Coyote bush with fluff flying

While walking a path through the wetlands of California’s Martinez Regional Shoreline on November 2nd of last year I saw this bush and even from a distance I figured I was looking at some sort of Baccharis. It turned out to be Baccharis pilularis, known as coyote bush, chaparral broom, and bush baccharis.

I’ve never neglected Austin’s species of this genus, Baccharis neglecta, as you can confirm by scrolling down the posts at this link.

© 2017 Steven Schwartzman

Corrugated redwood tree

Look at this strangely corrugated trunk of a California redwood tree (Sequoia sempervirens) that I saw on October 31 of last year in Big Basin Redwoods State Park.

© 2017 Steven Schwartzman

Arizona sycamore

While visiting Montezuma Castle on October 18th last year I learned that there’s such a thing as an Arizona sycamore tree, Platanus wrightii. Like the better-known American sycamore, Platanus occidentalis, this one has bark that peels to reveal trunk and branches that shine white in the light of the sun, especially from a distance. A closer look, like the one below, reveals patterns and details.

Click to enlarge.

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I’m still halfway around the world. You’re welcome to comment but I may be slow to reply. I’m sorry I also haven’t been able to keep up with your blogs.

© 2017 Steven Schwartzman

From the cliffs of Montezuma

Let’s get two things straight about Montezuma Castle: Montezuma, the Aztec emperor, had nothing to do with it, and it’s not a castle. No, this cliff in northern Arizona shelters the 600-year-old remains of a cliff dwelling created by a people called the Sinagua. And let’s get a third thing straight: that wasn’t their name. No, Sinagua was a name created in 1939 from the Spanish words sin ‘without’ and agua ‘water,’ based on the scarcity of flowing water in the region.

The prominent plants in the foreground are four-wing saltbushes, Atriplex canescens. Here’s a closer look at some saltbushes bordering the parking lot:

If you want an even closer look, you can check out a post about our 2014 trip to the Southwest.

© 2017 Steven Schwartzman

Another look at the Grand Canyon

Here’s a look back from October 19th of last year at trees on the rim of the Grand Canyon. In harsh climates, dead limbs often adjoin living ones.

© 2017 Steven Schwartzman

Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park landscape with clouds

Southern Utah; October 23, 2016.

© 2017 Steven Schwartzman

Lichen like a planet

Nevada’s Valley of Fire State Park on October 24, 2016.

© 2017 Steven Schwartzman

Clouds hanging low

Look how the clouds hung low over the mountains at the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area outside Las Vegas on October 25, 2016.

© 2017 Steven Schwartzman

Another look at rock formations in Sedona

I’m traveling far from home for a month or so, during which time there’ll understandably be only sporadic posts. You’re welcome to comment but it might take me a while to reply.

Here’s a look back at some of the famous red rocks of Sedona (Arizona) as we saw them on October 20th last year.

© 2017 Steven Schwartzman

Snowy egret

At California’s Martinez Regional Shoreline last November 2nd I got low and slowly worked my way closer and closer to the bird shown here. Later, profiting from a site that tells how to distinguish white herons, I identified my subject as a snowy egret, Egretta thula.

© 2017 Steven Schwartzman