Desert Blooming Near Kayenta Utah: Honey Bee on Prickly Pear Cactus

The cactus blooms in and around St. George area are beautiful and reliable every year. The blooming period lasts for a few weeks but the peak bloom is only for a few days on each cactus depending on the type of cactus and its location. These images are from the week of May 8-14.

The streets from St. George through Santa Clara UT to Ivins UT on to Kayenta UT are lined with cactuses. The Kayenta art village and nearby streets in Ivins put on a beautiful display this year.

This is the second of three posts on the bloom this year.

 

Continue reading “Desert Blooming Near Kayenta Utah: Honey Bee on Prickly Pear Cactus”

Desert Blooming Near Kayenta Utah: Saguaro Cactus

The cactus blooms in and around St. George area are beautiful and reliable every year. The blooming period lasts for a few weeks but the peak bloom is only for a few days on each cactus depending on the type of cactus and its location. These images are from May 7.

Giant saguaros are native to southern Arizona, not St. George. These images are of the Argentine White Saguaro, a much faster growing variety that also can handle the relative cold here vs Tucson where native saguaros live.

The streets from St. George through Santa Clara UT to Ivins UT on to Kayenta UT are lined with cactuses. The Kayenta art village and nearby streets in Ivins put on a beautiful display this year. This is the first of three posts on the bloom this year.

Continue reading “Desert Blooming Near Kayenta Utah: Saguaro Cactus”

Desert Tortoises in Snow Canyon State Park

May is mating season for the desert tortoise season in the Southern Utah desert. These images are all from the Toe Trail in the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve. The Toe Trail is administered by Snow Canyon Sate Park.

Snow Canyon State Park is about 15 minutes from where I live. These images are from yesterday.

I don’t normally edit images this fast, and I have a pretty big backlog.  But I have never seen desert tortoises before and wanted to process the images.

There are more images below. If images of mating tortoises is offensive to you, then stop right here.

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