Verna and Bob's Weblog

Photography

Red Bird Promise

Red Bird Promise

I am so excited that we’re going to have my favorite Red Bird of Paradise flowers in the courtyard very soon. There are already some more mature Pride of Barbados shrubs here in town and down in the Valley whose flowers are already open, but ours here in the courtyard are showing the promise of those elegant flowers appearing soon.

I took this image of a flower stalk with numerous pods emerging from the fastest growing shrub in the courtyard late this afternoon. Take note of the little green bug to the left of the fourth pod from the bottom. Click on the image to enlarge.

May 23, 2015 by Arizona Flowers Home & Garden Photography

Desert Cottontail

Cottontail Rabbit

I was in the courtyard late this afternoon and saw one of our little cottontail rabbits browsing in Verna’s rock and cactus garden. I had the Canon SL1 with me and the telephoto lens, so I snapped this quick shot of the bunny as it paused across the driveway: F5.6, ISO 640, 1/400 sec, 300mm and I did some minor post-processing of the image to compensate for the poor lighting conditions. Click on the image to enlarge.

Here is some info about this variety of cottontail rabbit from Wikipedia:

The desert cottontail (Sylvilagus audubonii), also known as Audubon’s cottontail, is a New World cottontail rabbit; a member of the family Leporidae.

The desert cottontail is quite similar in appearance to the European rabbit, though its ears are larger and are more often carried erect. It is also social among its peers, often gathering in small groups to feed. The desert cottontail uses burrows made by rodents rather than making its own. Like all cottontail rabbits, the desert cottontail has a rounded tail with white fur on the underside which is visible as it runs away. It is a light grayish-brown in color, with almost white fur on the belly. Adults are 33 to 43 cm (13 to 17 in) long and weigh up to 1.5 kg (3.3 lb). The ears are 8 to 10 cm (3.1 to 3.9 in) long, and the hind feet are large, about 7.5 cm (3.0 in) in length). There is little sexual dimorphism, but females tend to be larger than the males, but have much smaller home ranges, about 4,000 square metres (1 acre) compared with about 60,000 square metres (15 acres) for a male.

The desert cottontail is not usually active in the middle of the day, but it can be seen in the early morning or late afternoon. It mainly eats grass, but will eat many other plants, herbs, vegetables and even cacti. It rarely needs to drink, getting its water mostly from the plants it eats or from dew. Like most lagomorphs, it is coprophagic, re-ingesting and chewing its own feces: this allows more nutrition to be extracted.

May 21, 2015 by Arizona Critters Home & Garden Photography

A Gnarly Antique Wagon in Sepia

Gnarly Wagon

Some things seen in the old west like this old wagon just have to be rendered in sepia. This old beauty is located in Congress, AZ, in the compound of Mike Yacos who has an eclectic collection of old stuff, old-looking buildings and a ton of wonderful art.

One of Mike’s guys, Roger, is building a custom gate for the back of our courtyard. We visited with Roger today and gave him some specifications on how to finish the gate which should be ready to hang in a week or so.

Click on the image to enlarge.

May 13, 2015 by Photography

The Curve Billed Thrasher Nest

Nest Caretaker

We peeked in the Curve Billed Thrasher nest in the cholla cactus in front of our courtyard a few days ago and were delighted to see several chicks had hatched. I took this photo of one of the parents tending the nest as it was getting ready to depart to forage for more food for the hatchlings.

There has been a nest in this cactus and little thrashers have hatched every year since we have been here. This year, the nest is almost inaccessible to our camera as it is buried deep within the spiked arms of the cholla.

May 12, 2015 by Arizona Critters Home & Garden Photography

Wickenburg’s Welcome Wagon

Welcome Wagon

The alliteration in the title refers to the Conestoga seen in the image above. The wagon, along with an Arizona State Historical Marker sit on the southwest corner of the intersection of US 60 and Vulture Mine Road. Click on the image to enlarge.

The marker is dedicated to Vulture Mine which is about 13 miles south of it along Vulture Mine Road. The wagon is used to welcome visitors to town and is often decked out with a banner advertizing this or that event.

Last summer, the wagon was blown over and the cover ripped to shreds by a violent microburst thunderstorm. We are happy that the town and the ‘powers that be’ have restored the wagon to even better than it was before the storm.

May 6, 2015 by Arizona Culture Photography

Red Bird of Paradise Spring Revival

Red Birds Growth

Every November, our Red Bird of Paradise shrubs go dormant and we cut them down to just a few inches above the soil. Each April or May, they start their comeback. We have three of the Red Bird shrubs in the courtyard that have been there for four years now.

Two of the three started their revival a couple of weeks ago. At the lower left, is the west side of the courtyard shrub, at the right is the center and the top is the eastern shrub. You can see that the two on the bottom have a good start on revival, but the top one has only one tiny bipinnate leaf pair, which we hope is revival and not a weed.

In a few weeks, we should have our first bright Red Bird of Paradise flowers. We should be getting them all summer long. Click on the image to enlarge.

May 4, 2015 by Arizona Home & Garden Photography

Avalon 1998

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