a virtual home for Deer Canyon Preserve property owners
The first official Deer Canyon Folks Weather Report Mug. Buy it here!
Weather Report:
Sunny & Breezy
with a chance of Longhorns!
The second official Deer Canyon Folks Weather Report Mug. Buy it here!
Weather Report:
Partly Cloudy
with Imminent Sunsets!
We had a touch of rain overnight, but the big story now is the “breeze.” See, I had a good reason for not mentioning that word!
Yesterday, sustained winds in the 20s, with gusts up to 40 mph. (We were lucky: in Rio Rancho they were having sustained winds greater than 35 mph, and gusts up to 60 mph.) This is what die-hard New Mexicans call “somewhat breezy.”
Yet another basic perfect day!
Still. Warm. Light clouds, so not too bright.
And the first white butterfly of the year flitted through the yard just now, while I was having post-lunch iced tea on the porch.
Because on a day like today, morning tea on the porch just isn’t enough!
I’m behind on reports, as we have had all sorts of weather. I’ll try to catch up here!
Last week Tuesday morning we woke up to snow on the ground, about 3/4 inch of it. The day before had been one of those rare cloudy stormy-looking days, except for about an hour in the afternoon when all the clouds cleared out somehow and it was gloriously sunny. Then the clouds returned and with them wind. Not a breeze, really wind. Later that night I heard rain, and in the morning what we had on the ground was snow.
Since then, however, we’ve been springifying. The weather has been clear, flirting with 70° in the afternoons, and only dipping into the high 30s overnight. And for the most part it hasn’t even been that br--zy. (I don’t like to name it, because every year so far that I have said “gee, it’s not even that br--zy,” well, then the you-know-what has come to laugh at me for 3 months. Yes, I’m that superstitious. And the br--ze is my personal least favorite part of spring.)
Meanwhile, the mourning doves are back. And this morning we heard our first Say’s phoebe of the season. We didn’t manage to see it, and it seems a little bit early to me. On the other hand, they stayed quite late in the fall last year too, so maybe the phoebes understand the warm & dry pattern. The only wildflower I have blooming so far is the filaree, which is not native so maybe it doesn’t count. My currant bush is budding leaves, though.
It is truly great weather for working in the garden or taking walks. Yippee!
Something special today: I’m posting the email Jerry Melaragno sent to DCP residents yesterday, including his photo. I think you will all be interested and I have Jerry’s permission to repost his email here. Enjoy!
Happy March to all,
I saw my first wildflower of the season last week (Feb. 25) which motivated me to send out this message to all DCP permanent residents and many part time & nearby DCPers. This particular flower (photo attached) is a "spring parsley" and is quite small, but let's hope we get some rain soon so that there will be lots more of all shapes and sizes to follow. Another sign of spring - this morning I noticed male juniper cones that were releasing pollen, so those with sensitive noses be forewarned!
I'm hoping this year to be more diligent about keeping track of blooming times for all our wildflowers and you can all help me with this project. Whenever you come across a flower you are seeing for the first time this season, even if you don't know the name of the plant, please send me an email with a description, location, and preferably a photo. I'll keep a record of the first bloom time for our DCP plants that I see or hear about, but the more folks that are on the lookout, the more complete the information will be. I'm particularly interested in white-flowered plants this year as I plan to present a talk to the Native Plant Society on a season of white flowers at DCP.
My other botanical endeavor this year is to help all interested DCPers to become more familiar with our native plants. So I am proposing what the academic in me chooses to call a "Botany Study Group" that would meet once a month to hone our plant observation/identification skills. No lectures or exams, we would meet on a convenient afternoon at one of our properties and observe plants - no significant hiking. Participants will learn what characteristics to look for and how to keep a field notebook. Each of us will "adopt" a handful of specific plants that grow on our lots and spend about an hour/week recording observations of those plants between group meetings. We'll spend part of the group meetings sharing observations and by the end of the season we'll all know those plants quite well. In addition all participants will wind up with a fairly complete list of plants growing on their property.
I'm still firming up my ideas about ways to structure the Botany Study Group and would welcome any suggestions anyone might have. Please let me know by St. Patrick's Day if you are interested and if so, are there particular times that you know you would not be able to meet. If there is interest, we'll schedule our first meeting before the end of March.
Apart from the Botany Study Group, if you are interested in learning the plants on your property I am always willing to walk your land with you and help you learn the plants (and I benefit from seeing a part of the Preserve I might not otherwise visit). My plant inventory of DCP currently stands at 232 species, but I know there are many more I have yet to find.
Thanking you all in advance for your help,
Jerry
© 2011 Alan & Kathleen Clute
