Cap'n Bob & the Damsel

Damsel

Winter Sunset

Winter Sunset

Wintertime brings cloudy skies from time to time, and, so far, this January has been more cloudy than not. A nice thing about the partially cloudy skies late in the day is the brilliant, fiery color display produced as the sun sinks below the horizon. I took this image last week during a break in the weather.

For the rest of January, the weather outlook is for more sun and more occasional rain. We can deal with the clouds now, since there are statistically likely to be 300 days of sunshine this year. Most of the overcast cloud covers seem to occur in the Winter. We are looking forward to having warmer, sunnier days.

15 Jan 2017 by Arizona Environment Photography

Bottle Brush Shrubs

Bottle Brush

We purchased these Bottle Brush shrubs last spring from a local (overpriced) nursery to replace the Cleveland Sage shrubs that had a propensity to partially die and then grow partially back. Very ugly in the courtyard. But now, the new shrubs have green foliage and are making red flowers just in time for the Christmas season. These have already attracted bees and hummingbirds and a few of the remaining butterflies.

Once these shrubs have established themselves, they should expand to about the same size as the old sage bushes, but seem to be considerably less messy and less work to keep them pruned to a size appropriate to the courtyard environment. Click on the image to enlarge.

23 Nov 2016 by Arizona Flowers Home & Garden Photography

Second Spring Butterfly and Red Bird

Butterfly and Red BirdNow that the really hot daytime temperatures have abated, we have what we call “second spring” here in Arizona. That is the time when there are still flowers blooming, bees buzzing and of course hummingbirds and butterflies browsing the remaining flowers.

I captured this image of a black and yellow butterfly alight on one of the red bird of paradise flowers in the courtyard. The butterfly browsed there long enough for me to get my camera, go out into the courtyard and take several images of it before it flew away in the late morning breeze.

Second spring will be over within just a few weeks, giving way to actual autumn-like weather with leaves turning or falling and the red bird shrubs going dormant for the late fall and winter. Although we love the summers here, it will be nice for some cooler weather to prevail and, as we know, harsh winter weather seldom comes our way. In nearly six years of living here, we have seen snow stick to the ground only once.

Click on the image to enlarge.

05 Oct 2016 by Arizona Critters Flowers Home & Garden Photography

A Red Rose

A Red Rose

This beautiful red rose was fully open yesterday at my sister’s place in the Central California area. The rose bush is beside the driveway where our RV is parked while we are visiting with family here. Click on the image to enlarge.

We will be headed towards the southern part of the state in a couple of days for another visit with the southern branch of our California family as we make our way back home. We will see our newest grandbaby for a short window of time over the weekend. It has been a couple of months and we are anxious to see him.

19 Sep 2016 by California Flowers Photography Wanderlust

A Black Butterfly Browsing the Red Birds

Browsing the Red Birds

Late this morning, I noticed a butterfly in the courtyard among the Red Bird of Paradise flowers. I quickly got my Canon EOS camera and went out front to see if I could get some shots of the butterfly before it flew away.

The butterfly flitted here and there for a while after I got out front, but it finally settled on one of the flowers long enough for me to capture it and its pollen laden wings in this image. Click on the image to enlarge. I also got some other good images here and here.

04 Sep 2016 by Arizona Critters Flowers Home & Garden Photography

Black Bee Pollinator

Black Bee Pollinator

I did not have the camera handy when the hummingbirds and butterflies were browsing the red bird flowers in the courtyard, but I did manage to get this big black bee doing its thing. We have pollinators of all kinds including this guy, the afore mentioned hummingbirds, bees of all kinds and yellow-jackets that frequent these beautiful summertime flowers.

We saw, but did not manage to photograph more critters today. We had the usual little ground squirrels, cottontail rabbits, black-tailed jackrabbits, a bunch of lizards of varying species and one lonely coyote crossing the north property line eastbound. We hope he keeps moving on . . .

Click on the image to enlarge.

25 Aug 2016 by Arizona Critters Flowers Home & Garden Photography

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