A Mixed Bag

When I saw the cacti around town were in full bloom it brought to memory a certain prickly pair cactus I noticed growing on one of the rocks out at Red Rock Coulee last year. Sounds like a good excuse to go back out there, right? (It most certainly is.) Upon arriving I noticed one little problem; the cacti in Red Rock Coulee seem to be a week or two behind the ones in town. No blossoms.

Since I always go out shooting with a particular assignment in mind I decided I still had to take a shot of that cactus growing on the rock (sans blossoms)...

And then I thought some backlit grass might look cool...

And maybe a picture of my shadow...

And that Pronghorn Antelope...

And since the Bentonite Clay had nicely dried out from the previous day's rainstorm, I thought I'd lay down on it and get a look at things from a rattlesnake's point of view...

But the highlight of the night was watching a few Common Nighthawks in flight. Members of the Nightjar family, these birds come out in the evening to feed on mosquitoes, moths, and any other insect unfortunate enough to be cleared for take-off around the same time. Their flight is extremely erratic, which makes it difficult to keep them in-frame and in-focus. I did manage to get a few shots against the blue sky when they turned into a headwind, but the picture I really wanted eluded me: The males, diving toward Mother Earth at breakneck speed, suddenly thrust their wings forward and pull up about three feet from the ground, creating a low-pitched vroom sound as the air rushes through their primary feathers. After watching the show for some time, I noticed this one sitting on a rock... something I'd never seen before.

All in all, it was another extremely worthwhile trip. (Hopefully I can still get back in a week or two to take some pictures of the cacti in bloom.)