field notes from 02/08/23

Death Valley, early spring

· Death Valley National Park, California · Clear, 62°F at dawn to 84°F by afternoon · Fujifilm X-T5, 150-600mm

Drove down from Reno. It wasn’t a superbloom year but the wildflowers along the badwater road were still good — desert gold, phacelia, purple mat. I split attention between flowers in the morning and birding in the shaded canyons after lunch. A Great Horned Owl on a palm frond at Furnace Creek right at sunset was the highlight, even if the light was brutal.

Heat by 11 a.m. was real. Back in the car and running the AC while I ate lunch and thought about being more organized next time.

Great horned owl in palm
At the Furnace Creek palms at sunset. Great Horned Owl 350mm, 1/1600s, f/8, ISO 640
Yellow desert gold flowers in bloom
Desert gold along Badwater Road. Desert gold bloom 23mm, 1/125s, f/11, ISO 200
Close view of purple phacelia
Wild phacelia, macro. Desert phacelia 23mm, 1/800s, f/8, ISO 1600
Black phainopepla on mesquite
Male on mesquite, red eye barely visible. Phainopepla 150mm, 1/1250s, f/7.1, ISO 640
Ladder-backed woodpecker on yucca
On a dead yucca stalk. Ladder-backed Woodpecker 300mm, 1/1250s, f/5.6, ISO 640
Le Conte's thrasher on saltbush
Hard bird. Quick frame before it vanished. Le Conte's Thrasher 300mm, 1/1250s, f/6.3, ISO 800
Sparrow on creosote
Everywhere there was creosote. Black-throated Sparrow 150mm, 1/800s, f/6.3, ISO 400
Wide view of Zabriskie area at dawn
For the landscape people. Zabriskie dunes light 23mm, 1/500s, f/11, ISO 400
Desert bighorn ewe on rocks
Ewe on a rocky slope. Distant. Desert bighorn 400mm, 1/1600s, f/7.1, ISO 640
Close view of sidewinder tracks in sand
Track, not the snake. Sidewinder track 150mm, 1/800s, f/8, ISO 400
Kit fox at burrow
At the entrance to a burrow at dusk. Kit Fox 400mm, 1/800s, f/7.1, ISO 640
Raven silhouette
Ravens are the only reliable large bird here. Raven in flight 350mm, 1/1250s, f/8, ISO 400
Desert lupine in bloom
A patch worth lingering over. Lupine 150mm, 1/320s, f/5.6, ISO 800