Lots of Hedgehog Cactus in bloom right now. Mostly magenta but here’s a pink bloom.
happy earth day!
Be kind to the earth and all its inhabitants 🙂
framing
I love seeing subjects framed by surrounding plants/trees/objects or other things but I never remember to do it. This framing opportunity almost jumped out and bit me yesterday morning so I felt compelled to stop.
When framing, it’s important to keep space clear around your subjects. For instance, I made sure the mountain top didn’t touch the cactus. In hindsight, I should have waited for the hikers to be in the middle of the opening because one of the hikers is being covered by the cactus…..ouch 🙂
angles and f/stops
Want to capture a SilverPuff on a bright, sunny day? Move in very close and use a large aperture.
Microseris growing under a Bursage
FYI: For those who are still trying to figure out how to spot the special Lindley’s Silverpuff: The Lindley’s grows as a single flower (and thus a single puff) and is typically 6-8 inches tall.
Note that these Silverpuffs are in a group and are tall. This species can have two, three or more flowers growing from their base and are usually 12-18 inches tall. Although this puff does have a faint gold stripe, the Lindley’s has a a very distinct and larger gold stripe on each section of the puff thus making it a treasure to find!
rails to trails through granite dells
Yesterday we hiked a leisurely 7 1/2 miles on the very scenic Peavine Trail in Prescott. This portion of former railroad track runs through a spectacular geologic formation called the Granite Dells. The Dells are a popular destination for photographers but I only shot video yesterday so I look forward to going back soon to capture the area. In the meantime, click on his name for an impressive black and white gallery of the area from my friend Jim Hackley.
Here’s my short video from yesterday’s walk
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftpvbWVuUYw
ankle biter
This little ankle biter (18 inches) had just shed his skin on our patio within a few feet of the Kittywalk with the cats in it! The thought of it crawling into their enclosure made me shiver. I had never thought of that possibility so I plan to keep an even closer eye on them from now on. I would never consider killing any snake so I coaxed the little guy into the wash where he sat rattling his tail at me while I took pictures.
That’s 3 rattlesnakes in 2 days! The other two were good sized but were on the dirt road by the trail. Since several of the flowers I want to document won’t bloom for another two weeks, I plan to be more than a little cautious while hiking!
wildflowers continue!
I’ve missed a few days of posting photos because I’m in the process of putting together a second edition of my flora guide and I’ve been out almost every day hiking and photographing leaving little time for anything else. BUT, as you probably know, the flowers won’t last forever so I gotta get ’em while I can!
Yesterday I spent half the day with friends and representatives of the Maricopa Audubon Society and the Central Arizona Butterfly Association. It was a scouting trip for a possible bird and or butterfly walk next Spring. The area is in the North East part of the McDowell Sonoran Preserve and is one of the most beautiful trails in the Preserve. Because this area is at a higher elevation, there were still plenty of Wildflowers. To give you an idea of how much there is to see…..the trail is just 9/10ths of a mile each way but we spent 4 hours exploring! All in all, it was a very successful morning and I’m betting they will add this trail to their schedule next year.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPFJ89Vkukk
cactus wren babies
Besides flowers, we also saw Cactus Wren babies the other day.
Wrens build their nests out of grasses and typically in Teddy Bear Cholla.
I only see two eyes but there looked to be possibly 3 babies
Click Here to learn about them and also hear their easily recognizable song.
spectabilis!
We didn’t find any Mariposa Lilies up in the North Access of the Preserve yesterday (still too early) but two other sightings more than made up for it! It was extremely windy thus very difficult to photograph but I wanted to share some photos this morning.
The first was Penstemon pseudospectabilis, aka Desert Beardtongue. I knew they were up in the North part of the Preserve but they’ve been eluding me.
Desert Beardtongue
(note the cup-like leaves with toothy edges)
There were only a few of the Penstemon but quite a few of the second sighting which was Delphinium scaposum. It’s known as Mountain Larkspur and described as being a deep purple so I’m curious about the pink ones right beside them. Last year I saw pale blue ones too. An anomaly maybe?
Mountain Larkspur (too windy to get a close-up)
Update: Thanks to Steve Jones for a response that the Larkspur are all indeed “scaposum”. To quote Steve: “it’s a little Mendelian genetics at work”. Click here to see what that’s all about!
on the lookout
Mariposa Lilies have shown up in other parts of the Preserve so we’re going to scout the Lookout Trail for them this morning. They were in that area around Aprit 25th last year but flowers seem a little early this year so we might get lucky.
Lookout Trail 2009
Another wonderful photo op to watch out for (in the same area) is Colorado Four O’clocks. Large showy, pale magenta/pink flowers are a real treat to see. Last year they showed up the first week of May. We’ve been noticing the plants coming up but no flowers yet.
Colorado Four O’clocks in vicinity of Tom’s Thumb….May 2009
