Ecologist Susan Harrison has contributed some photos from one of my favorite places in the U.S.—and a former field site—Death Valley, California (there are also photos from Arizona). Susan’s IDs and captions are indented, and you can (and should) enlarge her photos by clicking on them.
A March heat wave spent in the desert
Hearing reports of the best desert wildflowers in 10 years, my husband and I eagerly planned a late March camping trip to Death Valley. Alas, when my final exams were over, a record-breaking heat wave was already ending the displays of Desert Gold (Geraia canescens), Hairy Sand Verbena (Abronia villosa), various scorpionweeds (Phacelia) and evening primroses (Oenothera), and others.
What to do?? Luckily, the deserts contain a lot of elevation. Near Telescope Peak (elevation 11,043’), the highest point in Death Valley National Park, the snow lingered and wildflowers hadn’t yet bloomed, but at least the hiking was pleasant.
Telescope Peak, center, with Death Valley on the left and Panamint Valley on the right:
Foraying briefly down to Furnace Creek, with its minus 190’ elevation and triple-digit temperatures, we saw fields of faded flowers and stayed just long enough to track down one interesting bird.
Lucy’s Warbler (Leiothylpis luciae), a dainty resident of desert oases including the Furnace Creek golf course, singing its dawn song:
We then decamped to the high desert (4,500’+) along the east face of the Sierra Nevada, where temperatures were warm but not excessive and birds and flowers were abundant.
The Alabama Hills (foreground, with Sierras in background) are so scenically dramatic that they appear in hundreds of movies and TV shows – mainly old Westerns, plus some extraterrestrial and “Himalayan” epics:
Black-throated Sparrows (Amphispiza bilineata) were abundant in the sagebrush:
White-throated Swifts (Aeronautes saxatilis), a.k.a. avian jet pilots, zoomed above the canyons leading up to the high Sierras:
Scarlet Milkvetch (Astragalus coccineus) grew abundantly on decomposed granite:
Sandblossoms (Linanthus parryae), which come in blue and white, were the focus of a classic controversy in evolutionary theory you can read about here and here:
LeConte’s Thrasher (Toxostoma lecontei), another uncommon desert bird, eluded us in the Alabama Hills. Farther north near Bishop, California, it was a delight to find this one and its mate apparently feeding large black insects to well-hidden nestlings:
Very fortunately for me, my next work duty after our desert vacation was a speaking engagement in Tucson, and the heat wave finally ended midway through that visit. Here are some photos from two lovely days of birding in southern Arizona.
Curve-billed Thrasher (Toxostoma curvirostre):
Painted Redstart (Myioborus pictus):
Rivoli’s Hummingbird (Eugenes fulgens):
Bridled Titmouse (Baeolophus wollweberi):
Red-naped Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus nuchalis):
Scott’s Oriole (Icterus parisorum):
Thanks, as always Susan. You spend time at some of the most incredible places. Between your photos, descriptions, and wikipedia/google earth, and recalling the sights, sounds, and even some smells from my own earlier travels to these areas, I engage in very enjoyable armchair travel right behind you.
Wonderful images! I very much love desert ecosystems and enjoy whenever I see photos from these areas.
Fantastic pictures. I like the way you blur the backgrounds in some cases and show the backgrounds in others.
Love your photos.
That was so enjoyable. I did not know about the Sandblossom story. It reminds me of a puzzle I am seeing with the different color phases of our local population of Praying Mantids in this one field where they are pretty common. Previously, most were brown morphs with very few green morphs. Now it looks like 100% are green, and I don’t know why.
Lovely photos!
Beautiful.
Beautiful photos, Susan. Thanks for sharing these.