More shots from Big Bend & Am. SW...

Quick quiz: If this was a wren,

what kind of wren might it be??

Yup. Cactus wren! =)

Fun w/photography at night in a moving vehicle.

Now that I've lightened it up, I now see the video store is "ADULTS ONLY."

Classy. However, the moon was GLORIOUS.

At the Rio Grande in Big Bend NP.

Assuming this is cliff swallow housing.

Why minimalists love the desert:

 Yum.

I assume this is some kinda desert mallow.

It was adjacent to the ol' Rio Grande in Big Bend NP.

Beautiful tree at Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. 

 Shot I took when it was nigh onto night.

Long exposure, rental car holding camera.

But I'm super glad I took these shots,

'cause it was the only time I got to see this super interesting area. 

"Yeah, yeah, I'm gorgeous. I know.

Got anything I can kill?"

 Harris's Hawk.

Gila woodpecker totally ignoring me.

 And looking SO BEAUTIFUL!

 White-winged dove.

 Dig the cheek/neck sheen.

Female cardinal looking SO coy and adorable.

The flirtiest band-tailed pigeon I've ever encountered.

Tippy top of a boojum tree (Fouquieria columnaris), or cirio.

This was all late Feb, early March.

Especially for you folks still in snow,

hope the virtual sunshine helped. =)

xobb

Moon over Big Bend National Park

A reward for getting our buns out of bed early,

on the day we drove out of Big Bend.

xobb

ghost town window, javelina, Texas & I'm OUT!

Fun little tour of this ghost town, just west of Big Bend NP.

Former mercury mining site.

I'd go on, and post more photos, but:

1. I'm leaving again (for a conference),

I'll be there all next week,

and am jamming out DARK time tomorrow a.m.
(on 1st day of DAYLIGHT SAVING, eep!!!)

so have 10,000 things to do.

2. I'm presenting a poster for folks who cannot attend
(thank you sequestration)

so I actually need to look professional.

Must practice.

And hillbilly dry-clean (hand wash) dry-clean-only clothes and think happy thoughts.

3. My go-to photo watermark & insta-shrink-it site (free) is not working,

and I don't have time to generate a Plan B

4. I GOTS to GO.

However, rest assured I have LOTS of photos to share

from our Big Bend visit,

Collared peccary, a.k.a. javelina, in Big Bend NP.

Only one we saw, and I'm INCREDIBLY grateful.

Was longing for that SNOUT!!

p.s. not a pig. Not in pig family.

the Arizona-Sonora desert museum,
some shots from the actual road (CA-TX drive = LONG),

some cool petroglyphs we saw at,

you guessed it, Petroglyph NP, etc.

Once I'm back and figure out how I'll process everything,

I'll do that.

If I'm not working on a deadline.

Which I might be.

In the mean time, anyone wanna fling any

watermarking, etc., sources or software hints my way,

feel free to comment me up.

xoxo!!

bb

paroxysms from pyrrhuloxia

Pyrrhuloxia, the only one we saw, on the way OUT of Big Bend NP.

Woo-hoo!!!

=)

xoxobb

this yucca is a siren: alluring and hazardous

 This plant is killing me about eight different ways, right now.

(zoom way in--the blossoms are amazing)

All I can do is ogle and shoot.

Tiny peeks at large flowers through layers of yucca swords.

The ultimate flirt.

From hundreds of square miles of parched, scratchy scrub,
in a singularly shade-free landscape,
spring these succulent, glistening flowers,
glowing high, out of reach,
a calm center in a whorl of yucca swords.

This plant is a siren.

The yucca I know (Yucca schidigera, in California) has an anti-coagulant in it,
which I learned the first (and last) time
I was careless enough to get stabbed by one.

In the micro second between getting stabbed in the hand,
and looking at my wound,
a thick stream of blood had already flowed to my wrist.

Got my attention.

If the yucca in Big Bend NP are at all like those at home,
not only might most sad, parched little land animals
never get to the flowers,
but they may bleed to death at her feet for their efforts.

Sirens don't show mercy.
Yuccas don't weep for thirsty mammals.
Sirens and yuccas need what they need,
and if you are not it,
 best just accept it and move on.

It's not about you.

xoxobb

wonky but I-like-'em raptor shots + cactus love

 Some not classic, but interesting, shots, from the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum.

Barn owl getting settled. I think this one is my favorite.

 

Grey hawk taking off.

Harris's hawk, looking bad-a$$.

Am at Big Bend NP, right now. Had to do a SUPER quick thing for work,

which is why I'm indoors at 10 a.m. =)

And, since I was already online, thought I'd fling up a few more shots.

Today's parting shot is from Big Bend: a cactus valentine.

I posted a lame-but-it-counts shot of my first Mexican Jay on facebook,

if you want to see it. Beautiful bird!

Now, I'm off to see what my Nikon and I can find.

Cheers! xobb