in nearby Stearns Creek drainage. Here’s a wide panorama looking south:
Mars on Earth! Click on image to enlarge.
Annotated panorama. Left side is towards the east; Right side is towards southwest.
Snake in the Mouth...
petroglyph panel is about two meters square, and likely depicts a snake dance ceremony.
Note the use of (faded) blue pigment on the eyes, on the snake in the mouth, and on the collar on the snake on the left.
Nearly ready to bloom...
Narrowleaf yucca (Yucca angustissima).
Intestine Man...
is an amazing and extraordinarily anatomically detailed pictograph located north of Moab. The panel shown below is about two meters wide and shows three anthropomorphic figures on the left and six birds laid out on the right.
This image was taken when the panel was fully shaded from the sun, and the brightness and contrast adjusted so that the details can be seen more easily. (Click on the image to enlarge.)
Nearby petroglyphs on a desert varnished sandstone surface.
Bighorn sheep petroglyphs.
A natural sandstone billboard...
sits beneath Convent Mesa, on the far right, in the image immediately below. Three of the four sides of the nearly cubic block are adorned with dozens of petroglyphs, two of which are included here, each about 30 cm across.
Early local explorer Mat A. Martin inscribed his name on the deeply shadowed eastern side of the block. Width of view is about 1.5 meters.
Three in the heronry...
this morning, with what I believe are two males vying for the attention of a single female. I’ll be watching and shooting in the weeks to come!
Bold daylight raiding rodent...
at the feeding station this afternoon. I’m positive it can fit more seed in its cheeks!
A well fed rock squirrel (Otospermophilus variegatus).
This lowly darkling beetle...
is just one of an estimated 20,000 species belonging to the family Tenebrionidae.
Darkling beetle approximately 2 cm long.
Fiber is coming soon...
to the Castle Valley community and I eagerly welcome it to my digital diet way out here in the middle of gorgeous nowhere.
Exactly one year ago today...
the Great Blue Herons returned to their rookery on the Colorado River. Guess who showed up today?
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias).
Bonus picture: Western Scrub-Jay (Aphelocoma californica).
Double bonus pic: Spotted Towhee (Pipilo maculatus).
Do you have any idea how difficult it is to get all the birds to pose calmly and look in the same direction?!
Two high desert shrubs...
join the spring bloom along the Colorado River.
Fendlerbush (Fendlera rupicola).
Fremont’s Mahonia (Mahonia fremontii) is also wonderfully aromatic.
Early morning reconnaissance flight...
by two Canada Geese above the Colorado River.
Canada Geese (Branta canadensis).
A pile of local history...
is marked by this heap of aspen wood waste, all that remains from a shingle splitting operation that existed on this site. The locals in Castle Valley refer to the nearby irrigation pond as the Quakie Shake pond in recognition of this little bit of history.
More feathered visitors...
around the feeding stations this morning as additional species discover the horn of plenty at my place.
American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis).
Eurasian Collared-Dove (Streptopelia decaocto).
House Sparrow (Passer domesticus).
Time for a bath...
for this White-Crowned Sparrow. Be sure to get under those arms, er, wings.
Montana is supposed to be...
“Big Sky Country” but I beg to differ this evening as sunset approaches.
Vibrance returns to the high desert...
as the spring bloom commences in southern Utah.
Macro image of Indian paintbrush (genus Castilleja).
Newberry’s twinpod (Physaria newberryi).
The Milky Way is back...
this season and here are several compositions that I shot on a nocturnal mission between 1 to 4:30 am in Castle Valley, Utah. Never waste a new moon!
These are all 20 sec images at 3200 ISO, tripod-mounted Canon 6D with 14mm Rokinon lens. I used a small LED panel to illuminate the foreground subjects. Some light post-processing consisting of adjusting brightness and contrast, and some cropping.
Volunteer bucket brigade...
of about 10 community members, all hauling water to help establish an experimental planting of sand dropseed grass in the upper part of Castle Valley, Utah. The purpose of the project, in cooperation with the Bureau of Land Management, is to attempt to establish a fire-resistant native grass that spreads prolifically on dry and disturbed soils.
Nearly 500 plugs of sand dropseed grass were planted last autumn, in equal numbers within an enclosure and outside the enclosure in order to assess the grazing impact on the immature plants.
This project was enabled by the Castle Valley Fire Department which provided a small tanker to bring the water to the site.
A sure sign of spring...
are the Western Meadowlarks belting out their lovely song, from high in the tree tops, while establishing and maintaining their territories.
Adult male Western Meadowlark (Sturnella neglecta).