Favoritos de mccreedy

Inferred mountain lion feeding. Mtn lion killed the deer with apparent puncture wounds from canines in the back of neck. Probably last night before the rains. Coyote tracks apparent in the area so likely that coyote found it in the morning and dragged it away and fed on it. Found 1 fetus outside of canyon. Probably ate one earlier and took the other.

I finally got a Wyliea! I wasn't expecting them to big this impressively big-- I'd been picturing a Machimus-sized thing. Several of these perching on sticks and branches at this site along the Bursum Rd 1.7 mi E of the bridge in Mogollon. There were also Proctacanthus, Machimus, and Laphria engelhardti out flying. And Tragidion (another Pepsis mimic!) The Wyliea were rather wary and strong fliers. Specimen in collection. TAM_1463

Tentative id based on the large amount of grey underbelly, distinct transition from brown to grey, the short tail with distinctly darker tip, and the overall size (subjective, I did not get a measurement). Habitat = open spruce forest about 300 meters below treeline.

It was -5 F. Shrew was crossing the road and had to do some searching to find a soft spot where it could get back under the snow. I wonder if its extremities are red due to increased blood circulation to keep from freezing. Normal subnivean temp should be around 28 F.

Tonto N.F. - Granite Reef Rec Area

Pogonomyrmex barbatus

Nest with single entrance in soft, sandy soil. No gravel mound present.
Many workers active. Some seen retrieving dry plant parts.
Not particularly aggressive.

This is the 3rd P. barbatus colony we have found at this general location.

Sunny
TEMP: 23°C/74°F
ELEVATION: 405m/1330ft

DLQ LOC: A19145

chaparral yucca, Hesperoyucca whipplei, White Mountains, elevation 1595 m (5240 ft).

This is a recently discovered northward range extension (or maybe more accurately, remnant of range contraction) for this species at the southern edge of the Great Basin in the White Mountains. Only this single very healthy plant was found despite multiple further searches of the area. The main range of chaparral yucca is in the southern Sierra Nevada and southwestern California chaparral, into northern Baja California.

Specimen number Morefield 5818.

Uploaded from my Flickr site: https://www.flickr.com/photos/127605180@N04/

Amazing encounter watching this lizard biting snake. Snuggled up to tire after we stopped to look. (Not stuck or driven on!) Eventually all departed separately. Lizard ran down road full speed way up on its feet.

Mono County phacelia, Phacelia monoensis, Nevada, White Mountains, Pinchot Creek - Columbus Salt Marsh drainage, elevation 2626 m (8615 ft).

This rare annual species is a study in paradoxes. In a genus known for its showy purple flowers, Mono County phacelia belongs to a small group of yellow-flowered species adapted mostly to alkaline clay soils.

This species is found only along and near both sides of the California-Nevada boundary in the southwestern Great Basin, and is limited to isolated patches of shrink-swell clay soils derived from andesitic volcanic deposits at middle elevations in the mountains.

But paradoxically, most populations are found where these deposits have been bisected and disturbed by mining roads and other dirt tracks. Plants have been found in low densities on undisturbed clay deposits, but populations are generally densest on clay road banks that experience infrequent re-disturbance. It's even possible that seeds are dispersed between clay deposits by riding on muddy vehicle tires.

But even so, the plants do not spread outside their preferred set of soil patches, and remain rare and vulnerable to more intensive or frequent disturbance, including road maintenance and mining exploration and development activities.

Uploaded from my Flickr site: https://www.flickr.com/photos/127605180@N04/