Jun 29
I checked on the Arizona Queen of the Night this morning and there is only a very slight increase in the size of the flower buds. From the information I’ve been reading, it seems a little late for them to be blooming but this has been a strange year. Unfortunately, I have a couple of trips coming up so I will probably miss the event 🙁
Jun 28
We’re just at the right elevation for Crucifixion Thorn (Canotia holacantha) and I noticed they were not only in bloom yesterday but had more blooms than I’ve seen since I’ve lived here so I went back this morning for a better shot. The bee was a bonus 🙂
Jun 27
I owe the capture of today’s photo of the day to my friend and Ethnobotany expert, Alice D. She joined me on my walk this morning with a goal of checking for Saguaro fruit up here that she could use in her recipes. Not much fruit ready yet but she had a successful morning anyway collecting other fruit and beans which she’ll use in her presentations. One huge Velvet Mesquite not only provided welcome shade for us but it was a oozing more sap than either of had seen at one time. Alice collected some bark with the sap…also for education. All in all, a very educational morning! Thanks Alice 🙂
The most fascinating for me were the drips which I named “tears”.
Jun 26
While searching for a photo of the day in the desert this morning, I noticed this Hummingbird following me and I was sure I heard “I want to be on your blog today!” 🙂 He was flitting back and forth among the branches of this Desert Hackberry so it was impossible to keep focus so I did what photographers did before auto focus and that’s “pre-focus”. I just manually focused on the center branch tip and kept my finger on the shutter knowing he would fly into focus at some point. You never know what you’ll get but you won’t get anything if you don’t try, right? (Canon 60D, Sigma 18-250mm lens @ 250mm. ISO 200, 1000th sec at f/5.6)
Jun 25
More desert. This time in infrared. (not smartphone this time)
Jun 24
It was 102 up here yesterday (113+ in the valley!) but for the first time since I’ve lived here, I’m not complaining. OK….love might be an exaggeration but I’ve really come to appreciate it over all the natural disasters the rest of the country has to endure 🙁
Captured with my Droidx on my walk yesterday morning.
Jun 22
Arizona Queen of the Night is our most illusive flowering cactus. The majority of the time, it looks like dead sticks so they are almost impossible to spot. During my many hikes and also while surveying flora in the McDowell Sonoran Preserve , I have found several specimens. It’s been extremely dry so a portion of this one has already become dehydrated but, as you can see, there are several buds so I’m hopeful. Although they start blooming at night, the flowers can last til early morning as evidenced by a friend who captured one during the early morning at Tohono Chul Park in Tucson.
CLICK HERE to watch a video from there.
Jun 15
I look forward to harvesting Foothill Palo Verde bean pods every Spring. They have a similar taste and texture to peas but being offered by nature, makes them so much more special, don’t you think? CLICK HERE for last year’s harvest.
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