Desert Treasures

Get out of your car, and take a closer look at the desert and you'll be amazed and inspired by the life here.  Each plant is a triumph of life's persistence and adaptability.  Lizards, snakes, tortoises, moths, butterflies, beetles, kangaroo rats, shrews, raptors, vultures, owls, bobcats, bighorn sheep.  I wish I could spy them all, but mother nature does not make it easy.  Even in the heat of the day, though, all of the telltale signs are there -- tracks in the sand, burrows big and small, the withering remains of a spring bloom, scat, and owl pellets.

A great blog that captures the beauty and elusiveness of some of the desert's majesty is The Rare Plant Treasure Hunt.  Check it out for some great photos and adventures!


This photo by Amber Swanson at The Rare Plant Treasure Hunt blog shows a bear poppy (Arctomecon merriamii) in the eastern Mojave Desert. What a beauty, and its scarcity must have made it all the more joyous to stumble upon!

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