Went to the Rock Knob area late yesterday to check on Poppies and Lupine. Didn’t find any but we did come across the Arizona Mountaineering Club playing on the rocks. (photos are from my Canon SX10)
All posts by Marianne Skov Jensen
gall mite
Have you ever noticed little white bumps on your Triangle Leaf Bursage? Or what about huge white and red bumps on the giant Bursage (aka Canyon Ragweed)? No? Well if I’ve peaked your interest, take a closer look next time you see the plants. Not all are affected, of course, but if you see these bumps, you are looking at the work of the GALL MITE. Below is an extreme close-up of a Giant Bursage leaf infested with galls. Pretty cool photo op for me 🙂
xeriscape isn’t always just cactus
The majority of my yard is made up of native plants and trees but I do have a few foreigners such as this gorgeous pink Emu bush which originates from Australia. My Emu bushes are blooming right now (and boy do they bloom!) so I wanted to show them off. I also have a Red “Valentine” but this Pink is my favorite. What’s most amazing to me that this beautiful shrub’s best feature is being very drought tolerant. Click here for a little info on them.
Anemone tuberosa and other discoveries!
Thanks to Allan Willey for an awesome hike this morning! Not only did I photograph a flower I had never seen (Anemone tuberosa aka Desert Anemone) but our group had the privilege of seeing Petroglyphs that were off the beaten track. (Because these are sensitive archeological sites, I have removed the photos from this post).
miner’s lettuce and more!
During a hike to Dixie Mine this morning, we were treated to a plethora of wildflowers! It seemed to be just beginning so this coming weekend should be great. I’ve only posted a few but here’s a list of what we saw: Fiddleneck, Cryptantha, Comb Seed, London Rocket (an invasive), Desert Wishbone, Fairy Duster, Chuparosa, Storkbill Filaree, Microseris (silver puff), Blue Fiesta Flower, Bluedick, Phacelia, Gilia, Goldfields, Chia, Lupine, Mexican Poppies, Dainty Desert Hideseed, OWL CLOVER (lots), Buckwheat, Fleabane, Wooly Daisy, Desert Chicory, California Suncup, Golden Eye, Desert Marigold, Lacepod, Rattlesnake weed, Indian Mallow, Miners Lettuce and several other flowers that were just on the verge of blooming. All in all, a very fun morning 🙂
rock knob
Another shot from the Rock Knob area of the McDowell Sonoran Preserve. It’s especially lush here and there is promise of a good show of Lupine and Poppies!
nature’s palette
Shot in a beautiful, yet to be opened area of the Preserve called Rock Knob.
look closer if you dare :-)
While scouting locations and flower species for this Sunday’s photo walk, I took this documentary photo of a Brittlebush. If he hadn’t moved, I would not have noticed the Crab Spider on a petal. I then put my compact in Super Macro mode to get a better look. Below is a close crop of the spider. I think I’ll be telling the hikers to look really close……only if they want to, of course 🙂
eye to eyes
I was trying to catch a shot of a Hummingbird that frequents this yellow Chuparosa every afternoon but no luck. Instead, I come face to face with a Honey Bee. Hope I didn’t scare him 🙂
crab spider
This afternoon, I attached a Lensbaby to my 5DMKII and went in search of flowers and found this Crab spider on a Brittlebush. I took a couple of shots with the Lensbaby but then went after my 180 Macro with an extension tube to get the following image. ISO 1600
