It's hot out there

OMG, it's so hot. For the first time since I got to Moab, the clouds did not swoop in to save us in the afternoon--the temps hovered steadfast around a million degrees.

These ravens (at Gold Bar Recreation Area along the Colorado River) are engaged in the equivalent of human sweating, or dog panting. Their mouths gape open and somehow this regulates their temperature in very hot conditions. I'm not sure exactly how it works (incredible, a bird thing I don't know!) but the birds are all about it on days like today. The first time I saw this was in the depths of the Grand Canyon in July...it was pretty freakin' hot there too.