Because Packrat Middens continually get built upon and the materials are uniquely preserved, they are like time capsules. Some have been studied and found to have material over 40,000 years old! Click below to learn more.
PackRat Midden
Tag Archives: desert
a closer look
I was on the hunt for macro subjects yesterday and found this wonderful dried flower. No identity yet. It was about 3/8ths inch wide.
Gateway
MSC Stewards and volunteers gather to hear about and see the progress on the Gateway access to the Preserve.
Below we’re given an explanation of the Rammed Earth process used in the building of the trailhead structure.
cats, infrared and lensbabies
You don’t actually “walk” a cat. You “follow” a cat. This makes for a lot of very slow moving and sitting while they stalk lizards. The positive is the time it presents for reading or for playing with my camera. I am trying to get inspired to use my Lensbaby more and also shooting more infrared so here is a shot with both implemented.
Great Horned Owl
During the first MSC public hike of the season this morning, a hiker in our group spotted a Great Horned Owl. An expert in our group surmised that the owl had been startled out of his tree by a mountain biker earlier which caused him to leave the tree he uses for daytime sleep. He was now just waiting for all us annoying hikers to leave so he could return. Check out the photo below which shows how sharp-eyed the hiker was!
the whole picture
My primary goal for my Photo a Day is not to make prize winning photographs but to get to know my cameras. A bonus has been that I’m also learning a lot about composition. For instance, I was struck by how large this Red Tailed Hawk was but I now realize I could have made the point more clear if I had taken an even wider angle shot showing the entire cactus and surroundings.
walking the cat
Cleo has Chris wrapped around his little paw. He gets to hunt lizards anywhere he wants in the desert.
mammillaria fruit
Keep an eye out for fruit on Mammillaria. If you’re lucky, you’ll find one with a full circle of these neat little fruits. They’re pretty tasty, by the way.
share the road
Gopher Snakes are common here and great to have on your property as they keep the rodents away from your house. We gladly share the road with them 🙂
the morning after
We had a powerful storm move through last night. I didn’t get any lightening shots but did capture the morning after. Now to go out and repair the landscape.