Portrait of a hummingbird and bonus blog

Photo by Marty Horowitz 8/20/2016

Marty captured this beautiful male Costa's Hummingbird on a(nother) work of art at his home. In the bird world, if there's a difference in appearance between the sexes, the males are the more colorful and prettier.

And thanks to Jean H. for sending Greg Joder's blog. He doesn't always write about Sabino Canyon, but he has a post about a recent rescue there that you'll want to check out.

Butterflies!

Photos by Marty Horowitz 8/20/2016

Empress Leilia - yes, both males and females are called "Empress" : -) 

Cloudless Sulfur 

As you know, in the insect world, (All together now!) adults have wings. Adult insects don't generally live very long; some don't even eat. Their sole objective is reproduction. 

Tort Report

Phil Bentley sent in these great photos of a Sonoran Desert Tortoise (8/17/2016)! What a beauty!

Photos © Phil Bentley 8/17/2016

Notes copyright Thomas C. Brennan, from the website Reptiles and Amphibians of Arizona.

BEHAVIOR: Primarily diurnal and crepuscular but occasionally active into the night. The Sonoran Desert Tortoise is entirely terrestrial. It shelters and hibernates in self constructed burrows that are often excavated under large rocks. It uses its strong, paddle-like forelimbs to dig. Also shelters in naturally occurring cavities under rocks or in the banks of washes. When threatened it pulls the body and head into the shell and covers the opening with its thick, armored forelimbs.

DIET: This herbivore feeds on grasses, herbs, cacti, tree shoots, and other plant material.

REPRODUCTION: This tortoise mates from June through early August and lays a single clutch of up to 12 eggs the following June or July [emphasis Anne's]. The eggs are usually buried inside the burrow.

PROTECTED throughout Arizona
It is against Arizona State law to harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect this animal in any part of the state. It is also illegal to attempt to engage in any such conduct.

I've blogged about this before, but it bears repeating: Sonoran Desert Tortoises retain water needed for survival in their bladder. They'll pee if picked up or otherwise harassed. Unless they can tank up immediately (unlikely most of the time), they'll die. Continue to educate others about this!

Moon Shot

Photo by Marty Horowitz 8/20/2016

You'll want to click on this photo for a closer look at cracks and craters.
And check out Google Moon for photos of all the Apollo landing sites!

Dare to compare!

One of the many highlights of the 8/17/2016 Mount Lemmon walk with Ned and Friends of Ned was seeing this very young Greater Short-horned Lizard taking a walk on the wild side!

Photo by Ned Harris 8/17/2016, hand by highly trained naturalist

Greater Short-horned Lizard

These lizards are found at higher elevations and are born alive. This one was born in the spring.
Previous post on this lizard by Mark Hengesbaugh


The Regal Horned Lizard is in the same family, is found in Sabino Canyon (and elsewhere). The females (of course) lay eggs.

Photo by Ned Harris 4/13/2011, hand by trained naturalist

 Regal Horned Lizard 

One needs a special license in order to handle these (or any) lizards, so don't try this at home.

Now for some fruits!

As readers of this blog know, I am wont to write (and say): "The fruit is the thing with the seed(s)." Today's photos (by the always amazing Ned Harris) show fruits of widely varying types.

Photos by Ned Harris 8/17/2016

Buckbrush (Ceanothus fendleri) (155) fruits are (more or less) triangular red berries. Flowers were present on this plant at the same time. They're the tiny white things you see in clusters.

Yellow salsify (Tragopogon dubius) (55) fruits look like dandelion fruits. Indeed, these plants are in the same family (Aster). If you are able, take a closer look at the fruits. The seed is the dark thin part at the base of the "parachute." These seeds are wind dispersed, of course; the parachute allows each seed to drift away from the parent plant and is as dainty and as beautiful as a spider web.

DYA

There are asters (in the Aster aka Sunflower family) galore on Mount Lemmon, too! Many of which are - you guessed it - yellow. Two of these darn-yellow-asters are compared below.

Photos by Ned Harris 8/17/2016

For the DYAs, the leaves, bloom time, and elevation are (often) important in distinguishing species. Using Frank's book, I was able to do so and to determined that this flower is a Western sneezeweed (Hymenoxys hoopesii) (36).

Cutleaf coneflower (Rudbeckia laciniata) (44) blooms at the same general time and elevation as Western sneezeweed. In fact, we saw them in some of the same locations (although the Western sneezeweed is more abundant).

Head to Mount Lemmon for more bloomin' asters!