Apr 9
Snake season is upon us! This guy greeted a friend and I on a trail yesterday. He was literally inches from the path but we would never have seen him if he hadn’t warned us. Intrigued, we experimented to see how far away we needed to be before he got upset and it was always about 10 feet. Don’t know if that’s typical but it was interesting. 🙂
Captured with my Canon SX1. (I would have preferred my SLR in this case)
Apr 7
This Lady Finger Cactus (Echinocereus pentalophus) is another of my discount finds. It was 1/4th this size but as you can see, it’s responded really well….especially since I fenced in Javelina Cafe. I knew it was about to bloom yesterday so in between doing taxes, I set my timer and went out every two hours to check on it. These photos were taken about 11am. It was heavily overcast yesterday which might explain why they didn’t open all the way but I was happy that I didn’t miss it totally like I usually do 🙂
Captured with Canon 180mm Macro
Apr 6
I rescued this Hedgehog from Home Depot. It was under a bench with a price tag of a few dollars and it looked nearly beyond help. I had no idea what color the bloom would be but I felt sorry for it and took it home. To my delight, the blooms are an amazing soft pink! I used a filter called Pixel Bender on it to give it even more softness.
Apr 4
Scouting my yard for a photo of the day, I noticed my Candelilla (Euphorbia antisyphilitica) is finally starting to bloom. Yea! I was worried it wouldn’t bloom this year but several stalks are filled with blooms right now. The flowers are so small most people don’t even notice them when they pass the plant. To reveal its complexities, I used a Canon 100mm Macro lens. Who knew! CLICK HERE to read about this plant’s interesting properties.
Apr 2
On a recent hike, I came across a mother Owl with 3 Owlets. What a treat! Only one of the babies was turned toward me but I could see the other two moving. I was carrying my Canon Compact camera that day and thought it did a great job considering how far away I was.
Mar 31
An infrared capture from the Spring of 2008. What caught my eye first in this scene was the huge Chainfruit Cholla Skeleton (fire). I positioned myself low in order to include Poppies in the foreground and a nice Saguaro specimen in the background.(False color introduced by swapping channels.)
Mar 30
So what do you do when you have to lead a wildflower hike (this past Sunday) and there are no flowers? You wing it! Lucky for me, I had two great assistants. Botanist Steve Jones entertained everyone with flora trivia and Chris Rutz filled us in on the ranching history of this area and gave us a climbing lesson. In this photo, he’s pointing out anchors embedded in the rock to which a rope is connected. Before Chris started climbing, I always thought climbers used the rope to pull themselves up but it is there strictly for safety in case they fall. All in all, a really fun morning! Thanks again, Steve and Chris 🙂
Mar 29
This Side-blotched Lizard was the smallest reptile we found on Saturday.
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