the Bull Pup model rocket heads skyward at the Ken’s Lake Proving Ground this morning on an Aerotech F20-7W engine. It’s a very menacing scale replica of a short-range air-to-ground missile used by the US Navy during the 1960s and 1970s, but without the ordinance onboard, of course.
Maintaining a nearby nest...
keeps this flycatcher busy and it is now being frequently observed around the house.
Western Kingbird (Tyrannus verticalis).
A face that only a mother could love...
but they sure are dee-licious. Credit goes to the first person who thought to put this thing in their mouth.
Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo).
Paying a social visit...
around the feeding stations on occasion, this large flycatcher is caught relaxing in a cottonwood.
Western Kingbird (Tyrannus verticalis).
Big and bright and beautiful bunches...
of sunflowers are spotting the landscape in Castle Valley National Park, massive natural bouquets of gorgeousness dotting the rusty terrain.
Rough mule’s ears (Wyethia scabra).
You can dress them up...
but you can’t take them out without teaching them some table manners. Chew your food with your mouth closed and use a napkin to be polite.
Lazuli Bunting (Passerina amoena).
A deep diving pollinator...
inside a prickly pear cactus blossom. Macro photography takes one into amazing micro worlds.
Prickly pear cactus (genus Opuntia).
Within 24 hours of pollination, the prickly pear blossom turns reddish-pink.
Dispersing across the continent...
in less than 40 years, this prolific dove is a common occupier of the feeding stations, here and nearly everywhere.
Eurasian Collared-Dove (Streptopelia decaocto).
Busy bees harvesting pollen...
from opening globemallow blossoms. I’ll have to go prospecting for the entrances to their underground hives, given away by their tiny sedimentary turrets.
Desert globemallow (Sphaeralcea ambigua). The fully open blossoms are about 15 mm wide.
Fully loaded mallow bee with a large pollen pellet on its hind legs, weighing up to 30% of the bee’s weight.
Hiding in the filtered shade...
of rabbitbrush.
Lazuli Bunting (Passerina amoena).
A bouquet of cactus blossoms...
for Mother’s Day.
Whipple's fishhook cactus (Sclerocactus whipplei).
An early morning start...
on a once-weekly ritual commences from Lions Park, then a six mile (10 km) uphill climb on the Moab Canyon Pathway to the Moab Brands trail network where one can play on the singletrack until near exhaustion, then a nice and long downhill return.
Pedestrian/bicycle bridge across the Colorado River on the Moab Canyon Pathway.
A GPS radio tracker is tucked away...
in the payload bay of my high power model rockets that allows for accurate flight telemetry in real time, and also assists in locating the rocket after touchdown by transmitting its location. Today’s first test flight with the device went exceptionally well and provided a wealth of interesting flight data.
The Arreaux at liftoff on an Aerotech F20-7W engine, soaring to an apogee of 936 feet (285 meters).
The Featherweight GPS radio tracker mounted on a sled inside the payload bay. A small LiPo battery is secured beneath the circuit board and will not budge under high G forces at liftoff.
GPS track of flight at the Round Mountain Proving Ground rendered on Google Earth. L = launch site, A = apogee, and T = touchdown point.
Distance between launch and touchdown points is about 100 yards/meters.
The archetypical Hollywood Western sky...
paints a postcard picture today, so here it is for all to enjoy. They really should consider making movies out here.
Bird on a wire...
at one of the feeders. One can’t help but photograph these gorgeous finch-like birds.
Lazuli Bunting (Passerina amoena).
A nonvenomous striped whipsnake...
slithering through the buffalo grass, likely driven from its burrow by an intense rainstorm this afternoon.
Striped whipsnake (Masticophis taeniatus).
Hanging on during buffeting winds...
this tiny hummer rode the bucking rabbitbrush like a pro.
Black-chinned Hummingbird (Archilochus alexandri).
This massive sunflower...
tracks the movement of the Sun across the sky throughout the day, a response that occurs in some plants known as heliotropism, and here it is at about 2:00 pm MDT.
Rough mule’s ears (Wyethia scabra).
Bright breeding plumage...
provides frequent flashes of color at the feeding stations these days. Here are a couple of the showiest.
Lazuli Bunting (Passerina amoena).
House Finch (Haemorhous mexicanus).
The state flower of Utah...
is blossoming right now and putting on a lovely show in the high desert.
Sego lily (Calochortus nuttallii).