A purple finch and his mate contrast with the fog-muted fall colors of the Ouachita Mountain ridge behind them. Taken this morning.
Ruffled feathers
The Saturday after Thanksgiving, the sun returned, warming the afternoon air and giving hawks reason to scout for supper in the almost-empty farm fields flanking U.S. 70. This hawk, with his wind-ruffled feathers, seemed to be the only life for miles around.
Tiny
Like a galleon being boarded by pirates, the body of a ladybug is rocked violently by the movements of the many fire ants dismantling it. One ant clambered up a mast-like wing; while ants on each side tilted the round hull of the little beetle from side to side, until naught was left.
Just one of a million tiny dramas being played out at any moment in the Arkansas Ouachitas.
