desert – Page 15

The Sonoran Alligator

I’ve seen several new species this year while walking Bear, from a gray fox to a chuckwalla to this, the Sonoran alligator. Like it’s cousin in the marshes and swamps of the American South, our desert variety has eyes and nostrils at the top of its head, allowing it to lay still submerged beneath the desert floor. It was quite relaxed around Bear as the wildlife strangely often are, it smiled for the camera and showed off its fearsome maw but it was more curious than alarmed. Even so when I heard its stomach rumble I made my apologies and we continued down the path.

📷: Nikon Z 7II | Nikon 105mm macro
🗓️: November 9, 2023

The Sonoran Squid

Normally I enjoy seeing new species but this one made me sad as the only reason I saw my first Sonoran squid was because a fire destroyed its habitat. It still has a little green, as does the barrel cactus and saguaro behind it, but they are the walking dead.

📷: Nikon Z 7II | Nikon 105mm macro
🗓️: September 29, 2023

Where a Desert Once Stood

This summer as I left work far in the distance I saw greenish smoke that usually means the desert is burning. The closer I got to home the closer the fire seemed to home and indeed as I cleared Troon Mountain I could see smoke billowing from the part of the preserve where Bear and I often walk. We prepared to evacuate but didn’t have to as the wind carried the fire away from us. I avoided the trails for a long while since burned areas are pretty sensitive but after seeing they were open, made a visit in the fall to see if I wanted to bring Bear back yet.

At first nothing was amiss but then I hit the burned part and there’s a wide swath of the desert that is completely charred. There are sandy areas with no plant life and exposed holes of the many small animals that once lived here. Some plants like this saguaro still had patches of green but they are the walking dead. We have enough other trails and enough time during my leave of absence that I’ll keep Bear away for now.

📷: Nikon Z 7II | Nikon 105mm macro
🗓️: September 29, 2023

Saguaro Sandwich

Bear sandwiched between two saguaros on the Latigo Trail. The other day while making the long gradual climb back to the car on a western leg of this trail, he was so tired he let me take the lead, a first I think! Yesterday on a loop I stopped after a mile and doubled back to the car since he was flagging, so today I’ll give him a rest day and we’ll go for an easy walk in the neighborhood.

📷: Nikon Z fc | Nikon 24-70mm f/4
🗓️: October 31, 2023

Eight Peaks

I call this location Eight Peaks as in the distance on the right you can see the mountains known as Four Peaks with their closely spaced four peaks. On this rocky hill before us, the Four Peaks repeat in miniature form. Taken on the Rock Knob Trail with my shadow stretching out into the cholla, Bear’s shadow hidden by the desert’s own.

The Living & The Dead

I was walking Bear when I was struck by this beautiful but dead saguaro and took a few shots, I prefer this composition that includes a lot of the other living and dead plants around it with Granite Mountain anchoring the background. I haven’t taken Bear on the full loop around the mountain, now that he’s getting back into shape and the weather is cool enough, I’ll give him a chance soon. The uphill part is at the start so I’ll get a quick gauge of how he’s doing and can double back if he struggles, but I suspect he’ll be just fine.

📷: Nikon Z 7II | Nikon 24-200
Date: November 1, 2023

Five Years in the Making

It took me 5 years to make this picture, not that there is anything complicated in the setup, rather it took me 5 years of hiking in the desert to see my first chuckwalla. Back on a spring Saturday I finally got up for a sunrise hike, mostly motivated by the hope of photographing saguaro buds and flowers. Flush with success I headed home and picked up Bear and brought him back for us to hike together, and thankfully so as it was on this hike I first spotted the chuckwalla.

I came back the next morning for some more saguaro photography but as I passed by where I had seen her the previous day, I stopped because the pattern recognition part of my brain told me something was interesting but couldn’t tell me what or where. I stared for the longest time before finally realizing the thin rock in a crevice between granite boulders was in fact a tail. It’s obvious in the picture since it’s highly zoomed in courtesy of the telephoto lens, and I’m down at a lower level and different angle where the gap is more pronounced. She’s sleeping back in the darkness and protection of the crevice.

As before I went home and brought Bear back and she was more visible though still deep in shadow. I didn’t have the telephoto with me and besides Bear was eager for our time together, and so was I, so I snapped a quick picture and we continued into the desert.

📷: Sony A6600 | Sony 100-400 | Sony 1.4X
Date: May 28, 2023

Back on the Trails

One of the best parts of my leave of absence is I get to take Bear hiking on weekdays as well as weekends. He’s had a few health issues that have kept me from taking him every day but I’ve enjoyed getting him back into hiking shape after the summer layoff. I started him on shorter trails since he was tiring quickly when it was warmer, and then choosing trails that let me easily extend the hike by half a mile or so based on how he was doing. Pretty quickly he was back to hiking our regular trails, even if he still tires a bit by the end, here he’s enjoying the view at The Amphitheater (real name, not one I made up) with saguaros and Cholla Mountain as the backdrop.

📷: Nikon Z 7II | Nikon 24-70 f/4
Date: October 22, 2023

The Hitchhiker

Thumbs up, looking for a ride, sometimes you can’t wait on plate tectonics to take you where you need to go.

A Welcome Return

I would have thought most desert animals would go into hiding during the hottest months and only emerge when the temperatures cooled but for some of my favorites it’s the other way round, so the arrival of more comfortable weather carries some sadness alongside. A notable exception are phainopepla who fly in for the fall and fill me with such delight, they’re here in numbers now and quietly encourage me on my hikes from many a palo verde or ocotillo. Yesterday this male was stretching and showing off the white bars on the underside of his primary wing feathers, I almost got a shot with his wings fully extended above his head but the tiny buffer on my Sony filled and it couldn’t take any more pictures.