On the way home I spied the yucca blooming in the desert across the street from camp so I took a little break, suited up for tick and rattlesnake safety, and hoofed it down for a closer look...
[Twelve foot tall flower spike]
[New shoot, only six feet tall]
The desert is absolutely exploding from the spring rains. It has turned into miles of ground covered with gold and orange flowers dotted here and there with blue, purple, and every other color. And every so often there appear stands of these majestic white yuccas.
Gold is the theme lately. Here are photos of my two favorite birds sharing the campsite right now. I realize that the photos make them look similar. Their size, behavior and sounds are so different that they couldn't easily be mistaken for each other in real life.
[My favorite bird to watch]
[Calmer, quieter, and beautiful to see]
If you're a north american bird fancier with an iPhone, you really owe it to yourself to get the iBird Explorer app. It contains lots of birds, searchable by location, habitat, shape, size, color, flight pattern, and more. You can the see range maps and photos, listen to calls, and read good information on how to identify the bird in question. There's lots of information on each bird and a built-in browser that displays the wikipedia entry. Once you're sure of the identity and have read up on the bird, you can enter your own field notes.
All-in-all, it's a bird watcher's dream come true. I'd go so far as to recommend getting an iPod Touch on eBay just for this one app. The interactive search makes it better than any bird book you'll ever find, and far easier to carry.
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