Cap'n Bob & the Damsel

Arizona

Scenic Saguaro Forest

Saguaro Forest

One of the more scenic highways in Arizona is State Route 74 which connects US 60 in Morristown (10 miles south of Wickenburg) and Interstate 17 at New River, near the north end of Phoenix. The highway runs through an area dense in growth of the iconic saguaro cactus. The road goes through some flat desert and then at the east end through gentle hills and across the Agua Fria River just below Waddell Dam at the south end of Lake Pleasant.

It was a beautiful day today with temperatures in the mid to upper 70’s and a little breezy with gusts to around 15-20 mph. High thin clouds and mostly blue skies. The image above is somewhere in the middle of the road but typical of the scenery you can enjoy when out here. Click on the image to enlarge.

22 Mar 2016 by Arizona Environment Photography Wanderlust

Spring in the Outback

Hedgehog Buds

By the term “Outback,” I mean neither the vast wilderness in Australia nor the not-so-well-known Arizona Outback, but the part of our little plot here in town up on the hill behind the house. Our outback is mostly still virgin desert with flora and fauna indigenous to the wild areas of this region.

I took a hike up there this morning to see if some of the flowering cacti were sporting spring buds – sure enough, this hedgehog cactus (Echinocereus) near the north property line has quite a few flower buds getting ready to open.

We seem to have several varieties of hedgehog cactus around the property. Two of the hedgehog depicted are in the outback and several that were either natural or transplanted to the lower part of the lot among the landscaping rocks. Most have pink flowers but some have flowers that are darker pink or purple. The Damsel will be sure and photograph the ones on the lower property and I plan to venture into the outback to capture photos of the ones up there. Click on the image to enlarge.

19 Mar 2016 by Arizona Home & Garden Photography Retirement

The First Cactus Flower of Spring

Beavertail Cactus Flower

In what is getting to be an annual tradition, here is the post recognizing the first spring cactus flower in our xeriscape garden. Of course, this is a Beavertail Cactus Flower (opuntia basilaris) growing just behind the wall out front by the road. The pink flower bud we saw this morning opened into this nice flower this afternoon and it already has attracted bees and other pollinators.

This is the last year for this cactus since it is one of those that developed a fungus or something that gives the paddles a circular depressed area that is discolored. We have other beavertail cacti, including one we imported from California, that are planted in the rock and cactus garden, so there will undoubtedly be more of these brilliant pink flowers next spring as well. Click on the image to enlarge.

16 Mar 2016 by Arizona Flowers Home & Garden Photography

Ducks Along The Colorado

A White Duck Ducks Dunking

I took my Canon SL1 and the telephoto lens down to the Colorado river where we camped last night to see if I could get some photo ops of whatever the river and its occupants might have to offer. I was fortunate enough to have a pair of ducks floating near the California side shoreline that were dunking for whatever goodies the river bottom might contain.

The white duck and her mate were about two or three feet from the riverbank when I snapped these shots. They let me approach them without retreating to a range of about fifteen feet so I could get these images of them doing their thing. There were also several other ducks and a number of coots or “mud hens” in the area. Click on either image to enlarge.

15 Mar 2016 by Arizona California Critters Photography Wanderlust

Wildflowers in Bloom

Arizona Poppy Desert Marigold Orange Mallow

Thanks to an El Niño shortened winter, spring wildflowers are already popping up everywhere in the desert. Last week, during our visit to the West Valley (Bob had a doctor appointment), we noticed a lot of wildflowers along the roadside and in the median on US 60 between Wickenburg and the outer loop (Loop 303) of the Phoenix Metro Area, which is where the desert ends and the urbs begin.

We took the dogs for a walk today after dinner and I remembered to bring my camera since we see wildflowers along our walk. All three of these photos above were taken within a quarter mile of our house and are completely uncultivated desert wildflowers.

From left to right above, we have an Arizona Poppy, a Desert Marigold and an Orange Mallow. I used my usual Canon Rebel T3 to capture all three images. Click on any of the images to enlarge.

09 Mar 2016 by Arizona Environment Flowers Photography

Creek Bed Bank Line Reinforcement

Creek Bed

This is one of the projects that Damsel and I have undertaken to modify her rock and cactus garden on the west side of the property. This is to account for the effects of having built a retention wall adjacent to the RV drive that now diverts runoff from the hills to the north. After we built the wall last year, water now flows to the west of the property rather than across the RV drive as it has in the past.

In the image above, the west end of the wall can be seen at the right edge. We have started lining the edge of the little creek that formed last summer when we had a great monsoon rainfall last summer. The idea is to line the banks with rocks to confine the flow to within the creek bed near where the water comes out from behind the wall.

Further down the creek, the banks are less defined. We decided to use some very large boulders (seen at the left of the photo) to keep the flow going down the natural creek wash that was there before, rather than spilling toward the west where there are some decorations and the trash bins are over there too.

As you can see in the photo, we have partially completed the bank lining up near the end of the wall. Next, we will continue to bring more of the rocks and complete the lining from where the rocks end upstream to the boulders that are on the left. After that, we will dig down to where the original landscapers put the creek rocks five years ago.

We hope that we can complete this project a little at a time (rocks are heavy!) over the spring before the next monsoon season. Click on the image to enlarge.

Bed ProgressUPDATE: March 04, 2016 – Damsel and I spent an hour or so finishing the west bank of our little runoff creek today. We gathered small boulders and round rocks from other areas on the property and continued to line the far side of the creek with reinforcements for the runoff that we expect this coming monsoon season.

The top panel is the work we completed when we posted the picture above; the bottom panel is the work we completed this afternoon. Click on the image to enlarge.

01 Mar 2016 by Arizona Environment Home & Garden Retirement

Rodeo Season

Bowman Rodeo Grounds

On our way up to the Wickenburg Sportsmen’s Club shooting range today, we passed the Everett Bowman Rodeo Grounds where a bunch of cowboys and cowgirls were warming up for one of the upcoming rodeo events here in town. During the winter months (and to a lesser extent the rest of the year), we see a lot of horse trailers on the roads and in the downtown and outlying arena parking areas.

We like the fact that the rodeo brings a lot of welcome commerce to our little town, even if it means more traffic on the road and more competition while grocery shopping. Both of us, although we aren’t rodeo participant types, enjoy seeing good horses and riders. We have been known to go to rodeos in the past and may do so again.

26 Feb 2016 by Arizona Critters Current Events People

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