Had to do this. I took this in the morning as I noticed that once again the dragonflies were on the move. I guess we have to be talking about millions of them having migrated by during the last two weeks. Hard to get a shot of one because they DO NOT LAND TO REST! So here's the best I could do with my inappropriate camera setup (hand held 300 mm digital). It's the only lense I have....great for Whales and some other things but a bit hard to catch dragonflies adequately.
Yesterday I caught (no pic, just watching) 3 Desert Iguanas chowing on my Hibiscus plant. They are not climbers so I have plenty of blossoms for them to eat down below and the branches are too delicate for the Spiny Tailed Iguanas to get up on. What was special, and scientifically interesting, was that there was a male, a female and a young iguana all there eating at the same time. The young one was mimicking the techniques of the other two and they "seemed" to be a family. But that's like the ant tussle the other day. How much am I anthropomorphizing? Reptiles don't form family units. Frankly, I don't care (about the anthropomorphizing)....never did (drove my professors and colleagues up the wall). It is this kind of anecdotal information that gets thrown into the "scientific" circular file...."mores the pity" as James Burke might say.
We have had only one rain since I arrived Jan. 4th. The desert is thirsty. I can't wait to see all the critters and plants do their dance when we finally get some.
I just finished a delightful science fiction book entitled "Star Songs of an Old Primate" by James Tiptree, Jr. (an interesting story in HERSELF). What I wanted to share from it was this:
"But it is also friendship beyond imagining, he has never known anything as wonderful as this communion, not sex or sunsets or EVEN THE MAGIC HOUR ON HIS FIRST BIKE". I don't know about you all, and there is no reason why anyones NEEDS to share this feeling but I know some of you do remember that "Magic Hour" on your first bike. It was for me as she goes on to say, ".... as if everything is all right now, will be all right forever---griefs he did not even know he carried are falling from him, leaving him light as smoke".
If you have been there....remember and smile....or cry or both.
Well, I'd like to cast a layman's vote against the scientific consensus that reptiles don't form family ties. I have 3 Desert Iguanas in my rockpile in the front yard (as you know). They began with the older male in the first year, then the female in the second year and the youngster in the third year. This is a pretty small rockpile so I consider them to all be living together. In addition, there is a vertical hierarchy to where they sun themselves (which seems mostly to be what they do). Older male on top of the pile, then the female a little lower on the W side and the youngster lower still on the E side. This pattern of spacial organization is going into its second year now and I think it suggests at the minimum a relationship, at the maximum, a familial relationship.
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