Cactus Flowers

Last night we went to a movie (Ex Machina), and as we walked back to our car we could see frequent flashes of lightning in the distance – too distant to be heard, in fact.  During the night we heard the thunder, and then raindrops hitting the roof.  It seems the rain helped to encourage our cacti to bloom, after several hot days in the upper 90s.  The result was a series of beautiful blooms, as shown below:

Two cacti bloomed today, one with reddish-orange flowers, the other with yellow flowers.

Betsy was enjoying the garden more than usual this morning.

Here's a closer look at the red blooms:

Notice the beautiful shades of pink around the interior of these blooms.

It seems that May showers brought May flowers.

The Adventure Of The Great Blue Herons

On our way to Mom's house here in Leisure World we walk right past a tree where the herons have a rookery.  There's always a big ruckus going on there as adults fly back and forth to feed their young.  Parts of the tree are "whitewashed" with droppings.

Here are a couple recent photos of an adult feeding its young in the nest.

An adult Great Blue Heron on the nest.  One of the young is visible below the adult.

When the adult interacts with the young it tends to erect its crest, which is normally not so prominent.  In the next photo the young heron is begging to be fed.

A young heron (left) trying to induce the adult to regurgitate food.

Finally, the adult feeds the young, though it certainly looks like a rough way to get a meal.

Ramming the food down the throat is the heron way of feeding its young.