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Sunday 24 June 2012

Monsoon Memories

In spite of one, most welcome, unseasonal deluge a couple of weeks ago we are now firmly in the grip of a toasty desert summer. I am not looking for sympathy, I love my desert home but sometimes when the thermometer threatens to go past the highest digit it is quite soothing to think of cooler, damper times.


For a desert in a typical year we get a relatively high annual rainfall, in fact almost the maximum amount (10 inches) allowed to still classify as a desert. Death Valley we are not! And like my previous home in Africa the build-up to the rains and the joy when they finally arrive is shared by all species.


The build-up can be cruel, weeks and weeks of dark clouds and rumbling thunder without a drop of rain falling but finally it gets to us.


This little guy sat on an agave throughout an entire heavy rain storm without moving, seeming to revel in the sensation. I was fascinated to see at the end of the storm his feathers were barely damp, the tiny drop on his beak is the only clue.


Not satisfied with just the raindrops, some beautiful Lesser Goldfinches found one of our downpipes and really went to town having a full-on shower!



So as we swelter and all the animals hide from the heat, we know there is light at the end of the tunnel. Or should that be rain at the end of the rainbow?



Nature Notes hosted by Michelle at Rambling Woods

8 comments:

Rambling Woods said...

It is hard to imagine a place where rain is so infrequent..Love the photos of the wildlife and the rainbow...Michelle

Leora said...

Weather is quite like ours... and birds and vegetation are different, too! A rainbow - those we sometimes get. Great shots.

Nature Rambles said...

A beautiful post! We're getting a great deal of rain and our state's flood situation is bad at the moment. It's wonderful to read/see pictures about a world so different from my own. Love the bird shots!

Kathie Brown said...

Perfect! How well I remember! I currently love the rain!

Celeste said...

Thanks Michelle it is a truly wonderful environment and every rain drop is cause for celebration.

Celeste said...

Thanks Leora, you can never have enough rainbow photos!

Celeste said...

Thanks Nature Rambles and I hope you manage to stay dry!

Celeste said...

Well Kathie you are certainly in a very different environment now! I hope you are still enjoying it :)

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