Anna’s hummingbird (Calypte anna ♂). At the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, Arizona.
Please click for an enlarged view.
This immature male is still developing his distinctive iridescent gorget (throat feathers). In a few months his chin and head will flash with colors ranging from deep purple to ruby to bronze.
Palo blanco catkins (Mariosousa willardiana). At the Desert Botanical Garden, Phoenix, Arizona.
Bell, at the Desert Botanical Garden’s Webster Auditorium, in Phoenix, Arizona.
Baja fairy duster (Calliandra californica), at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, Arizona.
Small milkweed bug* (Lygaeus kalmii) on desert milkweed (Asclepias subulata). At the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, Arizona.
Please click photo for full view.
*In this case “small” is part of the bug’s common name, and not just a modifier I’ve tacked on as a literary flourish.
Mexican fence post cactus (Stenocereus marginatus). At the Desert Botanical Garden, Phoenix, Arizona.
Anna’s hummingbird (Calypte anna
♀), at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix,Arizona.
Please click photo for enlargement.
What do you call a group of hummingbirds? Collective terms include boquet, glittering, hover, shimmer, and tune. As in: “I saw a tune of hummingbirds sipping nectar from the penstemon.” Isn’t that lovely?
Small milkweed bug* (Lygaeus kalmii) on desert milkweed (Asclepias subulata). At the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, Arizona.
Please click photo for full view.
*In this case “small” is part of the bug’s common name, and not just a modifier I’ve tacked on as a literary flourish.
Baja fairy duster (Calliandra californica), at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, Arizona.
Mexican fence post cactus (Stenocereus marginatus). At the Desert Botanical Garden, Phoenix, Arizona.
Dithyramb 