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| A heavy temperature inversion near the Franklin Mountains (El Paso) |
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| Mr. Tacoma braves the primitive roads west of Tortugas |
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| The inversion is pretty bad near the Organ Mountains, too |
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| See that rock in the center of the photo? |
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| As you might have surmised, it's not a rock at all |
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| Portrait of the tiny toad (Western Spadefoot) |
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| We see this balloonist often |
4 comments:
That toad looks a lot like Yoda.
The toad DOES look like Yoda. Do spadefoots (spadefeet?) follow a typical amphibian reproduction process (i.e., lay their eggs in a pool, hatch into tadpoles, and then emerge as toads soon thereafter?) If so, where do you think they can find dependable water?
Do you ever see Northern Cardinals at your hacienda? My brother-in-law told me that he saw what he swore was a Northern Cardinal when he visited Tucson last week.
Scott:
The Western Spadefoot reproduces (quickly) in temporary pools formed after rains.
This is what The Audubon Society Nature Guides "Deserts" says about the Western Spadefoot:
"Breeding
January-August, depending on rainfall. Eggs are laid in cylindrical masses attached to vegetation. Hatching occurs within 2 days, transformation in 4-6 weeks. Tadpoles are carnivorous and feed on mosquito larvae."
I've never seen a Northern Cardinal in my neck of the woods, though they do range into limited sections of southern New Mexico. Their range appears greater in Arizona, though neither Dr. K nor I recall seeing any while we lived in Tucson; however, we saw many Pyrrhuloxias, aka "Desert Cardinal." The males resemble Northern Cardinals.
My brother-in-law said that the bird he saw was the brilliant red of a Northern Cardinal all over. Pyrrhuloxia males have a lot of red (I saw some when I visited the San Pedro River in southern Arizona a few years ago) but aren't completely red.
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