A cactus wren returns to its perch high atop a saguaro in the Sonoran desert to find a dove has chosen to occupy its briefly abandoned place. An attempt to motivate the dove to relinquish the saguaro crown and give up the space next to a sitting wren seems to fall on unresponsive feathers.
The islands of Assateague and Chincoteague along the coast of Maryland and Virginia harbor a large group of feral horses that roam free, protected by their residence within State Park boundaries. Their diet consists mostly of marsh grasses and available fresh water sources. Shown here are two of the wild horses at play.
A tarantula hawk feeds on a favorite treat: milkweed. While drinking the flower’s nectar, the colorful spider wasp’s legs fit into grooves of the milkweed flower containing pollen. The pollen adheres to the insect’s legs and when it flies to another milkweed, the pollen is transferred and the plant is pollinated, seeds are produced and more milkweed plants grow.
The female of the insect species is noted for searching out tarantulas, stinging them into paralysis and then laying an egg in the living host. The hatchling will feed on parts of the spider until it matures and then departs.