Scratcher of heads, rubber of bellies
Bear and I came across this snake wrapped around a lizard, one life ending so another can continue. The lizard is a common side-blotched lizard, one of many we saw that day and one of my favorite desert residents. We didn’t have a good vantage point to identify the snake but my best guess is a western patch-nosed snake, though a young one as it was much smaller than the others I’ve seen.
📷: Sony A6700 | Sony 100-400mm+1.4X
🗓️: November 9, 2025
I’m pretty sure this is how one of Aesop’s fables starts. So far the frog has tolerated Bear’s prodigious love and still has all of its limbs and no head wounds, a rare sight in this house.
📷: Nikon Z 7II | Nikon 24-70 f/4
🗓️: November 24, 2025
What a blessing the little ones have been throughout my life.
📷: Nikon Z fc | Nikon 16-50mm DX
🗓️: November 23, 2025
As Bear and I approached the end of our hike, perched high on boulders beside the trail were several volunteers greeting visitors to the park. They patiently answered questions they must get asked over and over and over, like “What trails are good for beginners?”, “Are there really rattlesnakes here?”, and “Why didn’t the eagles fly Sam & Frodo to Mordor?”
📷: Sony A6700 | Sony 100-400mm+1.4X
🗓️: November 9, 2025
📷: Nikon Z 7II | Nikon 24-70 f/4
🗓️: October 24, 2025
The adult tarantula that was living in our backyard hasn’t been seen since the spring so I was delighted when a tiny one dug an equally tiny burrow beside our patio. I thought she wasn’t staying long as the hole was covered after a few days but she may have been molting as within a week or so she came back out and was a regular fixture each night. With the cooler weather the burrow is covered again, hope to see her in the spring.
📷: Nikon Z 7II | Nikon 105mm macro
🗓️: October 5, 2025
There’s a street nearby known as The Oracle of Scottsdale because of the insightful if cryptic messages it offers to pilgrims who brave the journey. I’ve not been able to work out what it was trying to tell me, perhaps it was a message for Bear.
📷: Nikon Z fc | Nikon 16-50mm DX
🗓️: September 7, 2025
One of the last pictures I took of Ellie in the dog park at Irving Park before we had to leave my beloved if war-ravaged Portland. So thankful for our many years in that wonderful city and the Irvington neighborhood we called home.
📷: Sony A6500 | Sony-Zeiss 24mm f/1.8
🗓️: March 11, 2018
Friday thunderstorms moved through and we got drenched, with more steady rains on Saturday, and even a short shower this morning. You can hear the desert singing in the rain as the cacti soak up and store what they can, the washes fill and flow, and harbor seals come out to play.
📷: Canon 7D II | Canon 500 f/4 + 1.4X
🗓️: October 7, 2017
I’ve been asked to join a citizen science group exploring the continued decline of the Sonoran alligator. I’m honored and happy to help but also confused, what can I possibly know about it?
📷: Sony A6700 | Sony-Zeiss 24mm f/1.8
🗓️: September 6, 2025
Boolie 