At least for one of them. This is a Common King Snake attacking what I think is a Western Shovel-Nosed Snake. It might be a Sonoran Coralsnake. This was really something to see. They were still battling when it got dark, but clearly the much larger King Snake was winning. It will be interesting to see if there is any sign of them in the morning.
I had been wanting to explore along the Verde River, and choose tonight to venture into the thick brush because it was cool, and I didn’t think I would have to worry about any snakes – so much for that thinking!
I thought Camelback Mountain made a nice backdrop to the 9th hole at the Canyon Course at the Phoenician is Scottsdale, Arizona.
Here are more Scottsdale, Arizona photos
Canyon Golf Course at The Phoenician, Scottsdale, Arizona.
My time in the Phoenix area wouldn’t be complete without some coverage of the resorts in the area – resorts like these, along with the weather are really why most people visit this area. I gotta say this is a pretty easy place to photograph! I didn’t get scratched by a single cactus, or even bitten by any bugs, although I do seem a little more at home getting bitten and scratched out in the desert somewhere.
Here are more Scottsdale photos.
Sunridge Canyon Golf Course, Fountain Hills, Arizona.
I don’t play golf, but secretly, I have always wanted to drive one of those electric golf carts. 
Here are more Fountain Hills photos.
2008 NOVA National Stage Mountain Bike Race, McDowell Competitive Track, Arizona.
Our favorite mountain biking / running trails looked more like a NASCAR race this past weekend with trailers and booths for all the major mountain bike race teams. You see, this was second location in a series of six that will help determine who represents the U.S. in the Olympics. In other-words, as it was explained to me, these are some of the best riders in the world.
I didn’t know about these races before we arrived here, but it turned out to be a fun photo opportunity! These are the pro men competing on the final event of Sunday – a 30 mile cross-country race.
Here are more mountain biking photos.
The leaves and colors of this plant caught my eye, I though they made a cool pattern.
A visitor enjoying artwork Thursday night while taking part of the Scottsdale Art Walk, Scottsdale, Arizona.
The Art Walk is held on Thursdays from 7 to 9 pm in the Downtown Scottsdale Art District. Scottsdale is home to over 100 art galleries, and the Art Walk has been a tradition for over 30 years.
Here is our gallery of Scottsdale photos.
Fountain Hills, Arizona.
This was a colorful cluster of wildflowers. The desert globe mallow (orange flowers) were just starting to bloom. The brittlebush (yellow) and the chuparosa (red) flowers were sure looking great! This was shortly before sunrise.
Before the wildflowers fade and are gone – which won’t be long, I have been playing around with some close-ups. This is brittle-bush with owl’s-clover in the background.
Here are more flower photos.
Pink-Flower Hedgehog Cactus.
As the wildflowers start to fade, the cactus flower begin to bloom!
Here is our gallery of Sonoran Desert photos.
This is the new Southbridge area of the Scottsdale Waterfront, Arizona.
There is a reason I live over a hundred miles from the nearest stop light – I don’t have much patience for traffic! This is one aspect I dread when it comes time to city photography. I try to remind myself that all the people around me sitting in their little artificial automobile environments put up with traffic delays all year around, surely I can do it for one day. That reasoning doesn’t usually help for long. So here is my solution. [click to continue…]
I figured I can’t photograph the Phoenix area in spring and not include spring training baseball!
Here are Seattle Mariners signing autographs before a game with San Diego. The two teams share a facility in Peoria. It is pretty cool seeing some of the players taking the time to sign so many autographs for the kids at the ballpark.
Desert Tortoise.
I was thrilled to finally see a wild desert tortoise last weekend. On top of being a threaten species, these tortoise spend more then 95% below ground in burrows. That combination makes them a rare sight.
I spotted one while mountain biking last weekend, but by the time I returned to my vehicle and grabbed my camera, I was unable to find her. I have looked for her everyday since then – how far can a tortoise go! I finally spotted her again yesterday while doing some more mountain biking photos. This time I had my camera - what a treat!
Saguaro Lake, Tonto National Forest, Arizona.
Always seems strange to see lakes in such a dry environment.
The normal high here this time of year is 77 degrees – this week it has been pushing records highs, with temperatures in the upper 80′s. Unfortunately it is really cooking the wildflowers. I have been concentrating entirely on scenics with flowers - the travel, city, recreation and wildlife stuff can wait until the wildflowers are gone, which may not be long.
We have traveled all the way to Globe, and I must say the best wildflowers in the Phoenix area are in McDowell Mountain Regional Park, and out at Saguaro Lake. Granted, there are a lot of areas left for us to explore, I’m sure there are other jewels, but you can’t go wrong with these two locations.
I love the rich colors and textures in the landscape right now. This photo is from McDowell. I hope to post a photo from Saguaro Lake tomorrow.
Check out our Phoenix Photos.
Mountain biking on the Competitive Trails in McDowell Mountain Regional Park, near Phoenix, Arizona.
I have tried shooting from my bike while using a slow shutter speed before, with poor results. I think having the trail lined with bright, colorful poppies really helped this attempt. These trails are really fun!
Here are more mountain biking photos.
More McDowell wildflowers. The bright colors in some of the hills are amazing for the desert.
Chuparosa or Hummingbird-Bush with a Saguaro Cactus, in McDowell Mountain Regional Park, near Phoenix, Arizona.
We had an exciting experience today – saw a Desert Tortoise while mountain biking! The Desert Tortoise spends 95% of its life in a burrow, so it is really exciting to see one. I rode back to my truck and grabbed my camera, but much to my surprise, we were unable to find it again! How can a turtle disappear so fast – I guess that is how it beat the hare. So unfortunately, you get a picture of wildflowers today instead of a tortoise – maybe we will find him tomorrow.
Wildflowers at McDowell Mountain Regional Park, not far from Phoenix, Arizona.
Petal peepers in the Phoenix area won’t be disappointed in this years wildflowers! We were here last year – wow, this looks like an entirely different place! All the green plant life alone is a shocker. There are a wide variety of flowers colorful flowers to be found, a real treat!
The bright colored flowers in the foreground are Purple Owl’s Clover. In the mid-ground is a great patch of poppies, unfortunately they closed up before sunset. You can see the Four Peaks off in the distance, and way off in the distance is a near full moon.
This was another time that a graduated neutral density filter came in handy!
We now have a section of McDowell Mountain Regional Park photos.
The is from the West District of Saguaro National Park, Arizona.
The wildflowers are looking great here right now! Lots of Brittlebush, Lupine and many other wildflowers. I have never seen this National Park with wildflowers – what a treat!
The West District is further along then the East District right now, but the East side looks really nice as well. One of the best areas is between the Desert Museum and the Visitor Center. This photo was captured near the top of one of the hills in the area. Once I found this composition, we sat and waited about an hour and a half for last light – what a great place to sit and watch.
Saguaro National Park, Tucson, Arizona.
There are two Saguaro National Parks, Saguaro West and Saguaro East, the East is also known as the Rincon Mountain District. The two are not very close together, they are on opposite sides of Tucson – I will let you guess the direction . This photo is from the East District. I hear the West has better wildflowers right now, I’m going to check it out tomorrow. Gotta say, the East had way more color then I have even seen in my few visits – it was looking great.
It will be nice to have more Saguaro National Park photos.
by Ron on December 19, 2007
Route 66, Arizona.
Even historic Route 66 looks better with wildflowers!
It is hard to believe this little road was once the main East / West highway to California. I explored long sketches of the road through California and Arizona in 2005, and in many places you would rarely see another car. It was kind of fun to try to imagine what this road was like back in its hay day. It had to be some adventure crossing this country, especially in the summer.
Here are more Route 66 photos.
by Ron on December 10, 2007
Poppies in the Arizona Mojave Desert.
Another storm just past through the desert Southwest dumping even more rain! The Phoenix area received an additional inch of rain this past weekend, with even more forecasted for today and tomorrow, this really could be good news for wildflowers in Arizona this spring. Palm Springs also received .6 of an inch of rain. Unfortunately the rain largely missed Anza-Borrego, they officially received .02 of an inch.
by Ron on September 22, 2007
I thought I would share our most recent cover – this just arrived in the mail. Not only is it fun to have a cover, but this Explorer’s Guide to Arizona looks like a great guide – it could come in very handy this winter. We are planning to spend some time in this warm state this winter.
I thought I would continue the cover theme for a couple more days since we have a nice batch of new ones. This is a photo from Organ Pipe National Monument in Arizona during the amazing spring bloom two years ago. This looks really appealing to me right now – in Alaska we currently have mostly dirty snow and leafless trees. Alaska makes a drastic transition in the next couple of months.
