Purple Clouds

Commonly known as Texas Rangers, Texas Sages or Purple Sages,

perhaps another name for these shrubs could be Purple Clouds.

honey bee

carpenter bee

Bees love them!

Summer Sightings

Hello :)  These pictures are from early July.  First, birds and saguaros again and then a little more of a variety.

house finches

white-winged dove - adult

white-winged dove - juvenile

purple martin - female

purple martin - male

red-tailed hawk

cat-claw acacia seed pod

barrel cactus with red spines

round-tailed ground squirrels

chain-fruit cholla cactus

cactus wren

tarantula hawk  (wasp)

tarantula and mesquite seed pods

empress leilia butterfly

zebra-tailed lizard

desert spiny lizard

desert spiny lizard

desert tortoise

saguaros and palo verdes reflected in puddles of rainwater

Have a good day!

Birds on Saguaros

In the Sonoran Desert, when the weather is too hot to enjoy a long nature walk, abundant wildlife can still be observed on just about any cactus with flowers and/or fruit.  These pictures are all from June.

flycatcher (maybe ash-throated)

This flycatcher was moving nesting material from one cactus to another.

gila woodpecker

gila woodpecker with pollen on his beak

house finches - male and juvenile

pyrrhuloxia

northern mockingbird

lesser goldfinch

phainopepla - female

cactus wren

Rain

These pictures are from the morning after the first significant rain of the monsoon season.

Eerie lighting reflected in puddles of rainwater.

A little frog in a puddle?

A faint parhelion (sun dog) appeared in the sky.

crested saguaro on the left

Clouds all around! :)

One last puddle of rainwater until next time...

See more skies from around the world at Skywatch Friday.

Deer

From a distance I saw a couple of deer, maybe a doe and her fawn. The bigger one kept her eyes on me while the little one was nibbling on plants and scampering about.