environmental impact. By documenting our ecosystem over time, we can determine which creatures are thriving, which are dying, and what is changing as we continue to transform Sunflower River into a working farm.

Kit and I spent part of today clearing out an old wood pile near our acequia. This pile has been on the property since before we purchased it, and much of the wood was in an advanced state of decomposition.

Several of the insects we photographed today I haven't identified yet. If you recognize any of the invertebrate pictured behind the cut, please speak up!

Funnel-Web Spider

The dark bands on this spider give it away. Common to the bosque.

Pill Bug Spider

This spider is named after the pill bugs and sow bugs it preys upon.

The only large fanged, red spider in the bosque.

Common to the bosque, We identified four different individuals while clearing the wood pile.

Pill Bug

Roly-polys are very common to Sunflower River. We often find nets of them that we feed to our chickens.

Easy to indentify through their ability to roll into a ball when
threatened.

Sow Bug

Sow Bugs are slightly less common than pill bugs, but still plentiful here.

They look like pill bugs, but can't roll into a ball. We often find them together, as we did today.

Silverfish

Identified by the three filaments extending from the end of their body, along with their grey-blue color. These things move in a way I find mildly creepy.

Green Stink Bug

I haven't identified the exact species of this insect, but it is a green stink bug. Any help in narrowing it down would be appreciated!

Unidentified Spider

I first confused this spider with the pill bug spider, but it does not have fangs. I haven't identified this spider yet. If you know what it is, please let me know!

Unidentified Invertebrate

I'm not the least bit certain what this is. It looks like a caterpillar, but I'm not sure whether there are other insects that look like this that aren't classified as caterpillars. Help?

Daddy Longlegs

Finally, we found a whole nest of daddy longleg spiders, but I didn't get any good photos of those. They are extremely common, I'll have plenty of opportunity in the future for a good photo.

There are several species of spider referred to as daddy longlegs. We probably have several, and I'll need good close-up photos to clearly distinguish them.

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