After Bruce and I completed our badlands of the San Juan Basin exploration, and Jane returned from her action packed visit with Gigi in New York City, we spent some quiet time at home enjoying our garden for a few weeks before heading out again. Jane and I have been getting a lot of pleasure from our garden with its many colorful roses. For me, of particular enjoyment are the cacti. I have created three small areas in our yard where I planted several hedgehog cactus plants. They were in full bloom with spectacular red flowers. The garden provided blotches of vivid color for us to enjoy after the dull gray of winter.
Clret Cup Cactus FlowerClaret Cup Cactus, aka Crimson Hedgehog, In Full Bloom Showing Red Flower Petals And Reproductive Elements King Cup Cactus Flower and BudBright Orange Bloom Of Hedgehog Cactus, aka King Cup Cactus, In Profile View Illustrating Flower Petals and Reproductive Parts
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My good friend Neil Solomon told me about a pair of peregrine falcons that were nesting and raising chicks along the cliffs of the Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve in La Jolla, California. Unabashedly, I invited myself and Bruce to come and photograph these raptors with him. So, in early May, Jane and I ventured to San Diego for a short visit to photograph the falcons. Neil generously guided Bruce and me to the best photo locations. Needless to say, these nesting peregrines and their chicks attracted many other photographers and we were not alone on the beach waiting for the birds to appear.
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Jane had arranged for us to stay at the Hilton Garden Inn in Old Town. We did not realize it at the time, but it turned out that we ended up in the middle of the Old Town Cinco de Mayo celebration. It was a noisy, crowded party and we happily joined the throng of revelers while enjoying a margarita along the way.
A recent issue of Arizona Highways Magazine featured an article and photographs of Chiricahua National Monument in southeastern Arizona. I found the geology and scenery of this “sky island” fascinating and was immediately drawn to the rhyolite rock pinnacles and spires to try my own photography there. So, we were back from San Diego a short three weeks before hitting the road again. OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
This time it was road trip. Chiricahua National Monument is only about a six hour drive from home. Since it was my idea to make the trip, I made the necessary accommodations. For the first four nights of this week long trip we stayed at the Dreamcatcher Inn at Chiricahua, an extremely nice B&B, somewhat in the middle of nowhere. Phillip and Ramon (Ray) were our very gracious hosts. In fact, once Ray found out about my photography interest, he provided directions to a great horned owl nest with three chicks about to fledge.
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Although a “sky island”, with peaks reaching nearly 10,000 feet in elevation, the Chiricahua Mountains are situated on the edge of the Sonoran Desert and in early June day time temperatures were starting to sizzle. We mostly kept our photo hikes to late afternoons/early evenings when the sun was low on the horizon and temperatures moderated a bit. To pass the time of day, we made some short excursions visiting the old copper mining town of Bisbee (where a hazardous open pit mine is a tourist attraction) and Tombstone (where there is a shootout at the O.K. Corral at one, two and three in the afternoon). We also made a trip to the Kartchner Caverns State Park near Benson (no photography allowed inside the cave).
From the Dreamcatcher we moved to Cave Creek Ranch for three nights in Portal, Arizona. Portal is a birding hotspot and Neil Solomon had told me about it. We were not in Portal at prime birding time but since it was only a couple of hours from the Dreamcatcher, and on the way home, we decided to make it part of our summer journey. As part of the trip planning, I had arranged for a guide to help in locating birds to photograph. That worked out well. James Petersen was our guide and he found us 55 different bird species, fourteen of which were new ones for us, including a spotted owl, red-faced warbler and elegant trogon. Not all the birds James found were in positions where photography was possible, but I did my best.
Be sure to check the Latest Images gallery for photos from this trip.
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