American Holiday 2007

[ranunculus]

...Well, we are back... from three weeks of continuous glorious sunshine, brilliant blue skies and a baking wind-assisted heat wave that blew through Las Vegas at the end of the holiday.  Please don't growl under your breath...there was a major downside to all this opulent warmth and azure skies, the majority of flowers were frightened to show their pretty little faces....even the deserts were seemingly bereft of bloom. We DID find a number of species on our travels across Utah, Arizona, Nevada and California and we DID capture these isolated specimens on our memory cards, but it has been a very, very dry spring and early summer in these western States and the pickings were much more lean than we had hoped.
We began our trip in majestic Zion National Park (after flying into Vegas from Manchester), were privileged indeed to see the incredible beauty of Bryce Canyon and Cedar Breaks, endured the blistering heat of Death Valley, toured the High Sierras taking in Whitney Portal, June Lakes, Mono Lake, Mammoth Lakes and the ghost town of Bodie, crossed Yosemite, reached the Pacific coast at enchanting Monterey, drooled our way down the Big Sur coastline to San Luis Obispo, headed east to Lake Arrowhead for a couple of magical nights, crossed the barren Mojave and finished our break with three nights in the city that never sleeps or runs out of water it seems (if the fountains and Venetian canals are any indication).  A truly amazing holiday that proved even more exciting than we intended (Sue certainly didn't expect to stand thirty feet away from a large black bear and I would never have volunteered to be dragged onto a Las Vegas stage to become a stooge in a performance by Cirque du Soleil)...Oh no I wouldn't Mrs Clement!
We have arrived home to tales of storms, floods and pestilence (well it is East Lancashire) and now it is my duty to post some images (2691 shots in 21 days during which we drove over 2900 miles, stayed at eight different locations and ate so well that we won the Pudsey Pig every evening).
Wildflower images, wonderful scenery and assorted abstracts will no doubt follow, but we will start with some birds and critters that crossed our paths.....please enjoy, we endured such terrible hardships to capture these meagre offerings....Oh the heat.......  

[ranunculus]

....Another couple for you enthusiasts to name please....

[mark smyth]

brilliant quality photos. What's your camera?

[Peter Maguire]

Great photos Cliff, can't wait to see the rest of the trip.

I thought I'd take up the bird identification challenge, dug out the field guides and came up with the following answers for your feathered friends:

1. and 6. Western Gull (Larus occidentalis) - adult
2. Dunlin (Calidris alpina) - in breeding plumage
3. probably Sanderling (Calidris alba) - non breeding adult in moult
4. Heerman's Gull (Larus heermanii) -adult
5. tricky one this, but possibly a juvenile California Gull (Larus californicus)
7. Western Gull (Larus occidentalis) - 1st year in foreground, 3rd year in background, they exchange the black spot on the bill for the red one in pictures 1+6 when they reach maturity at 4years old.

By the way, you could have seen the Dunlin and Sanderling in the UK without travelling all that way 

Bring on the next challenge.

Peter

[mark smyth]

Peter you are being very brave with the LBJs and the gulls

[Peter Maguire]

Someone had to stick their neck out! 

[Anthony Darby]

Got these pics sent to me, so I assume they are in the public domain? Bear-faced cheek if you ask me.

[mark smyth]

unbelievable that that rope can hold a bear

[Rob]

The first photo almost looks photoshopped, but I guess the bears back feet are holding the tree.

Rob

[mark smyth]

I thought the same about the first two images. Is Anthony playing games?

[Anthony Darby]

For the observant amongst you, you will notice that the first pic is taken from the opposite side from the rest. I suspect, if it is genuine, and there is no reason to doubt it, that the bear made several attempts, perhaps from both ends of the rope?

[Lesley Cox]

Wonderful bear shots!

Welcome home Cliff - well, your home I mean. An amazing holiday by the sound of it. Really? The Cirque du soleil? Wish I'd seen that!

[ranunculus]

Many thanks Mark, Peter and Lesley....both for the kind comments and for the identifications.  In answer to your question Mark, I have recently acquired a Nikon D80 and these are the first batch of shots taken in the field...a mixed batch of landscapes, portraits, night shots and close-ups to test the camera and it's nervous operator. I am very pleased with some of the images and less than pleased with others (though this is, I am certain, due more to the inexperience of the nervous operator than any fault of the equipment).
Anyway, some more images to test your resolve....not, I'm afraid, in any logical sequence, just as they fall from the memory cards into my out box....

Firstly...from the magnificent Monterey aquarium

Secondly...from our room on the 31st floor of Treasure Island, Las Vegas

Thirdly...the beautiful early morning mists in the San Bernadino mountains from Lake Arrowhead

Next...elephant seals basking on the beach on Big Sur

Next...Big Sur overlook

Next...island of cormorants, Big Sur


 

[ranunculus]

...And, at last, a few plants to keep the interest going...

[ranunculus]

...And a final couple for today...

jellyfish Monterey aquarium
 Beautiful Monterey.
 Tiny sand dweller Monterey.
 Shrub Monterey
 Thistle
 Polemonium2.
Polemonium These two now identified as Nama rothrockii 
 California poppy