Black-tailed Rattlesnake

Mar 27

Black-tailed Rattlesnake

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 21

Herping 101

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 🙂

Mar 16

Hedgehog on Sunrise Trail

I led a Wildflower/Photography hike yesterday morning on the Sunrise Trail. No wildflowers to speak of, unfortunately, but we did see two Hedgehogs in bloom which made everyone’s day! All along the trail, every Hedgehog we came across was loaded with buds so there is bound to be a spectacular show in the next week or so. (Captured with my trusty Canon SX1)

Mar 15

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Brittlebush

We can always count on Brittlebush to give us flowers. The blurred background was achieved by setting my Canon 180mm Macro lens to f/5.6. It was one of the rare occasions when I used a tripod 🙂

Mar 14

No Poppies in Sight Yet

There’s a glimmer of hope here and there but it’s beginning to look like our recent snow and late frost might have knocked all the little wildflowers back down 🙁

(A favorite Poppy image from a good year.)

Mar 9

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First Sighting

Besides finding the Queen of the Night, we also saw our first Poppy on Monday! It was really tiny but I spotted a few more so let’s keep our fingers crossed and hope for a big show!

Mar 8

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A Search For a Queen

Arizona Queen of the Night is very common in our area but extremely difficult to spot. It looks like a stick or dead branch, doesn’t it? Click the link at the beginning of this post to see the amazing flowers this unassuming cactus produces! I’ve been wanting to find one on the future Marcus Landslide trail so Chris and I went out on there yesterday morning with a goal of locating one. Two and a half hours of searching and success! (NOTE: finding one in the open is not typical. They prefer the support of a shrub like a Creosote but a 1995 fire destroyed almost everything). Anyway….I was excited but also disappointed because it wasn’t easily accessible (at least until the trail is done). It’s OK, though, because where there’s one, there are more so the search goes on. I welcome the challenge 🙂

Mar 7

Sounds of Spring

Cactus Wrens and other birds have been nest building for the last few weeks and I’ve been hearing lots of peeps/chirps recently. It reminded me of a photo I took last year up in the North Access area of the Preserve. I set my compact camera to shoot an exposure bracket sequence of three shots; turned off my flash (didn’t want to freak the babies out!) and positioned the camera slightly inside the nest opening. I then used Photomatix to blend the exposures. Not perfect or in sharp focus but very cool! (By the way…..I had second thoughts afterward about disturbing them so I haven’t done it again).

conservation photographer

Posts from the ‘McDowell Sonoran Preserve’ Category