Yesterday, I saw a very special Saguaro (thanks Dave!). It was what we call “crested or cristate” which is special in itself but this was a double crested. What a treat. There are many theories as to how the crests start but there’s no clear cut answer. It was completely overcast so I took 3 exposures and combined them with Photomatix.

On our way back to the parking area, we encountered an even bigger treat. Four Harris’ Hawks that we had seen flying earlier were now sitting in a giant Saguaro! In hindsight, I could have taken the time to replace my super wide lens on my SLR but they could also have flown away in that time so I grabbed my Canon Powershot which did a decent job of documenting. Like the first image, they also combinations of exposures.