Dec 23
Wow! Did we have a heck of a storm last night! Lightning and very high winds woke us up and everyone else, I’m guessing. Although this rain didn’t fall during the so called perfect time frame for wildflower germination, our Spring showing could still be a good one! (Morning After Storm clouds over McDowell Mountains)
Dec 21
Lots of trail work needed to mitigate some deep ruts on the mountain bike course of the McDowell Sonoran Challenge. (The ruts were caused by motorbikes which are no longer allowed). The event is January 29, 2011 so time’s a wastin’ as they say!
MSC Stewards hard at work.
Dec 18
We really enjoy exploring the big wash behind our property after a rain. We had a good soaking on Thursday so we decided to check it out yesterday morning. I had been wanting to go down anyway so I could photograph the Arizona Ash which are turning yellow right now but the Tamarisk…aka Salt Cedar…stopped me in my tracks. The foliage is especially gorgeous in the fall/winter when it turn shades of yellow and orange but the raindrops were a bonus! With the sun coming through them, the area looked like a winter wonderland with sparkling lights.
Unfortunately, Tamarisk is an invasive species. It loves water and grows and spreads very quickly thus choking out many of our native species like Cottonwoods. There are numerous in the wash but neighborhood property owners do their best to keep them under control.
Dec 16
OK…I had a few comments which agree with Chris so here’s what I’m seeing. I guess his snout isn’t really long enough to be a camel but it could be a dinasaur camel. They probably looked different. OK…I’m stretching here 🙂
Dec 16
Chris didn’t see it but to me it kind of looks like a Camel lying down with an ice pack on his head. (he’s facing to the right) A Camel with a hangover? Maybe? 🙂
Shot in HDR and a slight B/W treatment.
Dec 15
Teddy Bear Cholla transform after death. Reincarnation, maybe? Let’s just say I wouldn’t want to be hiking the desert at night 🙂
Dec 13
I spotted four more American Snout butterflies over the weekend. This vantage point shows the snout isn’t a single protrusion. Pretty cool!
Dec 12
I’m assisting on an MSC educational hike in the McDowell Sonoran Preserve this morning. Subject: Birding. Since I’ll be on duty, I won’t have time for photos so here’s a shot of a Phainopepla I captured yesterday while hiking the Marcus Landslide trail.
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