Filed under: animals, dogs, food, insects, life | Tags: animals, border collies, dogs, food, insects, life, mutts, photography
so life has been happening. lots and lots of life. good and bad; mostly good.
but i’m back. i will say…there has been alot of eating, visits to the vet and frantic life happening in the last few months.
the best breakfast ever was discovered:
hash browns on green chili sauce with a chili relleno breakfast burrito. (i could only eat half)
insects are still being found:
and while cody bear had a bit of roughness in the past year, he’s back and better than ever:
ever playful, ever loving.
and his faithful sidekick is still doing great and making us all happy:
what a sweet baby pickles!
Filed under: bees, hiking, insects, nature, photography | Tags: animals, bees, damselflies, hiking, insects, nature, photography, toads, wildlife
sunday afternoon the sky started getting moody and i started feeling desperate. “i need more bug photos for my upcoming show.”
braving the elements, (rain and thunder….not too frightening) i headed east to my favorite dragonfly hotbed.
first of all, it must be said, my new hiking boots are totally comfy and i’m so glad i didn’t let anyone talk me into returning them.
and yes, my feet ARE totally adorable when they’re…in shoes. moving on….
’twas a brilliant day. the light was diffused with clouds and the roll of thunder kept going on and on and on. (like a moody blues tune, only you actually like that it’s not stopping)
big surprise of the day? tiny toadkins. these little toads were hopping all over when i climbed down to the pond bed. and also, these little toadkins are why i smelled like dead fish for a wee bit.
but, how cute? they were worth it.
you’re wondering,….”how tiny IS that tiny toad?” well, he’s about the size of watch battery. maybe smaller. maybe the size of a micro sd card?
now, regarding the upper body strength….
damselflies.
they have some staggering upper body strength. …no?
sadly, the last visitor reminds me about how i’ve lost my bee friends.
agapostemon.
i miss my agapostemons.
eh. nice critters out there.
afterwards i hopped back in the honda. listened to van morrison, ray lamontagne, and…what?…mazzy star. ’twas a good day.
Filed under: animals, insects, life, nature, photography | Tags: animals, beers, cicada, insects, life, meteor shower, nature, photography
thursdays are good nights to sneak beers into a movie, grab a burrito afterwards, then head out of town to find a dark patch to view a meteor shower. don’t you think thursdays are good for that?
fridays are good for catching up on work before the weekend, then sneaking out to take photos of cicada leave offs. their sheddings are stuck to our building and trees.
these cicadas will not shut up. it only bothers me on the really hot days.
every now and then a thrasher will catch one and fly around with it in it’s beak. they sound REALLY pissed off when that happens. the birds love it and seem to fly laps around the property.
tomorrow is saturday. saturdays are good days to sleep in late, cuddling with dogs and do whatever….
Filed under: animals, beetles, insects, nature, photography, wildlife | Tags: animals, beetles, insects, long horned cactus beetles mating, nature, photography, wildlife
so, yeah, i like photographing insects. you all know that. but those who know me very well know i like …um….catching them in the act!
and it just turns out that my yard is a hot bed for insect sex.
you can’t turn around without seeing long horned cactus beetles hooking up. they make rabbits look like prudes.
in this photo, the one on the bottom is EATING during copulation! (oh no she dih-unt!? oh yes she did!) aren’t you guys glad i didn’t use a macro lens???? can’t you just HEAR john mayer singing his creepy song “your body is a wonderland?” (ew….i just grossed myself out. creepy guy. creepy song.)
here you have a lonely beetle.
don’t worry little one…stick around long enough, someone is bound to find you.
for more photos i have taken of insects in flagrante, visit here and here.
Filed under: animals, beetles, insects, nature | Tags: animals, insects, nature, palo verde beetle, photography, wildlife
and so goodbear came back from a very exciting movie and was feeling a bit like a femme super hero.
first order of business upon my return? let the dogs out. let the dogs in. glance at wall by door as letting dogs in…and BOOM!
WTF????
look at her! she’s HUGE!
and she’s trying to get into my bedroom window! back off beetle chic!
she’s gone now. i used my crazy super powers and my magical canon flash to intimidate her and make her fly away in an outrage!
Filed under: animals, dogs, friends, life, puppies | Tags: animals, dogs, friends, insects, life, puppies, summer
ok, let’s just get THIS out of the way:
there. it is a puppy butt. i KNOW you all like puppy butts. i don’t have anything to say on the matter, but i knew you were over due in the puppy bunnage.
ok, moving on….
summer is in full swing….you see, because i went to a baseball game. full swing?
i had a great time with friends, but i must say: i really do not like baseball. it goes on forever and there is no net to throw/kick/whack things into. there were, however, some greatly entertaining drunk scientists and a hardy sampling of flying insects:
i have to admit, i drank way to much beer/tequila/wine during the days buzzy and r. were here. life is normal again.
hopefully the summer will continue to go well. dog photography is going great guns! who’d-ah thought!?
i am planning:
1. a trip to the pacific northwest. (need money to finalize plans)
2. turning 40!
3. going to the forest to find more bugs
4. more macro photography
5. movies with friends
6. running/hiking/biking
7. a couple day trips with friends to cooler temps
8. dog photo shoots
9. some golf (hopefully!)
10. weekly yoga (empowering and humiliating at the same time!)
11. and hopefully straightening out some life shit.
what are YOUR summer plans? travel? company? new starts?
Filed under: animals, friends, insects, nature, photography, wildlife | Tags: animals, friends, insects, long horned beetle, nature, photography, poppies, wildlife
buzzy and r have come and gone, leaving two depressed dogs and one very restless goodbear. we had so much fun and now i need to find something to keep me busy.
now, keep in mind….our fun isn’t everyone’s fun. for instance, friday night we went out to the forest and set up camp with a bright light on a generator to try to get as many weird insects as possible to join our bbq.
just like old times. this long horned beetle was a show stopper:
on the menu: brats, garden burgers, beefburgers, pasta salad, chips and salsa and guacamole, sw bean salad, and r made a cake over the campfire! all t he salads and dips were home made. oh, and there were beers, also. (duh! of course there were beers!)
it was a beautiful night with some great scientists, some amazing photographers and one bad ass cop. oh, and me.
prickly poppy/aka cowboys eggs
Filed under: animals, friends, insects, life | Tags: animals, friends, insects, life
well, buzzybeegirl and her husband are back in town. they’re staying here so i haven’t blogged much.
i’ve had to work, so they’ve done some mini adventures without me. museums, wildlife zoo stuff, caverns and other landmarks. last night we all went to a baseball game and ate junk food and drank beers.
today i am taking the day off. we’re about to leave for breakfast, then the photography museum. after that…preparations for our night in the forest and insect photography! we have a big group going to the desert forest to look at insect life after dark.
then tomorrow night, a party/bbq here. sunday…world cup finals!!!
Filed under: flowers, hiking, insects, life, nature, photography, plants, wildlife | Tags: flowers, hiking, insects, life, nature, photography, tucson, wildlife
and so it came to pass…abacus and i fancied a hike in the catalinas.
we arrived at the trail head to see this:
a harbinger of pain? how tough was this hike going to be?
not too bad, actually! it was hot, but i think we sort of kicked ass! it was full sun, but we made good time.
now, i need to say, my hopes for nature viewing were low, but we were treated with views of ravens and a hunting red tail. also, scads of funnel spiders had set up shop:
one knoll was plastered with these. i like the funnel spiders. they’re efficient eaters…and their bodies remind me of sugar smacks!
we also had some lovely flora…
whatcha got right there is the Mirabilis linearis – Narrowleaf Four O’Clock.
the climb was steep so i noticed the plant life on the way up: moving slowly and all. on the way down, only critters caught my eye.
here is a punk ass grasshopper who i followed for a great while he would only turn his back to me.
grasshoppers are the biggest teases in sonoran nature. they know you want to take their picture…they leave, but they stay close enough for you to follow.
how high were we? this high:
we also saw the dainty sulfur and the claret cup hedgehog:
we were back down town by 11:15 for beers and clams at bob dobb’s!
my computer has a bug….
literally….
i was watching netflix on the laptop while working on the pc. turn my head and saw that little plant bug. cute, right.?
cody bear's friends 