Debbie and I ventured down to the Anza-Borrego Desert yesterday, wandering around near S-2, from Ocotillo to Scissors Junction. There was some difference in the wildflower situation from last week to this week, but not as much as I'd have expected. The biggest single difference was the desert dandelions, which have exploded in carpets near the Carrizo Badlands Overlook. Some other noticable things: the ocotillo near Ocotillo now have very visible buds, and a few individuals are actually in bloom; there are quite a few more desert poppies than last week, the blue phacelia (especially in the lower reaches of Oriflamme Canyon) are even better than last week (hard to believe!), and we saw just a few prickly pears in bloom. One big disappointment for me: I planned to hike up to one of the California poppy patches near the low end of Oriflamme Canyon, but it was unseasonably cold yesterday (in the low 50s on the desert) and very windy, and the poppies were all curled up tight – I could just barely make out the orange cast to the patches that last week were almost fluourescent. Oh, well; I'll try again next weekend…Despite the windy conditions I was able to take quite a few photos. I don't have time to post them today, so I'll be dribbling them out over the next few days. For starters, though, here are a few photos of a common species of butterfly in the Anza Borrego (though I don't know what it is). At right is one feeding on a blue phacelia in the lower Oriflamme. At right below is one that I noticed because of the noise and motion: it was flappy so energetically that I could hear it from ten feet or so away. I took this picture before I understood what was happening – it was caught in a spider web. I carefully pulled it out of the web, and then pulled off all the strands I could see clinging to its legs and wings. It fluttered away, apparently no worse for the experience.
As always, click on any photo for a larger view...
No comments:
Post a Comment