Tag Archives: hike

miner’s lettuce and more!

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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 🙂

Miner's Lettuce (for info, click on link above)
Miner's Lettuce (for info, click on link above)
Fleabane
Fleabane
Wooly Daisy
Wooly Daisy
African Daisy
African Daisy
Don't know Lizard ID
Don't know Lizard ID

camp creek falls

Update: After a little research, I found that we were at Camp Creek Falls yesterday. It used to be a very popular place for Jeep tours to bring visitors but the washes were closed to any motorized traffic a couple of years ago because of a devastating fire in the area. Closing to motorized will give vegetation a better chance of coming back and a bonus for photographers is that it’s no longer crowded.

Red Maids - I think! Found along the trail yesterday.
Red Maids - I think! Found along the trail yesterday.

Like all desert wildflowers...they are tiny!
Like all desert wildflowers...they are tiny!

what was blooming in the desert today?

The desert is blooming VERY early this year. I saw the following today.

Chuparosa
Chuparosa
Wolfberry
Wolfberry

Jojoba - male
Jojoba - male
Jojoba - female
Jojoba - female

Deer Vetch
Deer Vetch
Stork Bill Filaree
Stork Bill Filaree

Common Fiddleneck
Common Fiddleneck
approx 2 in tall. Still looking for identity
approx 2 in tall. Still looking for identity
Golden Eye
Golden Eye
Poppy! We only saw one and I botched the capture :-)
Poppy! We only saw one and I botched the capture 🙂
Lacepod
Lacepod
Rattlesnake Weed
Rattlesnake Weed

super zoom compact cameras

Click image for a larger version. Use your scroll bar to navigate.
Click image for a larger version. Use your scroll bar to navigate.

The Canon SX10 IS with 20X OPTICAL zoom camera continues to amaze me! Although I usually carry an SLR when I’m hiking, I do not like to carry big lenses so I miss many animal and bird shots but this test shows I won’t have to miss them anymore. At first I was just using the SX10 as binoculars but now I realize that I can get pretty good
photos from extreme distances. I would need to carry a very heavy 600mm lens to get this close. Since I’m usually just documenting flora and fauna, this kind of result is more than adequate for me!

I read yesterday that Nikon is introducing a 24X optical zoom compact (available in March). Compacts are obviously are moving up in quality by leaps and bounds. Both the Canon and Nikon are under $400.

flower fly

2009_02_01_2
Fellow steward Jennifer W, spotted this guy/gal at the end of yesterday’s hike. We both felt sure it wasn’t a bee but didn’t know how to tell. I did some research and found it is commonly called a flower fly and the way to tell it from a bee is: huge eyes, short and stubby antenna with a bristle half-way down, there is nowhere to carry pollen and finally, there is only one pair of wings. It is always great to learn something new!

I then submitted images to BugGuide.net and within a couple of hours had an answer. It is of the family Copestylum. They couldn’t be specific with species but I’m thrilled with just that information. Thanks Bug Guys!