I wrote a lot in my last post, so this time I’m going to try and just let the pictures speak for themselves.
-Zach
Celestial sunrise
Mojave Green (Crotalus scutulatus)
Tarantula Hawk
Turquoise?
Surveying for Desert Bighorn Sheep (Ovis canadensis nelsoni)
Sheep scat
Success
Great Basin Collared Lizard (Crotaphytus bicinctores)
Blooming Mammilaria tetrancistra
Monsoon season
Reakirt’s Blue (Echinargus [Hemiargus] isola)
Cutting a hiking/biking/horse trail
Quartz
Moving a cholla out of the way
Cauliflower rock
The bright orange flagging used to mark these chollas is apparently mistaken for flowers by hummingbirds, which we would often see hovering around plastic tape.
Disappointed hummingbird (sp.?)
Posing C. bicinctores
Cool rocky wash
Dendritic pseudofossil
Rings
Our ride
Old car
Remains of a dwelling
Tiny piece of eggshell, possibly from a Lesser Nighthawk (Chordeiles acutipennis)
One of the many PVC pipe markers out here that birds fly into and get trapped in
Common Poorwill (Phalaenoptilus nuttallii)
Desert fungi
Contrails
Red Racer (Coluber [Masticophis] flagellum piceus)
Yucca curls
Sidewinder (Crotalus cerastes cerastes)
Colorful scat
DOR sidewinder, found in the vicinity as the one pictured above a day later, but I don’t think it’s the same snake.
Nice early morning drive
I’ll never get tired of cracked mud
Astragalus in a hole
Great Basin Whiptail (Aspidoscelis tigris tigris) drinking mud
Site of a historically productive spring, now dry after so much water has been diverted for development, agriculture, etc.
Mammal tooth
Scorpion (Hadrurus arizonensis?)
Chamaesyce sp.
Dragonfly (Sympetrum corruptum?)
Brachiopod fossil
Petrified wood
Remains of Native American “sleeping circles” – rocks were heated beside a fire and then used to keep warm during the night.
Non-fossilized marine shell (“oyster drill” Urosalpinx sp.), probably used ornamentally (e.g. as a bead) by native people.
Knife blade (2,000 – 3,000 years old)
I realized that in all of my Mojave Desert posts, I haven’t talked much about the sun. We’ve known for a while that sunlight – UV light in particular - is powerful stuff. And there’s a whole lot of it out here.
While the desert sun is probably better known for its ability to “wash-out” colors (see below examples), it can also have the opposite effect. Here is a piece of a “sun-purpled” glass bottle. From the late 19th – early 20th century manganese was widely used as an agent in glassmaking for ability to make glass clear. However, prolonged exposure to UV causes the manganese to react chemically and turn the glass a purplish hue. As a result, purple glass can be useful for anthropologists/archaeologists because it can often be dated relatively easily and accurately.
Still good?
Banded Garden Spider (Argiope trifasciata)
More fungi
Female Sulphur Butterfly (either Colias eurytheme or C. philodice)
Tracks
Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura) tail feather
Sleepy Orange (Eurema [Abaeis] nicippe)
Desert Black Swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes coloro)
Skunk or badger skull
Old roadmap?
White-lined Sphinx (Hyles lineata) caterpillar. The larvae of this species are highly variable in coloration and pattern.
Pupa
Adult moth
Juvenile Desert Woodrat (Neotoma lepida) in a nest
Desertshrub Spider (Diguetia sp.)
Desert Encruster Termites (Gnathamitermes sp.)
Little tortoise in a little burrow
Say’s Stink Bug (Chlorochroa sayi)
Long-nosed Leopard Lizard (Gambelia wislizenii)
Coyote Melon (Cucurbita palmata)
Male Sagebrush Checkerspot (Chlosyne acastus)
First Desert Glossy Snake (Arizona elegans eburnata)
Apache Jumper (Phidippus apacheanus). Like many species in this genus, this spider is a mutilid wasp (aka “velvet ant”) mimic.
Revenge of the melons
Raptor mummy, possibly a Barn Owl (Tyto alba)
Desert Iguana (Dipsosaurus dorsalis)
"dei ex machina"
Fossil fuel for blood
A prehistoric epoch, reincarnate
Biomimetic behemoths
of painted steel
and rubber wheels
Strong and clumsy, mostly
but capable of grace
In the right hands, at times,
distinction is erased
Necks extend, metallic jaws agape
Coughing, wheezing
Spiral proboscises drill
and talons pierce
the Earth-flesh
In the distant desert valley
Water now replaced
by solar fields
square, photovaultaic lakes
Electric ghosts of Indians
Buzz through the wires above
and towers standing tall
like figures I’ve known from ancient stone
Maybe Haeckel was right all along,
and these are Frankenstein’s Monsters
Image Credit: Nathan Wynn
Image Credit: Associated Press
Image Credit: Tony Perrie
Image Credit: Tuscon Electric Power
Image Credit: Teft Photo
Image Credit: Willie Holdman
Image Credit: billandjanettravel.blogspot.com
Image Credit: www.toddshikingguide.com
My first Mojave Desert California Kingsnake (Lampropeltis getula californiae), unfortunately DOR.
Aside from some blood around its mouth, there didn’t appear to be any other obvious trauma. Because the snake was found just of the shoulder of the road I’m guessing it was clipped by a vehicle.
Life goes on…
…and on
Evidence of an Ourobouros population in the area
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Mojave Desert: Part 7
Moderator: Scott Waters
Re: Mojave Desert: Part 7
Really interesting post. Good job
Re: Mojave Desert: Part 7
Very cool. The yellow ants look to be Myrmecocystus mexicanus.
Re: Mojave Desert: Part 7
Awesome. I especially liked the Apache Jumper. That Cal King was high contrast, it's a shame about it being a DOR.
Tim
Tim
Re: Mojave Desert: Part 7
Those ants eating the Cal King were my favorite. Pretty cool to see the mandibles at work up close like that.
- Fieldnotes
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Re: Mojave Desert: Part 7
Zach,
Great post as usual. You have the eye of an artist, I am never going to look at the desert the same again (meaning, I am not just going to be looking for herps anymore). You got pictures of some interesting plants and insects that I would pass bye. The link between the power lines and petroglyphs is shocking.
W
Great post as usual. You have the eye of an artist, I am never going to look at the desert the same again (meaning, I am not just going to be looking for herps anymore). You got pictures of some interesting plants and insects that I would pass bye. The link between the power lines and petroglyphs is shocking.
W
Re: Mojave Desert: Part 7
Love your series keep them up
- Will Wells
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- Joined: June 18th, 2010, 5:32 am
- Location: Arizona
- Contact:
Re: Mojave Desert: Part 7
Cool post! Lots of interesting things on the ground when you stop to take a look. Thanks for sharing.
Re: Mojave Desert: Part 7
Very interesting, Zach. I enjoyed the variety of photos of habitats and animals that you included. Eurema is a fairly widespread and diverse group of pierids here in Australia as well.
Regards,
David
Regards,
David