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Tag: clouds

12 March 2023

Wind and rain brought Spring in the Sonoran Desert

Saguaro desert clouds on Kofa Mts King Rd BLM Kofa AZSecond week boondocking near the Kofa Mountains brought Spring in the Sonoran Desert.

02a Birthday month

https://geogypsytraveler.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/02b-VID_20230225_171537883-time-lapse-clouds-King-Rd-BLM-Kofa-AZ.mp4

February moved on and March blew in like a lioness—it’s my birthday month after all—so guess that means it will go out like a ewe lamb similar to last year.  Gifts of clouds, rain, puddles, and birds made for some exceptional photography.

Sierra grooming Gaelyn's eyebrowsBath day

On Caturday, February 25th, the first propane tank emptied after one week using a lot for heat.  We crossed fingers and paws the next tank would last a little longer so I could stay and shoot the moon.  It rained that night.

Loggerhead Shrike Ocotillo King Rd BLM Kofa AZ

Common Flicker bird Saguaro King Rd BLM Kofa AZThough I didn’t wake up to puddles or noticeably wet ground the bird song, and sightings, were a treat that felt like a sign of Spring in the Sonoran Desert.  The Loggerhead Shrike with black eye mask might be seen as mean because it impales caught lizards and rodents on the spikes of desert plants.  The Common Flicker often nests inside Saguaro cactus.

Cactus wren bird King Rd BLM Kofa AZ

Raven bird King Rd BLM Kofa AZCactus Wren’s are the most melodious, and Ravens the most commonly seen.

 

https://geogypsytraveler.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/06-time-lapse-with-me-Sierra-knocked-down-Kofa-AZ-g.mp4

I set up a time-lapse in the window and then went for a little walk.  It seems somebody bumped the tripod.

unidentified bird Saguaro King Rd BLM Kofa AZThe next day I took another walk and spotted a bird still unidentified, so feel free to ID please.

yellow Bladderpod flowers King Rd BLM Kofa AZI took mostly video that day that I’ll put together eventually.  It’s not easy to take both stills with the big camera and video with the phone.  The prominent flowers and not in abundance were the yellow Bladderpod.

Saguaro desert shadows Kofa Mts clouds King Rd BLM Kofa AZ

Saguaro light Kofa Mts clouds King Rd BLM Kofa AZIncreasing wind blew February out of the way with amazing clouds leaving light and shadow on the land.

Saguaro desert light clouds King Rd BLM Kofa AZ

Saguaro desert Kofa Mts clouds King Rd BLM Kofa AZThe house was rocking and a sometimes southern wind on the door kept me inside.  But that doesn’t stop me from taking photos through the windows.

Saguaro desert shadows Kofa Mts foggy King Rd BLM Kofa AZMarch blew in with increasing gusts and the rain began about 2pm remaining pretty steady throughout the afternoon.

puddle reflection Saguaro Kofa Mts clouds King Rd BLM Kofa AZWow, reflection!

A gentle rain that made some puddles, definitely a special gift of Spring in the Sonoran Desert.

Saguaro desert clouds on Kofa Mts King Rd BLM Kofa AZ

Saguaro desert clouds on Kofa Mts King Rd BLM Kofa AZ PanoInstead of a colorful sunset, clouds danced over the Kofa Mountains while rain fell below making for a happy desert.  I wondered if they would bring snow to the peaks.

Loggerhead Shrike bird Saguaro King Rd BLM Kofa AZLoggerhead Shrike

By morning under clear blue skies the puddles were almost gone and I couldn’t see snow on the peaks, though someone else said there was some, and it had snowed in Tucson.

Saguaro mt moon King Rd BLM Kofa AZI got busy inside working on a video about safe boondocking during southwest winter weather and the moon snuck up over a Saguaro.

Northern Mockingbird cactus King Rd BLM Kofa AZWith barely a breeze and warming temperatures I enjoyed sitting outside in the sunshine and felt Spring in the Sonoran Desert while I listened to the Mockingbird.

Saguaro mts moon King Rd BLM Kofa AZCaught the late afternoon moon trying to hide behind a Saguaro and looked forward to several more nights before the actual full moon.

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Arizona, Kofa NWR, Places I've been, Sonoran desert, United States birthday, clouds, desert, photography, rain, spring, weather, wind 16 Comments
31 August 2022

Busy cloud watching and nepholography

view W sunset mammary clouds Skull Valey AZSeems I spend a lot of time cloud watching which has expanded my nepholography* beyond still shots to time-lapse and video.  Monsoon doesn’t last all year so need to take advantage of it, just like the Aridzona plants.

pond Skull Valley AZRain over night has been common lately so one morning I decided to walk to the nearby driveway wash.  I could see water had run and the pond was back but the crossing was drivable.  The humidity and mosquitoes quickly chased me back home.  Where I spent the day watching clouds while taking time-lapse, using the phone, as I’m entranced with the dance-like motion.

trees rock Bradshaw Mts clouds Skull Valley AZ

trees rock Bradshaw Mts clouds Skull Valley AZI’m working on a video where I’ll share the time-lapses and talk about the science behind monsoon and safety.  Haven’t been using the Nikon for time-lapse because there’s something on the lens that shows as a backwards C when the lens is set wide between 18 and 35 mm.  I can usually remove it with Lightroom in stills.  I’m bummed about that, but the cloud watching makes me happy.

trees rainbow dark sky Skull Valley AZ

trees part rainbow Skull Valley AZAnd if it wasn’t so buggy, I’d dance outside when a rainbow shows.

sunset clouds Skull Valley AZInstead, I published a SHORT teaser video about RVs.

Sierra & GaelynThen spent the next two days putting together a video about choosing your first RV, making suggestions for things to look for before you buy.

Roadrunner bird Skull Valley AZRoadrunner bird Skull Valley AZRoadrunner bird Skull Valley AZ

Joann stopped by for a visit and the local Roadrunner came by.

cumulus clouds E Skull Valley AZCloud watching continued throughout the day over the mountains to my east and west along with some rumbles but very little rain.

view W sunset mammary clouds Skull Valey AZUntil evening when a storm came from the north along with sunset.

trees N storm clouds Skull Valley AZThe next couple of afternoons, huge storms descended from the north.  Hard and loud directly overhead, I could feel the thunder from the tires up.

view E storm clouds Skull Valley AZFor a couple hours I was in ambedo** while cloud watching and taking video mostly to record the marvelous sound.

view W shadows Brushy Mt clouds Skull Valley AZ

view E trees rock Bradshaw Mts bird on wire Skull Valley AZThen back to monsoon missing me pattern with lots of good cloud watching to the east and west over the mountains.

NPS stuff

view W Brushy Mt clouds crepuscular rays Skull Valley AZAnd celebrating the National Park Service 106th birthday, that makes me miss my job.  Probably not enough to return to 40 hours a week.  No time for that.  (Here’s a post about the NPS history.)

coyote tall weeds Skull Valley AZI’m too busy paying attention when the Gray squirrel sends out a loud chirping alert.  That paid off when I saw the “danger” as a coyote went past.

view N stormy sky Skull Valley AZ

tree rainbow Skull Valley AZA new video editing app kept me busy with a rather easy learning curve and I published another SHORT teaser video.

Sierra cat watching sunset Skull Valley AZ

trees Bradshaw Mts reverse sunset clouds Skull Valley AZI’m also busy cloud watching and the storms are changing.  Coming from north is opposite the summer patterns, so I wonder if monsoon is almost over and Autumn is on it’s way.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Nephos = Greek for clouds.  Nephelococcygia (ne-fee’-lu-koe’-ku-jee’-u) as the scientific terminology for “cloud watching”.  A person who photographs clouds is a *nepholographer.

**Ambedo – a kind of melancholic trance in which you become completely absorbed in vivid sensory details – raindrops skittering down a window, tall trees leaning in the wind, clouds of cream swirling in your coffee – briefly soaking in the experience of being alive, an act that is done purely for its own sake.

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Arizona, monsoon, nepholography, Places I've been, United States clouds, monsoon, monsoon rain, photography, video 16 Comments
17 August 2022

Rain and monsoon photography in Arizona

storm clouds Skull Valley AZTemperatures held in the 80s last week while humidity climbed into rain just about every day providing possibilities for monsoon photography and trying new ideas with multiple cameras.  Predictions for the week went from 30% chance—that often misses me—to 100% when sure enough, the rain came.  I’m a ceraunophilia who loves thunder and lightning.  Those negative ions provide a natural high.

Bunting bird molting Skull Valley AZBeing the trail cam hasn’t caught anything more than me and cows in over a week I figured to move it.  But when I walked around looking for a safe (from cows) place nothing appealed.  So it’s still mounted on the 5th-wheel ladder pointing towards some water bowls.  Food and water should attract wildlife.  I don’t feed animals but have put out some bowls for water.  Of course with all the rain lately they don’t need my water bowls.  Except a cow broke one getting a drink.  I spotted some kind of Bunting bathing in a bowl and managed a photo through the window.

Gaelyn looking out window Skull Valley AZ

stormy view E with rain Skull Valley AZI’d been working on a video when the rain came, and came down with force along with thunder and lightning.  So I set up the tripod and put the rarely used lightning trigger on the Nikon and pointed it towards the storm through the window hoping for some monsoon photography.  Didn’t get a thing and there was definitely lightning in sight.

hummingbird moth Skull Valley AZThe wildlife I’ve seen lately has likely been too small for the trail cam.  I was filling water bowls and saw a lovely White-lined Sphinx moth furiously flitting about.  Probably took 50 photos to get two.

squirrel collageI stacked more rocks around the cheap plastic bowls for camouflage.  And wouldn’t you know it, a squirrel came by and pushed one of the rocks away, with intention, then sniffed it over and seemed to rub and leave its own scent, perhaps to cover mine.

view E clouds Skull Valley AZ

view S sunset clouds moon Skull Valley AZAnother fun day of clouds with some rumbles but few sprinkles that left with a pretty sunset that even included the moon.

Brushy Mt low clouds Skull Valley AZRained over night and the humidity and chances of rain continued to increase.  It felt sticky.  I walked down to the wash to check for moisture there as I had to drive across it early the next morning.  Looked good so I didn’t bother to move the truck.  Just before noon it started to sprinkle and continued with a gentle female rain for about an hour.  That light rain just soaks into the ground unlike the hard rains that saturate, float, and flow.  Mostly the clouds just teased staying over the mountains to my east and west.  Worked on blog posts and finally put the Geogypsy Journey page together.  There’s a tab under the new header shot.

boulders Watson Lake clouds Prescott AZI don’t like early.  But needed to get a blood draw for some routine lab work and that meant fasting for 10 hours.  So I was at the lab shortly after they opened and thankfully had an adept phlebotomist.  In 20 minutes I was out the door to morning coffee already made and waiting for me in the truck.  Then I met Joann for breakfast and she drove us to Watson Lake.

boulders clouds Watson Lake Prescott AZbouders North Shore trl Watson Lake Prescott AZ

We got there before the predicted rain so took a short walk along the North Shore Trail.  The granite boulders are magnificent yet do make walking a challenge.

granite Datura flowers Watson Lake Prescott AZDatura

white Datura flower Watson Lake Prescott AZclosed Datura flowers Watson Lake Prescott AZ

Many crevices offer good conditions for the beautiful Sacred Datura to grow and bloom.  It’s a hallucinogenic poisonous plant so you could get high, or die.

ducks under bench Watson Lake Prescott AZSee the ducks?

Although swimming isn’t allowed in the lake, kayak rentals are available, or bring your own, or a paddle board.  I put together a video about Watson Lake.  We didn’t stay long as the heat, humidity, and mosquitos were brutal.

grass forest Granite Crk Prescott AZ

Granite Crk Prescott AZAlso made a quick stop by Granite Creek.  But once again the mosquitos chased us off.  As much as I love to get out for some monsoon photography, I just can’t tolerate the mosquitos.  Joann went on her way and I spent the afternoon indoors doing chores like laundry and shopping.

Cumulus cloud Skull Valley AZCumulus clouds billowing to the east over the Bradshaw Mountains didn’t bode well for catching full moon rise.  Yet those same clouds sure made for spectacular monsoon photography.

https://geogypsytraveler.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/14-64x-timelapse-Cumulus-cloud-bldg-Skull-Valley-AZ.mp4

I set the phone in a window and took time lapse.  Another new to me photography idea.  I’m sharing the first one taken and learned to allow for more space above.

storm clouds Skull Valley AZThe nepholographer in me can’t stop taking pictures of clouds throughout the day.

Roadrunner bird Skull Valley AZ

cow thru window E Skull Valley AZSaw a Roadrunner and some of the neighbors came by.

full moon clouds Skull Valley AZ

full moon clouds Skull Valley AZStayed cloudy for the full moon rise though it peeked through just a bit much later.

storm clouds view E Skull Valley AZTime lapse is fun, and easy.  Just set up the shot and push start.  My phone will take ten minutes of shots spaced 30 seconds apart with a choice of speeds 4x, 8x, 16x, and 32x.  After the first try at 8x I bumped it up to 32x.  I mean who wants to watch ten minutes of cloud video?  Plus when the filming stops I used the remote to start it again, and again, and again.  Then those can be put together in Movie Maker and one hour of shots can become 1.7 minutes of time lapse monsoon photography.  And I think it looks really cool.

camera on tripod from RV storm clouds Skull Valley AZ

camera on tripod Skull Valley AZBecause there were great clouds and lightning but no rain I sat the Nikon on tripod outside with the lightning trigger.  Luckily I also brought it in just as the rain began but never captured any of the lightning that was going on.

storm clouds view E Skull Valley AZ

misty view W Skull Valley AZThe rain fell for a couple of hours and the clouds continued their show so I did more time lapses from inside.

view W storm clouds rain shaft Skull Valley AZMore wonderful clouds and opportunities for monsoon photography the next afternoon.

rainbow view E SKull Valley AZThen just before sunset with a hard rain from the north, the sun came out and I searched hard until I could see a rainbow to the east.

raining Brushy Mt clouds sun setting crepuscular rays Skull Valley AZI tell you, at the end of the day, this pluviophile finds immense joy and peace of mind.

view W sunset clouds Skull Valley AZAnd then, if the mosquitos aren’t too bad, I step outside to breath deep of the petrichor.

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Arizona, monsoon, photography, Places I've been, Skull Valley, United States clouds, lightning, monsoon rain, photography, time lapse 14 Comments
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Hi, I’m Gaelyn, the Geogypsy

I retired after 29 summer seasons as a Park Ranger, traveling solo for 40+ years. My passions include travel, connecting to nature, photography, and sharing stories.

I started exploring US National Parks in 1977 and 20 years later became a seasonal Park Ranger.  I’ve lived full-time in a RV for 30 years working summers and playing winters.  I’m still trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow old, other than grow up.

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