This wasn’t my first welcome back to Spring Creek Basin after my return from Texas, but it was maybe the third. Pretty nice of Buckeye and his ladies and baby girl to greet me at the west boundary.
Today, Memorial Day, is more than a start-of-summer celebratory holiday and third day of the three-day weekend. It’s the day we as a nation remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice in defending America’s freedoms. A hope is that it can be also a day to put aside political and ideological differences and remember what unites us all: love of independence, freedom and family, our unique way of life. Our service men and women who died protecting the freedoms of this country, our diversity and pride in what makes us Americans, made their personal sacrifices so we can enjoy all of the above.
As we celebrate, don’t forget those sacrifices … and what unites these United States.
It’s taking me a bit to get back in the groove after a Mother’s Day/week visit to my folks’ place in Texas. When I got back, I was ASTOUNDED to see how green it was – after an absence of just a week! And the wildflowers, which certainly had started coming up a bit in places, are now somewhat profuse (all things are relative).
A bit of snow is still visible in the highest of high reaches visible from Spring Creek Basin, and if you can discern the greener-green on the very farthest ridges, that’s aspen, finally leafed out and fluttering in the spring breezes.
While these images highlight the prince’s plume and globemallow, a variety of wildflowers are providing a colorful palette currently … mostly requiring a bit closer look than these long-view pix.
To all the beautiful, wonderful mothers out there who support their children – theirs by blood and theirs by love – and who raise us up to cherish our mothers! 🙂
Especially to my mom, thanks for passing on your love of horses. 🙂 Thank you for being my mom! I love you – see you soon!
Some current Spring Creek Basin wildflowers for moms:
Evening primrose is starting to appear in numerous locations. Like the sego lily, the primrose seems almost too delicate for our desert environment.
And of course, perennial favorite (see what I did there?): prince’s plume. 🙂 Recently, I was a little afraid that the prince’s plume that was up had been battered terribly by the relentless wind … but very current plants look very healthy!
P.S. If the sky behind Aiyanna and Bia looks a bit grey, that’s because it WAS. Within half an hour of that pic, rain was sweeping Spring Creek Basin and lower Disappointment Valley! We need it BADLY, so it was a wonderful Mother’s Day eve gift to us all.
Because we’re really celebrating the onset of spring this year after what seemed like a lengthy winter, some examples of things we’re celebrating:
The horses in the band I was with alerted me to this handsome fellow. He or she paused here and looked back at something (not the band I was with), then continued to run across the area before disappearing. S/he was not close to us (not even close to close! hence the very blurry image), and the horses, though watchful, were not bothered.
These little yellow flowers are coming up now in Spring Creek Basin. The petals are closed here, but my handy-dandy new plant/flower identifier app on my phone says it’s called “Chambers’ twinpod.” This gets a 77% chance of correct ID.
And an update on this little beauty: It *might* be “soft popcornflower,” if you can believe there’s such a name! I’m not completely convinced – and neither is the app; it gives a 23% chance of that being the ID. But that name is so delicious, I hope it’s right.
UPDATE: It’s called Gypsum Valley cateye! When in doubt, ask the BLM guy! 🙂 Thanks to Mike Jensen, who was actually in the basin May 3 to look for this little plant, for the confirmed ID!
I’ve seen a slender-lizard or two skittering away out of the corner of my eye a couple of times recently, but this is the first horned lizard I’ve seen this spring. And look at those orangey little “eyes” on its back! They make me think of patterns reminiscent of some kinds of moths or butterflies? I don’t think I’ve seen that adaptation on any of the other horned lizards I’ve seen, but I love it!
One of my very favorite early birds of spring is the meadowlark. This bright ray of feathered spring sunshine was warbling (! trilling? that wonderful liquid sound they do) sweetly from a greasewood close to the road.
Look at these beauties! They were looking at the horses (and me) as we were looking at them. I like to think there was mutual admiration (among the four-leggeds, at least) and maybe a little curiosity (it was all admiration on my part!). They’re still a little rough, but they’re shedding fast like the horses.
And to end on a fluffy note, here’s little Peter or Petra cottontail. This little critter was much closer to the horses I was with and also moseying along among the greening greasewood.
Not all of these “signs” are limited to spring, of course, but they’re all things I’m always happy to see.
Some examples of some of our early bloomers may be seen below.
This is one of our earliest bloomers: phlox (don’t ask me what specific kind!). Most of our little bunches (and they are extremely low-growing and tightly clustered) are white. But some are:
Palest pink.
These Indian paintbrush (again, there are multiple specific types) also were very little bitty.
And then there are these beauties:
These little flowers are at least as numerous as phlox, and there are a few different things that look a lot like it … but not exactly like it. If you can give a positive ID on this little plant/wildflower, I’d be most appreciative!
With the infusion of a little rain last night – hopefully widespread? – hopefully we’ll see some more of these tenacious little wildflowers this spring!
As I was leaving the water-catchment work site the other day, I admired the spectacular bloom of *color* alongside the road and smiled to myself, thinking, WOW, that’s some nice color in our otherwise very brown world right now. … Then I hit the brakes, shifted into reverse and went back to take some pix. Because brightness deserves to be shared. 🙂
Odd note maybe only of interest to photographers: The blooms were in reality more purplish-red than the reddish-red depicted in the photo (I took multiple images to be sure I had stamens and bees and petals and pollen sharp, at least in places). But they’re still very bright and beautiful!
In Sand Wash Basin, the mustangs are documented just as they are in Spring Creek Basin. They’re named. They’re loved.
Aiyanna means “blossoming” or “eternal flower.”
Known. Loved.
The flowering plant in the images above is called four o’clock, and it grows naturally all over Spring Creek Basin – more in some places than in some other places (!). There are practically BUSHES of it along the north hills in the area of the new water catchment. This one and many more are in the western part of the basin where Flash and his girls are currently hanging out.
It was harder than anticipated trying to get the girls and the flowers in the same frame. 🙂
Spring Creek Basin Mustangs 