Wednesday, August 20, 2008

New Pond Video


Once Upon a Pond from Valerie Smith on Vimeo.

The video above is a great way to meet most the critters that stop in to visit my pond for a sip. I managed to pack more species into this video than any of the others. Yet some of the other videos have a few species that are not in this clip.There are some shots of a very amorous Blue Belly lizard chasing a date. Sit back relax and turn up the speakers. I chose to edit the clips to the song "Spanish Eyes" by Al Di Meola off of his Splendido Hotel Album, because its always been one of my favorite tunes. The music seems to fit the beat of the birds rhythm. I've also always been in awe of Al Di Meola's guitar playing.



This shot is a close up of a weed I let grow in the yard. The blossoms on this pest are beautiful.


I snapped this shot the morning after a heavy rain. Looks like the lizard held his own against the deluge.


Barrel Cactus blossoms are so pretty.


This is a cool looking grasshopper. Oh no! watch out for Locusts!

Monday, August 18, 2008

First Morning Below


This little guy just left the nest for the first time. He's kicking off his independence by lounging on my patio chair.

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Red Dragon



This Dragonfly was hanging out up on the Ocotillo this morning, and doing touch and go's. I had my camcorder out and was filming him doing his little dance. Then I decided to grab my still camere and see just how close he would allow me to approach for a shot. He hung out long enough for me to snap this shot. Click on the shot for its enlarged version.

Stoned Lizard Makes a Friend


I'm in the process of creating a stone lizard to create a transition between the new gold gravel and the old redish gravel. I still need to find some long thin black rocks for his fingers and toes, and some larger black river rocks to replace the lighter ones in his tail. He's looking pretty good so far. As a matter of fact if you look a little closer you'll notice he's already made a friend. I uploaded the above shot at a larger scale, so if you click on the shot you can get a better peek.


Here is a closer view of his new buddy.


*Update*... He's finally done! I finished his tail, and gave him better fingers and toes this morning. I uploaded this shot real large as well, so just click for the full size image.

Saturday, August 16, 2008

Snakes Alive!

Its been an awful long time since I've posted anything here. I've been pretty busy with some other projects. I was working on a rough draft for a logo design just a little while ago, when this guy slithered by my slider. I decided to follow him around the side yard and try to get off a nice shot. I'm pretty happy to have this Gopher Snake patrolling the yard to keep the rodents from getting too cozy around here.


I decided to post the image a little larger than most of the rest. If you click on the picture you can view its larger image. I'll be posting some other new images soon.