After the female Gila woodpecker flew up to the nest, the male poked his head out and got ready to leave.
📷: Sony A6700 | Sony 100-400mm | Sony 1.4X
🗓️: February 14, 2024
Tag: cactus
Crustal Foundering
When I saw the damaged end of a saguaro arm where the blackened protective material had cracked, showing the lighter material underneath, I was reminded of lava lakes in Hawaii and Iceland. The lava on the surface cools and hardens and can sink into the less dense molten lava via a process called crustal foundering. It took me a while to find the time to bring my macro setup on a day when there was little wind, and even then it took me a few attempts as the breeze was often stronger than predicted.
The National Park Service has a description on their page about Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park.
📷: Nikon Z 7II | Nikon 105mm macro
🗓️: May 12, 2024
A View to a Killer
I was feeling a little playful, a view through an old saguaro next to the trail to one of the soft parts of the desert. Deadly to the smaller denizens of the desert, but soft.
📷: Sony A6700 | Sony 100-400mm | Sony 1.4X
🗓️: May 11, 2024
Skeleton
A saguaro skeleton, battered and broken, still makes for a nice perch for a backlit Harris’s hawk.
📷: Sony A6700 | Sony 100-400mm | Sony 1.4X
🗓️: April 14, 2024
Homes in High Places
📷: Sony A6600 | Sony 100-400mm | Sony 1.4X
🗓️: June 10, 2023
The Escape Hatch
A Harris’s hawk pops open the escape hatch at the top of mature saguaros.
📷: Sony A6500 | Sony 100-400mm | Sony 1.4X
🗓️: February 20, 2022
The Gathering Storm
A thunderstorm brews to the east of Witch Hazel, far enough away I had plenty of time to get off the trails before the storm arrived.
📷: Nikon Z 7II | Nikon 24-70mm f/4
🗓️: August 7, 2022
New Horizons
During my time off I’ve loved taking Bear to trails I normally avoid as they are crowded on the weekends, stepping aside to let people past is the most common way he steps on something painful. Here we’re taking a water break at the junction of the Axle Grease and Rock Tank trails, it was a Tuesday so we only encountered a few people. I’m not sure he cares but I enjoy seeing him discover new places.
📷: Nikon Z fc | Nikon 16-50 DX
🗓️: January 16, 2024
Sprawling Arms
A phainopepla and a house finch take refuge in the sprawling arms of an old ocotillo, which also nestle a young-ish saguaro as its older aunts and uncles look on from afar.
📷: Sony A6600 | Sony 100-400mm | Sony 1.4X
🗓️: October 26, 2023
Terror of the Saguaro
A green lynx spider sets to devouring the insides of a leaf-footed cactus bug. It never left a small region high in one of our saguaros, it would spin a thread and attach it to a spine, giving it freedom to leap after prey without fear of falling. I watched its reign of terror over the course of several months, it had no qualms about going after insects larger than itself, until one day I found its lifeless body swaying in the breeze, hanging from a large spine.
📷: Nikon Z fc | Nikon 105mm macro
🗓️: March 18, 2022
Boolie 