Some beautiful light over Buckeye’s band on a recent evening, looking southeast. Buckeye at left, Aiyanna at center, Rowan at right and … see if you can spot Dundee behind the tree at far right. No rain, but the temps have dropped, and the cloud cover has been an absolute relief.
Bonus:
Met this teeny tiny little friend on a hike in a different part of Disappointment Valley.
Super itty bitty! Catching its movement is the only way I saw it. That’s some good camo!
This little fellow or gal scrambled into the middle of a four-wing saltbush (I think? I didn’t stop to ID it at the time). Very shy but maybe one of the bigger horned lizards I’ve seen – and certainly recently. Probably about the size/length of the palm of my hand. I think each individual is different with its coloration/patterns, too. Check out the cool yellowish spots on the dorsal side of this one; they made me think of a butterfly’s markings, so they might be to deter predators?
I had just walked back up the hill to the road from visiting with a couple of bands when the sun sank into a low cloud right above the horizon, and I thought (silly me!) that was sunset. … But THEN … the sun found a sliver of a break between cloud and horizon and sent its good-night-world light across Spring Creek Basin. See the partial rainbow at nearly center over Round Top in the low distance? And if you look closely, there’s a band of horses (anOTHER) band of horses) that appeared walking west across the northern base of what I call the east twin butte at lower right.
Note to self: The light’s not done till it’s DONE.
Not much of a theme to the post today … just a couple of glimpses of Spring Creek Basin this past weekend. 🙂
Both of these critters were seen on the evening of summer solstice. Both are named for their “horns.” One has feathers; one has scales. Both are desert beauties.
Horned larks are one of the first birds I learned to identify. Lots of them seem to call Spring Creek Basin home. See his little “horn” tufts?
Same lark. Maybe it was the presence of the mustangs behind me that made him feel comfortable enough to land on nearby greasewood to check me out.
While following those same mustangs away from the road, this little fellow (fellarina?) caught my eye. (Much nicer to see a horned lizard scuttle away underfoot than the longer, more slithery kind!)
I didn’t realize it at first, but it was hunting around an ant hill.
I started to see it darting forward, and that’s what alerted me that it was going after something on the ground, presumably insects. Too bad it’s out of focus, but it helps the story!
You might think this one is out of focus – I did, too – but look at that little dirt ball in front of the lizard. See the bug? It didn’t last long!
Is it just me, or does that look like a satisfied little lizard? 🙂
Spring Creek Basin Mustangs 