seedlings

right now loads of new seedlings are popping out of the ground. I'm sure no one is surprised the most numerous is the elms. I experimented with the germination when they first came out and they seem to need a cycle of very wet ground, followed by a slow drying. They usually sprout from a pile of cottonwood leaves, which stays wet for longer than the rest of the area.

The quick monsoon rains brings out the lined June bugs, and also some new birds.

A new tiny hummingbird has arrived at our feeder stations. It flashes a copper colored throat and is utterly fearless, chasing off all other birds from the feeder. This is the classic Rufus hummingbird, heading south for the winter.

Sounds after the storm

this summer I have heard a loud clicking in the trees that sounded a lot like bats. I got a chance to follow the sounds one evening, and found a mating chorus of these guys; katydids. A side picture would show an animal that looks amazingly like a green leaf. While these leaf eaters are noisy, there seems to be many more insects interested in living on the sunflower flowers;

Flower beetles and associated weevils are all over the pollen from these large plants right now.