Mar 28
Monster is right! He hissed and snarled at us as we were trying our best to photograph him and gather data for the Reptile survey. CLICK HERE if you want more information about this dangerous creature. Be sure to click the link on the page that features the sounds the Gila Monster makes. It’s exactly what we heard! This is only the third time I’ve seen one in the wild in the sixteen years we’ve lived here. It was exciting 🙂
Mar 27
Yesterday I had the privilege of spending the day with Herp expert Bryan Hughes. With permission from the City of Scottsdale, we roamed a wash and within two hours we came across a female Crotalus molossus aka Black-tailed Rattlesnake. I’ve only ever seen Diamondbacks around here so it was a real treat. Doubly so since Bryan said he rarely sees them! He said she was an old female and she might be filled with babies. Since the snake was facing Bryan, I’m guessing he got a fantastic shot. I didn’t want to move so I was happy with this view 🙂
Mar 26
A friend and I hiked a favorite canyon a couple of days ago and were so disappointed with the low amount of flower displays this year. This particular place is usually loaded with Southwestern Prickly Poppies which are especially fun to photograph because they are so large. Today I’m posting a Prickly Poppy captured in Infrared up at the Grand Canyon last year. I played with the image channels to introduce some false color.
Mar 25
I found these and several other Galls on Sonoran Scrub Oak leaves yesterday. (CLICK HERE) for my first sighting in 2009. Cool, aren’t they?!
Mar 24
Here’s another shot from our rainy day Monday. This fly on the Blackfoot Daisy was about an 1/8th of an inch long. I used my 100mm Macro with a 25mm extension tube to capture him and then cropped the image to enlarge him more. I haven’t been able to ID him yet but based on his patterned wings, green eyes and especially his size, my guess is he’s a fruit fly of some kind. I don’t have fruit trees so maybe he was just getting a drink of water 🙂
Mar 23
Infrared capture of Poppies ( 2008). Only memories this year……darn it. (Converted Canon 5D and 15mm lens).
Mar 22
When our last frost hit, wildflowers had already started sprouting and most were knocked back down. Disappointing but there are some flowers that survived…… like Blackfoot Daisies, for instance. This one is in my yard but I’ve already spotted several in the North Access of the Preserve. We had a wonderful soft rain all day yesterday which will be great for these and other flowers still to come. Captured with 100mm macro and 25mm extension tube.
Mar 21
Besides being part of the Flora survey for the Preserve, I also decided to take part in the Herpetological survey. As part of the training class, we were encouraged to show we weren’t afraid of snakes by handling a small Gopher snake. In this photo, Mike had just handed the snake to Tom when the snake decided to go elsewhere. Thankfully, our teacher was right there to re-direct him and we all had a chance to hold this beauty. (Like the Flora Survey, the Herp Survey will be conducted over a 3 year period so stay tuned for my sightings of any and all reptiles during that time 🙂
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