
Mark Twain National Forest,
Missouri on the trip down. Apparently I saw something
interesting...
|

Foss Lake State Park,
Oklahoma. This is when things really started looking "weird"
|

A Great Blue Heron at Foss.
|

Danielle in New Mexico,
sitting in the Jemez River.
|

Jemez River, New Mexico
|

Chaco Canyon, New Mexico.
A view of Fajada Butte
|

This was definitely an odd
place to put the tent, but in the Southwest, these are often the only
options!
|

Anasazi ruins in Chaco Canyon
|

Looking down on Pueblo Bonito
|

Looking over the Chaco Canyon
|

Finally arrived at training
near Golden Shores, Arizona
|

Our Cowbird traps yielded a
nice Yellow-headed Blackbird.
|

We had all been at training
for only two days when we spotted this Western Diamondback Rattlesnake
|

A
Chukar and chick come to drink at the fake babbling brook in Mesquite.
|

Looking out from
the balcony of our house in Mesquite. Virgin Mountains in the
background and Wolf Creek Golf Course Community in the foreground
|

The Virgin River as seen from the Recreation Area
between St. George
and Mesquite on I15.
|

Heading south on I15 from
St. George, Utah to Mesquite, Nevada - a 40 minute drive.
|

Pahranagat National Wildlife
Refuge, our most northern study area.
|

Looking over the upper
Pahranagat Lake |

Another treat in the Cowbird
trap: a Lark Sparrow
|

My favourite
visitor to the traps, an adult male Gambel's Quail, easily my favourite
bird in the southwest |

The habitat in
Pahranagat.
Chest waders were a necessity at the beginning of the season.
|

Cholla cactus growing
south
of Tucson, Arizona. |

Another view of the "cactus garden".
|

These pictures are all
from
the same area. Just had
to pull over...
|

No trip to the
Southwest would be complete without a picture of the Saguaro cactus.
Most of the ones we saw, though, were while driving 80MPH on
the
highway.
|

Sedona, Arizona...
Too nice for just one night!
|

Wolf Creek Golf Course, home
for the summer. Something about all this water in the desert
doesn't seem right. |

The Virgin Mountains and
the
SWCA truck and ATV's as seen from our soon-to-be demolished front yard
(can't stop progress!)
|

Zion National Park, on
the
road to Kolob Reservoir.
|

Zion...
|

Camping at the Kolob
Reservoir in Zion, up past most of the trees other than Trembling Aspen.
|

Valley of Fire,
just north of Las Vegas. While its namesake is the red rock,
the
low elevation gives the name a double meaning: it is hot during the
day!
|

A natural arch in Valley
of
Fire |

The ATV drive down to
Mormon
Mesa, beautiful in the morning, scorching in the afternoon!
|

After a couple weeks in the
lowland desert, we were very happy to get up in the cool elevation
|

Another shot of the ride back.
Somehow the heat doesn't make
it through to the photo, but trust me: It was HOT!
|

A Cholla of some sort along
our ride. With 13 miles to our farthest site, there was
plenty of time for sightseeing.
|

Barrel Cactus.
There were a scattered few near our parking spot...
|

This view is right
from where we park the truck.
|

A better look at the common
Joshua Tree. |

The second four-day vacation found us going to Utah.
This is
Cedar Breaks National Monument
|

Took a hike around the rim,
with lots of great pictures to be had...
|

Another picture of the rim.
At 10,500 feet the main trees are Firs; walking
through them felt like boreal Ontario.
|

By the way, 10,500 feet is
high enough to have snow in early June. I didn't expect I'd
be making a snowball that weekend!
|

Bristlecone pine.
The oldest of this species was about 4800 years old.
This one is
not nearly that old, but still an impressive tree.
|

A montane meadow, which
looked like a good spot for a picnic lunch.
|

Bryce Canyon National Park.
Similar to Cedar Breaks but lower in elevation, bigger, and
much much busier.
|

Another view from the rim of
Bryce Canyon
|

After walking along the rim
for a couple miles, we start heading down into the canyon itself
|

Another couple miles later
and we're heading out the other side and up to where we started from.
|

Through the looking glass at Bryce
|

The view from the front porch at the Pahranagat
bunkhouse
|

Wildflowers growing off a
cliff-face near Charleston Peak
|

Charleston Peak, southwest
of Las Vegas
|

Red Rock Canyon
|

Valley of Fire
|

My "campsite" on my second
trip to Valley of Fire; just a sleeping pad on the rocks and under the
stars.
|

Valley of Fire
|

In the morning when I woke up, I noticed that I was
sleeping 10 feet
below a series of petroglyphs!
|

A Giant Sequoia tree.
Their size cannot be imagined until you stand beside one.
|

This Sequoia
had fallen,
then had been chopped up. For whatever reason, the job was
not finished.
|

A mountain skyline in
Sequoia National Monument
|

A rocky outcropping in
Sequoia. |

Interventionist
Art at its best. Some would call it graffiti or vandalism but
seeing this rendition of "Low Flying Aircraft" sure made my day!
|

My second trip to Zion
National Park
|

This time I visited the main
area; definitely the most busy, but spectacular
|

The hike up to Angel's
Landing |

A triumphant moment captured
by Mr. Tom Magarian. Actually, we had yet to climb the ridge
to my left.
|

Yet another view of the
Virgin River Gorge from Angel's Landing |

The Virgin River as seen from Zion National Parking lot |

One last view of Zion before
leaving
|

One of our better trails in
the habitat. Usually they are not this open! |
Alana and I doing veg
in
Overton |

Overton Wildlife Management
Area |

Three Willow Flycatcher
nestlings waiting to be banded at Nest 31B |

Sarah holding a nestling right before
banding. |

One of the siblings calmly
waiting its turn in the bird bag |

Me walking through the "Mud
Trail" in our Mesquite study area |

Despite being right next to a road, the Wilson Canyon transect had
really nice scenery |

Sarah and I doing veg at the
end of the year in Pahranagat, when all the water and mud is gone. |

Me taking a soil moisture
reading. It sure is nice to wear shorts to work for a change! |

Mono Lake,
another saline lake along the border of California and Nevada |

Once away from the lake, the
Pahranagat area turns to desert within a couple hundred meters |

On
my very last day I finally decided to climb one of the nearby
"mountains" at Pahranagat |

Once at the summit, I
realized I
was nearly the highest point within view. The bunkhouse was
merely a tiny green speck near the center of the photo |

Very nice WIFL habitat in
Key Pitman, and a very nice
trail! |

On my way home at the end of the
season. A storm rolls over
the Wyoming plains, with the Tetons in the background. |

At the foot of the Grand Tetons. |

A most impressive skyline |

I wish I had more time than just a
morning to spend here. |

Sunset in the
Schell Creek range near Ely |

TLast view of the Tetons as they recede into
the horizon |

Into Yellowstone National Park |

One of the famous geysers. |

Between the hot springs, geysers and
mineral deposits this was a very
surreal landscape. |

Although a beautiful park, getting a
shot without people in it was
difficult. This was the epitome of Ed Abbey's term National
Parking Lot |

The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone |

Yellowstone Falls consists
of an Upper and Lower section,
both impressive in size. |

A closer view of one of the falls. |

No camping spots were to be found
within Yellowstone so I set up just
outside the eastern edge. |

I think this backyard view was better
than any I would have had within
the park! |

The Badlands of South Dakota |

I stopped here for a brief hour-long
visit, having time for no more on
my rushed trip home. |