While hiking in Anza Borrego Desert, CA one spring, I was so surprised by the amount of flowers that were blooming in the desert. I hadn’t seen a cactus so full of open, pink blooms in the years I'd hiked through the area, and this view entertained me during this hot afternoon. These prickly pear cactus are not only beautiful and hardy, they are home to the cactus wren, the state bird of Arizona, who is perched on one of its pads. The wrens often make several nests in the same cacti grouping, with some of the nests serving as decoys to confuse predators. Barrel cactus and cholla (teddy bear) cactus are also neighbors in this vignette.