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Dog stories: Bilbo
A couple of weeks ago we received a new tag for our second youngest dog, Bilbo. To our surprise he will be eight years old in October 2014 according to the paperwork. Can that be? We still call him and...
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Superstitian Mountain, a challenge
watercolor painted from Apache Junction in 1995A giant monolith, Superstition Mountain, rises to the height of 3,000 feet above the surrounding desert floor and dominates the eastern fringe of the...
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The first Rattler of 2014
On January 26th, I found my first active (sort of) rattler of the year at the Santa Cruz River Path in Marana, Pima Co Arizona, USA. When I was walking my 4 dogs, camera and binoculars around my neck,...
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Gilbert Water Ranch January 2014
My friend Carol and I used another beautiful, sunny Arizona winter day for a visit to a series of recharge ponds in Gilbert close to Phoenix. I think Carol was a little disappointed how crowded the...
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The Vector Bird: Phainopepla nitens
I smelled a nearly sickly sweet fragrance and heard lots of bees buzzing. Not equipped with the superior senses of an insect I had a hard time finding the source of the smell. No blooming citrus tree...
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Weekend!
Unexpected and frankly uninvited breakfast visitors dropping in literally from the sky. Turns out the pilot is an old acquaintance but the landing in our backyard was not at all planned.The monster...
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Our Dark-morph Red Tail Hawk is breeding again
She's back! The dark-morph Red Tail Hawk that I introduced in this blog in 2011 and who every year successfully raised a brood in one of two saguaros in the state trust land next to our property is on...
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Backyard pollinators in March
Our patio garden - a mix of local and exotic early bloomersIt's March, and the 'garden' part of our property is erupting in color. We plant a few exotics like aloes close to the house. They are...
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The bright side and the dark side of doing out-door art shows in Arizona
I feel so lucky that I was able to make my two passions into working carriers. I studied biology and pursued that education through masters and Ph.D. Research and teaching positions took me to many...
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Apiomerus cazieri - a valid name at last
Today I went out to photograph some small bee assassins. I find this species every in Saguaro National Park West when the Brittle Bush blooms. When I came home I looked up what had happened to the...
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Mining Bees under the bedroom window
Our house is built on sand. It sits on a little mesa (elevation) consisting of soil the excavated to put in the basement. Over the years I found out that we share this site with many sand loving,...
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March 2014 in Sabino Canyon
I try to join Ned Harris and his naturalists tours in Sabino Canyon at least once a month. It's nice to be in like-minded company, even though I usually don't last very long in the group because I...
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Backyard Beauties in April
Fairy Duster seedpods with Santa Rita Prickly Pear backgroundStrawberry Hedgehog, Echinocereus engelmanniiPencil Cholla, Cylindropuntia ramosissimaHybrid between Beavertail and Santa Rita PP?Texas...
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The first Gambel's Quail chicks of the year!
Today we celebrated Randy's birthday with an early morning walk to the Red Tail Hawk nest. Finally, a chick, still white and fluffy, was visible. Of course we had the dogs with us and they discovered...
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Who needs Chihuli?
(we all do :)It's been a while since my last post. With a small business like mine, tax time means a lot of work, and then I had two workshops to prepare and present, one at Butterfly Wonderworld in...
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The Ant and the Caterpillar
In Costa Rica I watched Bullhorn Ants living in close association with their acacia. The ants live in the huge hollow thorns of the tree and in addition to housing the tree offers all kinds of...
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Decidous Tropical Thorn Forest
(part of a series of blogs about the Sky Island Alliance expedition to the Sonoran Sky Island Sierra Huérfana in Sonora Mexico) Tropical Thorn ForestOn the way up, when we crossed the belt of tropical...
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Cattle tanks and Tenajas
La Sierra Sierra Huérfana in Sonora, Mexico is a beautiful sky island that concentrates enormous biodiversity in a very small area. But when we arrived at the end of April 2014, there hadn't been any...
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Just some Backyard shots from May 2014
Foothills Paloverdes at our neighbors palapa are in full bloom and buzzing with bees.So are the saguaros flowers I am happy to report that there are at least as many native bees as honey bees. Here is...
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The Red Tail Hawks have left the nest
Today, our morning walk began with a Harris Hawk on the telephone pole by our gate.In the state land, the dark Red Tail female was perched on a blooming saguaro far east of her nest, but greeted us...
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