Thursday, June 14, 2007

We're Having Leftovers Tonight

Yes, it's feast or famine around here when it comes to pictures in entries, and tonight we're feasting on leftovers. There have been one or two entries this past week with no photos are all, and others with only one or two. Last night I had, what, about nine, wasn't it? (No: eleven!) Tonight's is a little more restrained than that, but not much! Come on, then; let's dig in!


When I was trying to get pictures of things in flight for the Monday Photo Shoot this week, I took a moment to photograph this bougainvillea in front of the house. The significance if this becomes clear when I tell you this very plant was a major exhibit in an entry I did in April, titled Dead Flowers. At the time there were no surviving leaves on the plant, let alone flowers. We figured our rare Tucson snowfall back in January did it in. Yet here it is, back from the dead. One of he reasons it looks so nice now is that John did a good job of trimming away the dead vines.



Before I thought of going after saguaros specifically for the Round Robin entry, I thought I might show you some unusual desert plants in general. This aloe plant was at the edge of a local McDonald's parking lot. Incidentally, aloe vera is one of the many things I'm allergic to.


Also at McDonald's was this fishhook barrel cactus. I like the way its pale green is offset by curly purple needles and yellow fruit. Clash much?

Last night's saguaro pictures were taken at this scenic lookout, Babad Do'ag. We're looking down from the lower reaches of Mount Lemmon at the far east side of Tucson.


Same lookout. This is a mesquite tree, famed for its use in cooking things.

And again, same place. This prickly pear cactus is running a bit dry, although it actually rained a few days ago. The cute little birdie is some kind of flycatcher or peewee, but I was unable to narrow down the identification beyond that. And no, I didn't manage to photograph him in flight. Good night!

Karen

3 comments:

DesLily said...

beautiful shots Karen... I'm a "forest" person myself, but you sure do show how beautiful desert areas can be.

Anonymous said...

Ash-throated Flycatcher.

Karen Funk Blocher said...

Ash-throated Flycatcher? Okay, that sounds likely. Thanks!