Relocating a Queen

Sep 14

Relocating a Queen

One part of my yard has an infestation of turf grubs which have probably come from the nearby golf course. I’ve tried every natural pesticide to no avail. What these grubs do is eat plant roots which doesn’t kill the plant but stunts its growth. For instance, I’ve tried for 5 years to establish some Milkweed (asclepias subulata) but the plants have barely grown in all that time. Even so, I typically end up with at least one caterpillar a year. This year there was only one bloom and very few offshoots so the caterpillar (a Queen) was out of food very quickly. I remembered seeing a good sized Milkweed plant along a path I hike every day so this morining, I decided to cut off the stem my caterpillar was on and relocate him/her. It was about a mile and I’m sure everyone wondered what I was carrying. I found the plant and waited for the caterpillar to start moving and it did crawl over to the other plant. However, it seemed to know it wasn’t home because it moved back and forth, up and down as if to be smelling. I will go back tomorrow morning to see if its still there. I’m hopeful it makes the journey to becoming a Queen Butterfly!

Sep 11

2 Comments

Tracks

I found these tracks after our last big rain and thought they looked like Raccoon but since we’ve never seen one in all the years we’ve lived up here, I wasn’t sure. I checked the Arizona Game and Fish website and it does look like they might have been made by a Raccoon. They say they are typically in riparian areas or where there is an abundant source of water. There is a large wash with a spring in between our neighborhood and the Preserve but maybe they like the swimming pools in the neighborhood more 🙂

Sep 10

2 Comments

Field of Devils

Last year, one of the hard working Preserve maintenance volunteers spotted an area with a large population of Devil’s Claw and told us about it (thanks Joni!) so as part of the McDowell Sonoran Preserve Flora Survey, we documented it this summer. I didn’t get as many photos as I planned but I did get a shot of the pretty pink bloom and also of the very cool seed pods (captured yesterday). You aren’t likely to see this plant while hiking as they are typically in wide washes which are usually off limits to hikers. Seeing unique plants like this is a great reason to join the flora survey! The survey starts up again in a couple of weeks. If you’re interested, contact Melanie at the McDowell Sonoran Conservancy. Phone number: 480-998-7971.

Sep 9

2 Comments

Mule Deer Surprise

This morning I headed to the North Access of the Preserve in search of a photo for my blog. There is one section near the Toms Thumb Trail where we regularly see multiple deer but this was my first baby! The photo would have been sharper if I hadn’t been shaking while I was trying to get their picture 🙂

Sep 7

3 Comments

Who’s The Packrat Here?!

We discovered a Packrat (White Throated Woodrat to be precise) in my so-called “storage” area in the backyard last year. CLICK HERE for a little movie I captured while trying to get her/him to leave.

Sep 5

Jackrabbit

I learned something new about Jackrabbits today but I would have know long ago if I’d just looked it up! I knew it is a Hare and that their back legs and ears are longer than our Cottontails but what I didn’t know is their babies are born above ground fully furred and eyes open ready to fend for themselves! That’s reminiscent of baby Gambel’s Quail who, at the size of a small cotton-ball, are ready to run for their lives at birth. Amazing. Also like Quail, Jackrabbits nests are slight depressions on the ground. Wow..I’m going to be looking very hard for cute little baby Jacks next Spring 🙂

Jackrabbit photographed in North Access area of McDowell Sonoran Preseve

Sep 4

Sky in Motion

Achieving impressionistic images with a compact is much more difficult than with an SLR but it can be done. Just wait for an overcast day or very low light such as early morning or late afternoon. This image is early morning. I pointed my camera up and metered on the tree branches knowing it would give me a silhouette.

Sep 3

2 Comments

Desert View

Almost forgot to post a photo! Here’s a shot from my office window last night. I then subtracted a little color.

conservation photographer

Posts from the ‘Sonoran Desert’ Category