This year’s monsoon got off to an early start in mid-June, but thus far, we have received just 2.98 inches of rainfall. Many storms have passed by, missing us by only a few miles. Hope for more rain is justified, however, because the summer monsoon season still has a couple of months to go. Summer rain always brings a wonderful blooming of life to this arid landscape, most of which cannot be witnessed at any other times of year. Here is a brief gallery of some of those recent gifts…
The floor of the local mesquite bosque has been bereft of greenery throughout the autumn, winter, and spring. One of the first substantial monsoon storms brought color to the woodland floor – an effusion of fresh, young plants erupting from the soil. Also visible in this image are mesquite pods. Millions of these highly nutritious pods have fallen from velvet mesquites in the valley during the past couple of weeks, providing a keystone food source for a tremendous variety of pod-eating wildlife. Rain cleans and wets the ground surface, providing a crisp, fresh record of the presence of local wildlife, like this mule deer buck’s trackway. As is the case with most quadripedal mammals, these tracks show substantial dimorphism: the larger track represents a front foot, the smaller a hind foot. The remains of a well-chewed mesquite pod reveal the place where a rodent fed the night before. This one was most likely the work of an Ord’s kangaroo rat. Tarantulas remain hidden and mostly inactive during much of the year. Summer rains bring them out of their burrows. This is a full-grown (palm-spanning) male Arizona blond tarantula, Aphonopelma chalcodes. If I am not mistaken, these are western subterranean termites, Reticulitermes hesperus. After the first strong summer rain storm, these insects emerge in spectacular swarms to embark on their aerial, one-day-per-year mating flights. Termites are among the most essential of all insects in the desert southwest, for they are primary decomposers of plant materials, recycling essential nutrients back into the soil. A western diamondback feeding on a lesser goldfinch at our bird pond. Some people may find this image disturbing, but such a viewpoint implies an abiological bias…the cute little bird and the horrible, scary snake. Both are native residents of this ecosystem, both are equally welcome on our property, and both must eat to survive. An ornate box turtle, Terrapene ornata, stationed itself under a suet feeder one day and revealed something new – box turtles love to eat suet! Bits and pieces fall to the ground as woodpeckers and other birds feed on the suet block; these high-calorie morsels are eagerly consumed by other creatures, including ravens and nocturnally foraging mice. A heavy rain brought several Couch’s spadefoot toads to our bird pond. Females are typically colored with dark reticulations like this individual. Male Couch’s spadefoots are usually much more plainly colored. A first! This morning, our “bird pond” was wriggling with new life, a batch of spadefoot tadpoles! If these tadpoles survive to grow into adult toads, they will carry the memory of their natal pond’s geographic location, and will return to it to breed in future years. Another first for our bosque – a Gould’s turkey with young in tow. I had seen turkeys here before, but never a hen with her offspring. At dawn’s first soft light after a nighttime storm, there were a dozen or more white-lined sphinx moths (Hyles lineata) circling the small pool of water that constitutes our bird pond. The moths were alighting to drink – they disappeared soon after, as daylight strengthened. These are large insects with three-inch wingspans, equipped with powerful musculature that enables strong, rapid flight. This species ranges from Central American northward to Canada.
