saguaro

Rather than blather on about my Easter Sunday, I'll just share a few images from a morning hike in Tucson's Rincon mountains. Winter rains have given way to wildflowers, and in particular the Encelia brittlebush was spectacular. Prickly pear: A hoverfly guards his territory: Pheidole worker ant gathering nectar from a barrel cactus: Honeypot ants emerging from their nest: Close-up of Aphaenogaster cockerelli, a common harvester ant:
  The Saguaro might, one could fancy, be a tree designed by someone who had never seen a tree. -Donald Culross Peattie, 1950