I love it when the Big Red Fuzzy Mites come out. This fellow was nearly a centimeter long, found at Desert Station.


We went for another walk this evening in Saguaro Park East. There has been so much rain in the last few days. Even though it was clear, we could see big storms moving across the horizon.

We had no flashlight for our walk back to the car, so we enjoyed the dark and listened to the owls. We were mindful of rattlesnakes, especially since I found a nice big fat one yesterday.

The road back was covered in toads, most of whom we hopefully missed. It was also covered in debris, sand, water, and medium-sized rocks in low places where flash floods had passed over it. A troupe of javelina crossed in front of us, with babies.

Yesterday I found an army ant on one of my cacti, presumably drinking nectar. This may not sound strange (unless you are simply surprised that we have army ants in Arizona, as many people are). However this is kind of like finding a mountain lion eating grape popsicles. I'll see what Alex has to say about it.

It is pouring rain again. I went for a long walk in the desert this morning and it was green, beautiful, and creosote-scented. The hills were draped in mist and curtains of lightning-lit showers. It never got higher than about 80 - a tremendous relief after days 107 degree highs and sun so bright it bakes your retinas white. The ants were out and about, drinking cactus nectar. At the very top of a rocky hill we found leaf-cutter alates mating in a frantic, boiling column.

Next Monday I go to Japan.

Well, since I had to sign up for this to comment on Jessie's blog, why not post something? Here's an entry.
I went out blacklighting for moths with the lab last night, and stayed out until 2 AM. When I wasn't catching hawkmoths I had a great time trying to track ants back to their colonies. My new method: mix fluorescent powder with cookie crumbs, and place a pile on the cacti. Then come back in half an hour with a hand-held blacklight and follow the trail of glowing yellow cookie crumbs as it moves to the nest. Tremendous fun, and an added benefit is that I can easily find lots of cool scorpions at the same time (their bodies glow under UV).
While I was out there, we had typical Arizona monsoon weather. These are a few of the photographs I took.













It is always startling to come across a cow while walking in the dark.



This is why I love living here.