The Loggerhead Shrike is common, but still a fun sighting when your are out in the field. The first time you find an insect or small reptile stuck on a mesquite spine or a barb wire is always a “what the heck?” moment. Years ago it lead me to investigate the natural history of this wonderful songbird predator or as my friend Peacock calls it, “the homicidal songbird.”
The genus Heuchera is found in the saxifrage family, Saxifracaceae, with 80 other genera that includes the genus Saxifraga and its 400 species. Yikes!...
If I had wobbled up any higher on that rocky slope I may or may have not fallen by a ragged rock flower. It...
Encelia farinosa (brittle bush, incienso) loves rocky hillsides and gravelly desert. And though this native shrub has a large range showing up in the...
