At the pool

Sonoran Desert Toad

Just chillin'

Sweetness

 

It's time for the ripe saguaro cactus fruit to split open allowing birds to feast on the juicy pulp and dark seeds inside.

The desert looks and smells as if the saguaros are blooming all over again, this time in rich shades of red rather than white.

Red ripe saguaro fruits are a sign that the rainy season will begin soon.  Moisture is always welcome in the desert.

Lunar Eclipse

While looking for the sunrise at 5:00 this morning, I noticed the moon setting in the opposite direction.  I didn't realize I was observing a partial lunar eclipse.  Later, I learned that what I had seen was a full moon with the earth's shadow blocking part of it.

If the rising sun had been visible at the same time, I would have witnessed selenelion, an uncommon eclipse phenomenon when the sun and the eclipsed moon are visible at the same time.

The clouds to the east were obscuring the sun, but it was still a pleasant sunrise.

Morning Colors

Greetings from the Sonoran Desert!  Clouds and colors were happening in the sky here this morning and I am pleased to share them with you.

Wow, even a sweet little virga rainbow!  The rain evaporated before reaching the ground.  All this before 7:00AM.  Rain is not in our weather forecast for today; it's supposed to be mostly sunny and the temperature is expected to reach 108f.

See more skies from around the world or share your sky pictures at Skywatch Friday.

Wordless Wednesday

Weird Shadows

Extra-terrestrial Turtle

Artistic Rocks

Hobo Kitty

More Shadow Shot Sunday fun at Hey Harriet hosted by Tracy.

June Sky Snapshots

Just a typical early morning stroll to see what's happening in the desert:

 Looking east at 6:00AM, sunlight starts streaming into the canyon

 6:45AM an agave welcomes the warm morning sun

 Bees love agaves

 Heading south at 7:00AM past the waving saguaro

 This cactus still has sweet smelling blossoms

Mr. Quail calls, "Chi-CA-go-go" over and over.

See more sky pictures from around the world at Skywatch Friday, hosted by Klaus, Sandy, Wren, Fishing Guy and Sylvia.

A little squirrel tail

In the Sonoran Desert, we have "Round-tailed" Ground Squirrels.  As you can see, their tails are smaller than those of tree squirrels.  There aren't many tall trees in the desert so these squirrels don't need big bushy tails for balancing.  They live underground and most of their food is found on or close to the ground.

Here's a squirrel in a creosote bush eating seeds.

See how he held onto the branch with his hind foot.

Notice the different ways they can use their tails for support while standing. 

This baby squirrel puffed up its tail.  It probably wanted me to go away, so I did. :)

If you like squirrels, check out the Plantain Squirrel in a Malaysian jungle at Rainfield's place.

Silly Photos - Bluebirds

Hi there!  This post is for the new Silly Photo Challenge.  I took these two photos back in February when the bluebirds were visiting.  These pictures haven't found their way into any posts until now. 

For more silly, crazy, blooper, or just simple mistakes in photos, hop on over to Squirrel Queen's The Road to Here.

Perhaps you have a fun photo just sitting in your files that you'd like to share.

Backyard Birds

zzz...

June Morning Shadows

Here are some shadow shots from my walk in the desert yesterday morning.  In June, it is so bright and sunny at 6:00AM, I have to adjust the exposure bias on my camera to -2/3 or else the highlights blow out.  That makes the image on the LCD screen dim, and with sunglasses on I can barely see what I'm shooting.  Luckily, the bunny and squirrel were standing still like statues, so I was able to picture them.

See more shadowy images at Shadow Shot Sunday, hosted by Tracy.

Skywatch - a beautiful week

This first picture was taken on May 31st, the morning our newest family member, Tyler Jet, was born:

"shown a flower
a small baby
opens its mouth"

~Seifu-ni

Mid-week blue sky with contrails from jets: 

 Tyler's middle name is Jet because his father served in

the Air Force, stationed in Tucson where he met Victoria,

and they are fans of the NY Jets football team.

This morning at 5:15AM:

"I’ll tell you how the sun rose --
A ribbon at a time --"

~Emily Dickinson

To view skies from around the world, visit Sky Watch Friday here.

The Nest

Thank you all for your good wishes and congrats for my daughter, son-in-law and new grandson in Massachusetts.  I enjoyed sharing the news of the happy event and it was awesome to receive comments from near and far, all around the world.

Now, back to the desert:

A mourning dove was sitting on a nest on cholla cactus.

Below, it looked like a king snake was trying to get to the nest.

But the snake wasn't moving.

Two days later, the snake was gone.  If you look carefully at the nest below, you can see a baby bird next to the dove.

The following day the young dove was alone in the nest. 

And now the nest is empty.
(You can click on the pictures to enlarge and click again to make even bigger. )