My Tucson Desert

I got a new Canon digital Rebel XSi this past fall, and have only found the time to experiment with it this past spring. I captured some incredible images as seen above a horny toad that sat on the edge of a large black ant colony. He blends in so well with the surroundings, in fact, James is such an ant lover, he walked over and surprisingly discovered him. I made the run all the way home to get the camera and when I got back, the little stinker (3" long) stayed still long enough to get some great shots. However, capturing him snarfing down the ants that came his way is another story. I got the timing right, but had the wrong aperture setting....blurrrryy pics!

This past spring has been the first real desert bloom we have witnessed. Above is an Ocatillo bloom, which can be incredible against the blue sky back drop. Most of the Ocatillo's in our back yard desert reach 12 to 20 feet in height, so this pic was taken from afar...The only insect I have witnessed on this cactus plant is a robber fly, which sit and wait for their prey to fly by so they can catch it in mid air, similar to catching a football if you were thrown a pass. I have thousands of these pics...just wish I had the time to blog them all...that is all for now, I will be blogging some new artworks this week...I'm excited!! Been too long.