A second morning of checking out the sunrise possibilities.
All posts by Marianne Skov Jensen
sunrise at rock knob
Chris had today off and I was able to talk him into going out with me. Thanks Chris 🙂
Cholla at Sunrise
east end lovers trail
I liked the idea of hiking past the East End Lovers on this Valentines day so that’s what we did. All in all, we hiked a loop which was just under 9 miles. We went up Toms Thumb; down East End; down to the Windmill on Windmill Trail; continued out Windmill to Coachwhip Trail; continued on Coachwhip to the Pemberton trail (McDowell Regional Park); took the Pemberton to a horse trail leading into the Rock Knob area of the Preserve and then followed a horse trail back over the parking lot.
Combseed flowers are now blanketing the ground almost everywhere. We also saw a Desert Hyacinth, Filaree and Wolfberry blooms. I also got a better shot of the Ragged Rock Flower located in a wash close to the Windmill. Desert Wishbone bush is getting taller and should be blooming any day. All in all….a fabulous day!
East End Lovers
Combseed
Filaree
Desert Hyacinth (bluedick)
Wolfberry
Ragged Rock Flower
happy valentines day!
For Valentine’s Day, I’m sharing a fun and FREE little program with you called Shape Collage.
An Example using images from my Flora Guide.
Here’s a video showing how it works:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMrSkUzg7ws
tortoise face?
are you stuck on someone?
If so, don’t forget to send them a Valentine wish! (You’ve got two days left). 
Tech: Canon 24-105mm at 105mm. ISO 100. 1/750th sec at f/4. Topaz and Flaming Pear filters.
tortoise shell
On an outing with fellow stewards yesterday, one of them found a Desert Tortoise skeleton. We gathered the pieces to give to the Conservancy for education but I was given permission to take it home to photograph it first.
It was interesting to me to find that the colorful part of the shell was actually a thin covering which breaks off in segments. The pieces were made of material similar to our fingernails.
I held up one of the segments and sure enough, it had the beautiful coloring that makes it popular for things like sunglasses combs and hair accessories. Thankfully, it’s not our Desert Tortoise’s shells that are prized for manufacturing decorative materials. That turns out to be the shell of the Hawksbill Turtle.
gateway artists
I made a quick visit to the Gateway Trailhead yesterday and found a group of artists using chalks to capture the scenery. I could have watched them for hours but only had time for a couple of photos. Here’s my favorite.
hummingbirds
I visited the Desert Botanical Garden yesterday morning and found most of their Aloe in full bloom. Where you see Aloe blooms, you usually also see Hummingbirds and there were many! Capturing them is tough but I was happy with this shot.
Tech: Canon 24-105mm lens at 105mm. ISO 400, 1/750the sec at f/5.6
ragged rockflower
Yesterday afternoon, we spotted Ragged Rockflower (Crossosoma bigelovii) in a wash near the Windmill trail in the McDowell Sonoran Preserve. I’ve documented this flowering shrub in other areas but not in the Preserve so I was excited not only to see it but to see it blooming!
