Isn’t it wonderful to live in a region where clouds and humidity and rain are so celebrated? You can identify the natives and converted natives as well, when they proclaim things like; “Did you see those clouds yesterday?” “I think the monsoon is on the way!” “I can’t wait to see my first turtle of the season”…things like that…come to think of it, I’m one of those folks, especially when it comes to seeing the first box turtle of the season.
And isn’t it cool when rain cleans the slate and you can find new tracks to identify and follow. It doesn’t take much to get my dogs interested in following tracks either. They’re so lucky with their amazing noses. They’re not looking at tracks, but following scent. I think a good app for a smart phone would one that told you what your dog was smelling. Sign me up for that one. Hmm, some odors I think we can figure out.
There are around twelve species of Monarda found in North America and Mexico. Four species are found in Arizona…I suspect one of those is introduced…anyway, the one I brushed against on the banks of the creek is Monarda citriodora ssp. austromontana.
The photos are mine. That’s Farley and our first box turtle of the season, shiny from the rainfall. That’s the bee balm along the creek . No flowers yet on the bee balm, but click on the link below for photos of flowers and then the link below that is a show I did about another species of Monarda. Yay, more than you ever wanted to know!
http://swbiodiversity.org/seinet/taxa/index.php?taxon=13476
https://kxci.org/podcast/monarda-menthaefolia/
