The Nature Photography Thread

[Steven@HumboldtHerps]

Day 4 (March 28, 2011) We only had one more whole day to look around, so "Murphy" and I split up; he went rock-hounding, and I hit the washes in search of tortoises. I found lots of tortoise burrows - but no tortoises!


tortoise burrow!


female W. Zebra-tailed Lizard Hauser Geode Beds area March 28, 2011


juvenile Zebra-tail This little guy was a hoot! Very entertaining! Territorial push-ups, tail curling and wagging, the works. Funny how one specimen can totally fill up the space of your camera. March 28, 2011


Great Basin Whiptail Hauser Geode Beds area March 28, 2011
These lizards hardly ever hold still!

[guidofatherof5]

Always like seeing and reading about your trips.
Thanks for sharing.

[Steven@HumboldtHerps]

mucho casas de tortugas!

[Steven@HumboldtHerps]

Day 5 (March 29th) Time to leave. Waaaaah! Well, we were not done yet! On our way out from Middle Camp (one of the camping hubs in the area - no services!), what should we see (okay, Murphy spotted it,) but a Desert Tortoise! Yes, all I had to do to meet Gopherus agassizii was hop out of my truck and set up the tripod! I didn't want to get too close, since tortoises often drop their water when alarmed. This one apparently had just been munching on some greenery, before it decided to move along on the black-top towards a sheltered wash.





This sighting was one of the highlights of our trip, but there were a few more... to be continued...

[Steven@HumboldtHerps]

Day 5 (March 29) continued with a southern drive on Milpitas Wash Road, towards where we had previously found some fragments of botryoidal psilomelane. Driving slowly on a more rambunctious piece of road (we were in a 2WD truck,) we spied this beautiful basking Chuckwalla. The lizard's choice of retreat (under an easily movable rock) yielded an unusually easy catch. As with the Desert Iguana populations, there was always creosote bush nearby.


Chuckwalla Milpitas Wash Road (E. Imperial County) March 29, 2011

"Chucky's" missing a few toes!

We then stopped at the psilomelane site, where we were amazed to see standing water in one of the canyon washes. We looked for animal footprints along the water's edge, but found none. We did find some more psilomelane and this curious Desert Iguana.


Desert Iguana off Milpitas Wash Rd. (E. Imperial County) Mar. 29, 2011



HABITAT - off Milpitas Wash Road (E. Imperial County)

[Steven@HumboldtHerps]

Day 5 continued with a pit stop for water in Palo Verde. We then took Hwy 78 south to Ogilby Road and turned on Indian Pass Road towards Gavilan Wash. We only got to explore Gavilan Wash a small ways on foot because the road required a 4X4, and the sun was going down. Tsk, tsk. Always pitching the tent in the dark!


HABITAT - Indian Pass Road (E. Imperial County)


Awesome colors on this male W. Side-blotched Lizard! Gavilan Wash March 29, 2011


Uta at dawn... This little guy must have been stuck outside in the cold.
off Indian Pass Road (E. Imperial County) March 30, 2011

[Steven@HumboldtHerps]

Day 6 (March 30th) got us on our feet early, despite some late night howling at the moon... well, not the moon... it was those eerie, red, blinking lights on those military radio towers or whatever in the distance... if it wasn't for my clear-headed 100% agave reposado high, I might have mistaken them for UFOs. Anyways...

Onwards to Tumco - an old gold mining operation and the adjacent ghost town Hedges... Walking the cyanide washes we found our only snake sign - the tracks of a Colorado Desert Sidewinder (Crotalus cerastes laterorepens.)
We also saw one iguana, some Uta, a whiptail, and some striking coats of chrysocolla.


HABITAT - Tumco (E. Imperial County)


sidewinder sign...



Desert Iguana Tumco - Hedges (E. Imperial County) March 30, 2011


Great Basin Whiptail Tumco - Hedges (E. Imperial Co.) March 30, 2011

[Steven@HumboldtHerps]

Tumco chrysocolla

Just a bit further south we checked out Vitrefax Hill next to the American Girl Mine near Ogilby. Here we found kyanite and Uta of course!


Vitrefax kyanite

A few of our finds from the Hauser Geode beds area are attached in this post. Hope you had fun on this trip. We had more!

[suklaamumina]

Some common lizards and a buttefly (Mourning Cloak) from a nearby forest. I also saw a wee adder, but it escaped before I got a shot...

[guidofatherof5]

No wee adder photo?