by CKR
I didn't manage to get a photo during the activity, so here's someone else's.
I was weeding (weeding, weeding) one of my flower beds in preparation for planting, and I saw a whole mass of piñon seedlings pressing up through the soil. I dug at them and realized that it was a cache of piñon nuts, probably planted by a scrub jay. I removed most of them and pushed the soil back in place.
Several days later, I was weeding a nearby bed, and a scrub jay settled down near me with a very quizzical look. It seemed to be "So where are my piñon nuts?" Or perhaps "Did you eat them already?"
I noticed that the cache had been excavated, and broken shells were in the hole, along with another sprout. The jay didn't leave until I got up. We eat sprouted beans. Maybe jays like sprouted piñon nuts.
I keep modifying the environment that quite a bit of wildlife has accustomed itself to. I removed the last big grove of Chinese elms a week or two ago, and lizards were scurrying. (Click on this one to enlarge. You can see his scales really nicely.) They also have run into the shower when I've been watering. And I keep filling in that squirrel hole. The robins look carefully as I weed to see if I'm uncovering delicious bugs.
Wildflowers below the fold.
I found these little flowers intriguing. They are benefitting from my nearby placement of a Persian lilac and concomitant watering. As the lilac grows, I'll probably have to move them, unless they move themselves by reseeding. The flowers are very delicate, somewhat strange. 
Here's a nice lazy daisy (reminds me of the embroidery stitch). There are about a gazillion yellow composites out there.
And yet another. I haven't checked the books yet to figure out what all these are. Maybe later, on the off chance that they might be included. I think I've seen the lazy daisy in one of them. 
I've got several California poppies coming up where I sowed wildflower seeds last fall. They're not native around here, but they're nice, so I won't complain. We'll see if they reseed themselves.
Here's one way cactuses reproduce. The pad is putting forth flower buds and another pad. It will eventually root, particularly if I cover it a bit with soil. I'm not pleased that something (probably a squirrel) is pulling apart the prickly pears, though.
A preview of next week's yard blogging. The cactuses are just starting to bloom. Tuesday blogging may be on Wednesday next week, though.