A SPECIAL REPORT: AFTER THE RAINS

OTHER SHOE: A rainy winter, yes, but not the worst. The 16.44 inches in Woodland Hills so far pales beside 1993’s 26 inches in Van Nuys. Forecasters expect the rest of the season to be drier. . . . But aftereffects go on for months. Wildlife, gardens, air traffic and allergies all are affected.

BIRDMEN BEWARE: Air traffic? At Edwards Air Force Base, home of “the right stuff,” pilots have a BASH. Not a big party but a Bird Air Strike Hazard warning. Normally dry lake beds used for runways are flooded, hatching eggs of weird little freshwater shrimp that usually lie dormant in the sand. Result: flocks of shrimp-loving sea gulls, pelicans and ducks. . . . “When you suck a duck into an airplane, it can be pretty hard on the airplane,” observed a base spokesman. “Pretty hard on the duck, too.”

ROW ON ROW: The thousands that flock to the Antelope Valley each spring to see the wild poppies (above) probably expect a dynamite year. Sorry, no. Not enough cold weather to choke back wild grasses that compete with the flowers. Predicts Mary Lou MacKenzie of the state Poppy Reserve near Lancaster: “We’ll have lots of flowers, but I don’t think it will be spectacular.”

LEARN OR DIE: Gardens will thrive. Alas, so will weeds, especially oxalis. Good: Oxalis produces fertilizing nitrogen. Bad: It’s still a darned weed. . . . There’s already an eruption of edible mushrooms such as the delicious parasol variety. But beware poisonous ones like agaricus xanthedermis. . . . Advice: If you can’t tell them apart, forget it.

SNEEZES AND BUGS: Pollen from a huge spring weed crop will torment allergy sufferers. Conversely, the rain-washed air helps sinusitis sufferers--”a double-edged sword,” says Dr. Hershell Kaufman, a Granada Hills specialist. . . . Mosquito control officials have troops out treating 2,000 Valley swimming pools cracked by the Northridge quake and drained, prime breeding grounds for little bloodsuckers. The stagnant pools are sprayed with Altosid to attract dragonflies and other larva-gobbling insects. . . . Official prediction: normal mosquito levels this summer.