Natural History Wanderings

DesertUSA reports

Stopped at several sites on the way to Los Angeles this weekend (3/11, 3/12), and the desert was green from Phoenix to Palm Springs.

For those wondering about Western Arizona, I have the following updates:

First, the Eagletail Mountains are fairly dry; there are some decent sized patches of bladderpod mustard for photography at a distance of 10 miles or so, but many of these have unavoidable wires or structures in the shot; no owl clover was visible.

Saddle Mountain is better; very little owl clover, but fields of bladderpod mustard are to the west and a few scattered poppies and poppy patches are visible from Courthouse Road.

Gibraltar Mountains off Shea Road has some nice patches of mainly yellow cups and a little scorpionweed-one fairly large patch of yellow cups about 10 miles in; the beavertail are out and blooming nicely.

The Lightning Bolt Trail (but less so the Buckskin Trail) have scorpionweed, yellow cups and good beavertail blooms at Buckskin Mountain State Part–worth a visit if you are in the area. Between Parker and the park itself the roadsides and the desert have good blooms of the same.

See photos at: http://www.desertusa.com/wildflo/az.html#ixzz4bKu5OG8a