Turns out owls aren’t all that interesting in infrared. The desert, though, makes up for it.
Coyote
Happy Friday
Desert
Just the desert in infrared
Bird
I spent a lot of time trying to get a photo of this little one. Like many small birds, it was very skittish and wouldn’t let me get a clean shot until, finally, it moved to a place where it wasn’t occluded.
Still no idea what kind of bird it is.
Tarantula Hawk
FYI, the tarantula hawk is neither a tarantula nor a hawk.
According to Encyclopedia of Life, “Alvarado-Castro and Jiménez (2011) provide a detailed account of the reproductive behavior of H. selenopoides, including the intriguing behavior in which the male wraps silk around part of the female.”
So that’s another cross-species behavior, for those of you keeping track.
Black Necked Gartersnake
This snake has been reading all of your posts and fundamentally has a problem with more than one person being the best mother in the world.
This snake is pondering the style of contest needed to determine the truth.
Burrowing Owl
Burrowing owl that just notised a typo in this caption.
Hummingbird
Hummingbird engaging in debate.
Heron
Heron realizing the common multi-factor authentication are easily guessed or forged:
Something you know – password, etc
Something you have – authentication token, etc
Something you are – fingerprint, etc
and that is proposing the following additional options, which are harder for attackers to guess:
Some place you’ve been
Some problematic belief you hold
Something you said that you immediately regretted
Some of your failed hopes and dreams, cast aside in the journey to adulthood
Some other time, login later
Sum total of your assets
Summa summarum, more factors are needed
Gila Woodpecker
Woodpeckers aren’t restricted to only eating insects. The gila woodpecker also eats berries.
I had hoped that this was one of those that hoarded acorns, storing them in holes they pecked into the trees, but this is apparently not the case.
Arizona Ridge-Nosed Rattlesnake
Rattlesnake wondering how, if music died on February 3, 1959, a song could be written about it and recorded on May 26, 1971.
Can music be resurrected, or is the current art form something we call music but that only has passing resemblance to what we called music in 1959 … like cold medicine.
Red-Crested Cardinal
Fun prank idea: pour beet juice into the apple bobbing tank.
Wasp
Have I mentioned that I have a new macro lens to play with this summer?
Pelican
I never understood why it’s the storks that bring the babies when pelicans are clearly better equipped for that job.
Green Rat Snake
TFW you want to revisit the places that once gave you comfort only to find that you’ve grown and changed and don’t fit in anymore.
Arizona Mountain Kingsnake
Kingsnake realizing that the woman in the song tells Captain Wedderburn he must answer six questions and then proceeds to ask seven.
Kingsnake wonders if 86% is the accepted passing grade for a trysting.
Hummingbird
“Quack”
Narrow Headed Gartersnake
The narrow headed gartersnake hunts, and hides, in the water. This can make photography difficult as, the moment you’re set up, off into the water he goes.
I was lucky to be where the zoo took off the aquarium top and let me light and photograph more directly than is usually possible.
Harris Hawk
There is a one-bird-per-perch rule in the desert.
Negotiations are in progress.