A very productive day Chris with a lot of great finds. Pays to watch
where you put your feet. A number of years ago I attended a meeting in Palm
Desert, CA. It happened to be during a full moon so I did some early
morning (3am til dawn) hiking in Joshua Tree NP. Saw plenty of bats,
buzzards and coyotes but no snakes. Guess I was lucky I didn't find them
with my hiking boots.
Charlie
On Thu, May 10, 2012 at 11:04 AM, Chris Trask <christrask@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>wrote:
> Yesterday was probably my last opportunity to visit low altitude
> desert areas, and it certainly was not disappointing, adding two more
> species to my check list. The first of these was Shaggy Dwarf
> Morning-Glory (Evolvulus nuttallianus):
>
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/64004640@N03/7170942056/in/photostream
>
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/64004640@N03/7170944750/in/photostream
>
> and the other was Parish's Indian Mallow (Abutilon parishii):
>
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/64004640@N03/7170965340/in/photostream
>
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/64004640@N03/7170962944/in/photostream
>
> Not commonly seen is White Ball Acacia (Acacia angustissima), and this
> was a nice specimen at the peak of flowering:
>
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/64004640@N03/7171007858/in/photostream
>
> The early part of the morning was accented by a pair of Western
> Diamondback rattlesnakes, the first of whom was not the least bit
> camera-shy:
>
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/64004640@N03/7171030122/in/photostream
>
> Since this species can generally strike to one body length, I don't mind
> getting within twelve feet or less to get a good photo. The second of these
> was not as accomodating, being a bit grumpy and arrogant (Reptile
> Dysfunction?):
>
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/64004640@N03/7171033032/in/photostream
>
> A possibility of thunderstorms had been forecast for the late
> afternoon and evening, and in this area the weather can change abruptly
> when an unstable airmass arrives. These two photos show the storms as they
> appeared in the distance around noon:
>
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/64004640@N03/7171097578/in/photostream
>
> and as they gathered quickly about 90 minutes later:
>
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/64004640@N03/7171094482/in/photostream
>
> I arrived home less than an hour before this line of storms struck the
> Phoenix area, generating a haboob (dust storm) that later reached Tucson
> and causing all sorts of damage in the Phoenix area into the late evening
> hours.
>
> Chris
>
>
> Chris
> --
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