Monday, June 11, 2012

Down to Earth

After three sky entries in a row on this blog, here are some things found on the desert floor. These pictures were not all taken the same day, they are from several different short nature walks over the past two weeks.

The barrel cactus is slowly falling to the ground...


Western Whiptail Lizard


Zebra-tailed Lizard


Desert Spiny


Desert Cottontail


Harris' Antelope Ground Squirrel


Round-tailed Ground Squirrel


Roadrunner


Gambel's Quail


Marine Blue Butterfly - female


The remains of a fallen Saguaro cactus fruit...

This last one is from our garden, oleander leaves and blossoms covering the pathway before being raked:


Have a wonderful week!
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25 comments:

  1. GigaJune 11, 2012 at 5:49 AM

    Sporo ciekawych zwierzątek żyje u Was i podoba mi się kolor owoców kaktusa. Pozdrawiam.
    Many interesting animals live with you and I like the color of the fruit of a cactus. Yours.

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  2. Willie a.k.a reptozJune 11, 2012 at 6:15 AM

    Wow. So fortunate to meet those animals and reptiles.

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  3. rainfield61June 11, 2012 at 6:15 AM

    One by one they come.

    One by one I come to know them.

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  4. Icy BCJune 11, 2012 at 6:38 AM

    Those are wonderful critters, but I like your ground squirrel better than the ones we have here. They are cuter! Love their shadow too!

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  5. RamakrishnanJune 11, 2012 at 7:36 AM

    Lovely pics of the desert creatures & and cactii/flowers.

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  6. GaelynJune 11, 2012 at 7:57 AM

    Thanks for bringing these missed desert sights to the North Rim.

    That cactus fruit looks like a gaping mouth.

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  7. MagpieJune 11, 2012 at 8:52 AM

    You see some very amazing things on your walks. I now know the name of the funny little critters all over the front part of our property...round tail ground squirrels. Thanks so much! The leaves and blossoms look like potpourri. :)

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  8. angryparsnipJune 11, 2012 at 9:04 AM

    I love looking at the ground. You have posted some wonderful photos of just a day in the country.
    The Roadrunners are back at my house and I am so enjoying having them around.

    cheers, parsnip

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  9. TeresaJune 11, 2012 at 9:43 AM

    I need to see this side of Tucson...so beautiful!
    I haven't never seen that kind of quail before.

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  10. ThérèseJune 11, 2012 at 11:07 AM

    Nice unity in colors to end with this lovely red. Never saw a marine blue butterfly before. What a shape!

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  11. tracyJune 11, 2012 at 2:33 PM

    Diane, I always enjoy seeing your photos!

    I just wanted you to know that I. Am. Working. Again.

    I may not have time to comment but always enjoy stopping by your blog!

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  12. NatJune 11, 2012 at 2:48 PM

    Your desert creature photos are fantastic! I just can't imagine a roadrunner in the flesh... always see one in my mind's eye as the cartoon character running away from the wiley coyote :-)

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  13. Lrong LimJune 11, 2012 at 3:50 PM

    Am quite amazed at how you can take these nice pictures of the wildlife... especially that of the quail... ;-)

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  14. StephanieJune 11, 2012 at 6:30 PM

    That barrel cactus reminds me of my little cactus. Mine looks it is going to fall to that state. Better go do something about it later. Btw I hope those lizards don't bother you when you take your walk. They look dangerous.

    Diane, I have nominated you for the Versatile Blogger award. Check it out in my latest post. Thanks and have a great day!

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  15. betchaiJune 11, 2012 at 8:03 PM

    i just watched the amazing life in the desert in nat geo and the scenes so reminded me of your photos here. lovely set of pictures again Diane.

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  16. Spare Parts and PicsJune 11, 2012 at 11:09 PM

    Another awesome desert post! I always call the little squirrels we see out at out place Antelope squirrels, but now I'm wondering if there not Round-Tailed squirrels?

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  17. AnonymousJune 12, 2012 at 7:27 AM

    I love seeing your gorgeous desert shots - I will never think of a desert the same way again thanks to you!!!

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  18. Betsy GrantJune 12, 2012 at 1:32 PM

    Such interesting creatures around you and so nice that you have the opportunity to photograph them. Lovely leaves covering the ground - a carpet for your feet!

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  19. JanieJune 12, 2012 at 7:55 PM

    What a great collection of flora and fauna. The lizards are all so different. And I just love the roadrunner.

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  20. LindyJune 12, 2012 at 9:45 PM

    Another beautiful series. You have great eyes to spot the lizards. They blend into the environment so well. The squirrels are cute and are so petite compared to our fox squirrels here in Indiana. I miss seeing the roadrunners scamper around and hearing the quail sounding their alerts.

    By the way, thanks for identifying the mystery flower on my blog. I honestly figured you would know what it was! :-)

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  21. RohrerbotJune 13, 2012 at 8:55 AM

    Hello there!!! I'm back and although I miss the cool breezes, I certainly missed home and the gardening. I'm having my coffee and reading....my first REAL vacation:) I am terrible with lizards so I found this post extremely helpful. And the ground squirrels!!! I know several but not all....there are so many varieties out there. Thanks for the ID's. Sometimes I see more lizards than I do birds and I know a Whiptail when I see one because it does it's running thing which is cool. So I've been getting shots of them over my past shoots. Hope all is well in your world. Had a great vacation and look forward to getting out again around the canyons and Tucson.

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  22. AminJune 13, 2012 at 9:14 AM

    Hello! Very interesting and beautiful photos!

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  23. SalitypeJune 13, 2012 at 1:29 PM

    wonderful little friends along your way.. I enjoyed them as well !

    Aligaga

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  24. JDSJune 13, 2012 at 7:01 PM

    Great job with ALL of the wildlife shots. Each one of those animals is (I believe) very fast and mobile, which always makes them hard to photograph.

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  25. Betty ManousosJune 16, 2012 at 5:56 AM

    love the world of critters.
    i totally enjoyed your photos!

    simply wonderful!

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