“Tell us what’s happening.”
“More tuna for me?”
“Are we gonna have a catnip party?”
No…the buzz is…much as I love my trusty Nikon D80, I’ve now added a Nikon D7100 to my gear lineup. My D80 will be my backup body so I don’t have to change lenses much and so that Tony will have a camera to play with when we go on shoots. The higher resolution and 1.3x crop feature will, hopefully, allow me to have closer, sharper wildlife shots. I’m totally impressed with the reviews and totally overwhelmed with all the features. I spent some time this weekend doing online tutorials and I still feel confused and lost. Oh, well, once I actually start shooting, maybe it will become less muddled…hopefully. So far, I haven’t been able to bring myself to use it…
“Oh, that’s the buzz…big deal.”
Filed under: Home, Phoenix | Tags: Butterflies, Flora, Home, Phoenix, Scottsdale
This isn’t the first butterfly I’ve seen this year but it’s the first one I’ve been able to photograph in my yard. And it’s another one that is new to me that I had to ID on the internet: a Checkered White!
Hi, there!
Click for better detail on any of these.
Like many places, Phoenix’s Desert Botanical Garden has a butterfly exhibit every spring as well as a Monarch exhibit every fall but I’ve never been. I guess I assume it would be so crowded it would be hard to shoot. But I also like the challenge of finding them on my own, au naturel, in my yard, mostly, and then trying to identify them.
On May 25th, a whole new butterfly experience is coming to town, in Scottsdale, very close to where I work, Butterfly Wonderland: A Rainforest Experience. It looks interesting so I’m sure at some point, I’ll drop by.
Meanwhile, my yard is my favorite place capturing these assorted beauties. Here’s part of my collection from the past:
Gulf Fritillary~Painted Lady
Variegated Fritillary~Giant Swallowtail
Gray Hairstreak~Skipper
Springtime is nesting time. Along with tons of birds, we saw plenty of nests at the Riparian Institute at Water Ranch in Gilbert.
White-Crowned Sparrow
Lots of nests and lots of flora…especially orange and yellow-colored.
Screwbean Mesquite
There were perches and nesting boxes in several places over the ponds. In fact, we thought this osprey was on a perch that some human had fabricated but when I read about them later, this is exactly what their nests look like. He or she was hunting for a delicious fish. Once again, a 400mm lens would have been very handy.
For now, this ends my 3-part series on the Gilbert Riparian Preserve. It’s a beautiful place and I plan to go back again for its many photo opps. Here I thought the only cool thing in Gilbert is my favorite former boss…this place is the 2nd best thing about Gilbert.
Happy Earth Day!
Pomegranate Flower
Pomegranate Buds and Blossoms
I know it’s certainly not specific to my yard this time of year since spring is bustin’ out all over…but Saturday morning when I went out to feed the outdoor cats, there were blooms and flowers everywhere, birds cavorting, butterflies flitting, so that it seemed like a spring wonderland.
Pine Cone Buds
Pyracantha Blooms
Sparrow
Cat’s Claw
This is a huge vine that goes across most of the front of our house and one of the sides. Twice a year it blooms so it’s pretty extravagant.
Hibiscus
My hibiscus is coming back after being slightly damaged by the frost even though it was covered.
Lantana
The lantana also had frost damage but it’s coming back nicely. They’re very hardy.
Mulberries
Oleander
Mesquite Blooms
It was so colorful and vibrant that I had to try to capture some of it.
Filed under: Arizona, The Route to Work | Tags: Arizona, Flora, Holidays, Paradise Valley, Religion
I have always loved the desert. One sits down on a desert sand dune, sees nothing, hears nothing. Yet through the silence something throbs, and gleams… ~ Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Hi! I’m a desert-dwelling ground squirrel.
