Aviators

View from LDR-A

Just Willow and me on today's outing; Dr. K had a meeting to attend.  We hiked the regular route, seeing, along the way several birds worth noting:  White-winged Dove, Red-tailed Hawk, and, most interestingly, some Lark Buntings, which I've only photographed once before many years ago.  It was hot out there, but Willow and I made many stops in the shade.

White-winged Dove

This & next 2:  Lark Bunting

Willow in the sandbox

This & next: perhaps the same Red-tailed Hawk as before

Variegated Meadowhawk dragonfly

Lark Bunting

 

Two Rattlers, Two Days

Mourning Dove on yucca stalk

For the second time in two days we've encountered a Western Diamondback rattler, the one today draped across the trail in the middle branch arroyo.  It didn't seem perturbed by our presence, lying in the same spot as we gave it a wide berth.  When we looked at it head-on it seemed like it might have just eaten and was digesting its breakfast.  After the outing we took a long drive.

Willow at rest

Velvety Nerisyrenia

Cactus Wren on yucca saber

This & next 4:  small Western Diamondback rattler

Last 2:  Nipple Beehive Cactus flowers in the morning

 

Regular Route

Goosefoot Moonpod (Acleisanthes chenopodioides)

Because it was a tad cooler this morning Dr. K, Willow and I decided to do the entirety of our regular route.  An inconsistent breeze made conditions slightly more bearable, but it was still pretty miserable.  A Western Diamondback rattler gave us a scare as we passed within a few feet of the bush it was under in the right branch arroyo.  I photographed its tail, but couldn't see the whole snake.  After lunch I took a drive in the Jeep Commander back out to the upper flatland road near the trailhead to photograph a Nipple Beehive Cactus I knew would be blooming in the afternoon.

Young dove

Twin-leaf Senna

Desert Marigold

Desert Willow

Cinchweed

Barrel cactus

House Finch on ocotillo branch

Curve-billed Thrasher on ocotillo branch

What we heard rattling under a bush

 

The rest:  Nipple Beehive Cactus

No Prizewinners

Wils, sand break

It was hot out there already when Dr. K, Willow and I began our morning hike.  We decided early on to cut the trek short because Willow wasn't really into it.  After my 45-minute afternoon bushwhack to photograph blooming barrel cacti yesterday I wasn't into this morning's outing that much, either.  We heard a young bird calling for its mother (we think) and then I spotted a hawk on a yucca stump way over on top of 4210 hill.  I got some pics of it, but not good ones.  From a YouTube video of a  baby Red-tailed Hawk calling for its mother I think the raptor I photographed was a young Red-tailed Hawk.

This & next 3:  distant pics of a young Red-tailed Hawk?

Right branch arroyo

 

Afternoon Delight

All images are of barrel cacti this afternoon

I went back out alone this afternoon to photograph barrel cacti I felt certain would be flowering.  It felt brutally hot: sun directly overhead, furnace breeze, no shade to stop in for relief.  I was in the desert approximately forty-five minutes, and when I got home I had to take shower #2--a cold one!