Nature Walk

These pictures are from Monday morning.  We've had some delightful summer rains here, but it is still hot out...good weather for working on projects indoors.  Have a wonderful day!

Random Hearts - Ants

You might recall a Desert Colors post from May with an ant carrying a flower heart down into a heart shaped hole under a palo verde tree:

Well, last week I noticed another heart shaped ant hill,

but instead of flower petals there were lots of fast moving ants, many with wings.

Further down the road, a huge column of flying ants was swirling in the early morning sunlight.

Apparently, this was the day for the nuptial flight of the ants.

Back home again, I saw a couple of winged ants on a stucco wall.

queen ant

Later at the computer, contemplating if the ant's head looked heart shaped, it dawned on me that this ant was wearing a heart on his wings.

winged male ant

Discover more hearts or share your own at Clytie's Random Hearts.

Along the Mesquite Trail

flycatcher

mesquite beans

cowbird

shadows of leaflets on seed pods

"Everything is perfect in being what it is.
It has nothing to do with good or bad."
~Longchenpa (1308–1364)

Watching the Morning Sky

 Before Sunrise

moon and clouds

roof tiles shimmer in the moonlight

waning gibbous moon

Sunrise

looking east

looking west

After Sunrise

the moon, barely visible...

Have a wonderful weekend!  Linking to Skywatch Friday.

June Birds

Greetings!  Here are some more birds on saguaros from June:

curve-billed thrasher

Gila woodpecker

brown-crested flycatcher

house finches

verdin

white-winged doves

pyrrhuloxia

Hasta la vista...