Sí, se puede!

Dolores Huerta  1930 - 2026

Another Bold Predator

 I passed by the model train exhibit toward the end of my walk through the Albuquerque Botanic Garden.  I was surprised to see this large bird flap up. suddenly from the little stream that runs through the site.

The overall shape and the long tail revealed it to be a Cooper's Hawk.  The hawk seemed quite at ease on the low branch at only about three yards from me,  apparently waiting for my exit so it could get back to its morning bath.

All of the members of the family of accipiters show similar fierce confidence in the dominance of their immediate surroundings.  I was reminded of a larger goshawk that I once came across in the high desert of southern Idaho.  That hawk was sitting on a recent kill, a jackrabbit, and. it just glared at me and mantled over its prey as I came within a few yards.

 It was early Fall and I did not at the time have a hunting bird, so I decided to see if I might capture this bold hunter.  I went home to get a decoy pigeon which I fitted with a noose-covered harness.  I drove back into the desert and found the hawk still on top of the jack.  I had her in my hands in a few minutes.

The accipiters are extremely aggressive  when they are hungry, which makes them quick to learn the falconer's routine with only small offerings of meat as a performance reward.  The big female was hunting from the glove within two weeks of being trapped.  She caught a lot of rabbits, jacks and pheasants which we shared that winter before I sent her back to the wild.

Plugging In

 My 1996 Toyota T100 has gone to a new home.

 The replacement is an electric powered 2015 BMW i3.

 I was looking for something even smaller for getting around town, but the BMW is nice to drive and I think we will enjoy it.  I will need to spend some serious time studying the manual to understand the operation of all the electronic controls.

Friday Morning Conversation

Urban Wildlife

 As we were seeing off a friend this Roadrunner walked right by me on the sidewalk and turned into our driveway where it perched on a rock.

That is typical behavior for this bold predator.  This one looked very sleek, perhaps a young bird born just this summer.  

The Urban Jungle

 The cat didn't show up for breakfast this morning. 

 A little later Margaret noticed a small pile of what looked like dove feathers on our side porch.

Underground

 Locating data centers underground seems an attractive alternative to the current crop of huge surface-level installations.  There are numerous adtantages to building beneath the surface:

• Large existing spaces such as abandoned mines are available in many places around the country.

• Constant low temperatures avoid the need for massive preemption of scarce water sources for cooling.

 • Noise and air pollution can be greatly reduced for surrounding communities.

• Freed up surface area makes space available for alternatives to fossil fuel driven power sources including solar and wind (particularly relevant options in the windy and sun-rich Southwest).  The Rio Grande Valley, whiich has been targeted for data center development, also has great untapped potential for geothermal exploitation.

What those considerations point to in the present moment is the wisdom of a moratorium on data center construction as proposed by New Mexico gubenatorial candidate, Deb Haaland.  There will never be a better time to evaluate the current rush to throw up intrusive industrial complexes, and the practicalities of under-surface location.

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New Mexico and El Paso Spent Millions on Climate Plans. Three New Data Centers Could Undo Them.  (This ProPublica article examines how southwest states' climate and industrial development plans are at odds and how air polution knows no boundaries )