Today was our grocery shopping day. I usually pick out some flowers to take home and today I picked a dozen of these pretty “Duett” roses. They are very showy with their pinkish orange color. The color is similar to that of salmon steaks or flamingo feathers. Click on the image to enlarge.
One of the three red bird of paradise shrubs in the courtyard has a flower stalk with several pods. This morning, I saw the first pod had opened and I snapped this image of the very colorful red bird flower. This shrub is also known as the “Pride of Barbados” but I think it’s the pride of Verna. Click on the image to enlarge.
We were standing at the courtyard wall watching the Curve Billed Thrasher nest, when a parent bird returned to the nest to feed the chicks; they are toward the bottom of the frame with their beaks wide open. Click on the image to enlarge.
A few weeks ago, we discovered a nest in the cholla cactus in front of our house. We saw that there were some eggs and that the nest belonged to a curve billed thrasher. Today, I took this photo of the nest where two thrasher chicks and an unhatched sibling are living. Both the Mom and Dad thrasher tend to the feeding and incubating of the chicks and egg. Click on the image to enlarge.
Dormant for almost a year now, the first couple of gazania flowers are in bloom. I expect to have lots more as summer approaches. This gazania plant is behind the house where it doesn’t get the punishing high-noon Arizona sun. Perfect for producing lots of these pretty flowers. Click on the image to enlarge.
Using photographs that Verna took during the eclipse, I threw together a little animation of the main part of the event. To start the animation, click the image below; it will run until maximum annularity. Click again to continue to almost the end of annularity. Click once more to to rewind. Pardon the slight jitter; it was difficult to align each frame perfectly with my animation application.
I cannot tell you how amazingly spectacular it was to see in person. Verna and I are already starting to plan for the total eclipse that will occur on August 21, 2017. We are looking at being near Casper, WY, but that could change between now and five years from now.
Click here to see the equipment and camera settings she used.
