There had been a female amberwing foraging from a perch high in my lovely soapberry thicket. Just because I don't see female amberwings at the oasis very often and with nothing else interesting to shoot, and just maybe it might be a Mexican Amberwing, I took a couple of shots of it.
Well, now I do believe it actually was a Mexican Amberwing. The arroyo that the soapberry patch is in is infested with mosquitoes. I was getting devoured by them. Now I wish I had gotten a ladder and repellent and at least tried for better shots. It was foraging but came back to the same perch while I watched. Seems I never learn. Hope the two shots that I got are good enough for ID. If it is a Mexican Amberwing, it would be an earlier record for the year than before, by a little more than one week.
Yesterday I missed perfect shots at that Eastern Ringtail dragonfly, and today I missed doing better with the amberwing. In both instances I had great trouble focusing the camera. I can't hold it steady enough either. It takes me a long time to focus, unlike the Canon. Yesterday, I missed a perfect shot because the camera was trying to focus on the vegetation and today I gave up over the mosquitoes. And I don't even react to the bites, but they're still unendurable in swarms.
Other than soapberry, not much blooming and no great butterfly activity. The forecast is for a hot dry next ten days or more. Sure gotta get more rain this summer.
Remember last year in late October when I was plagued by the bear and it smashed down my wonderful horsetails?
Well, earlier this spring Mac and I tied them upright as best we could and now new ones have grown up among them, holding most of them in place, so it's not looking quite as pitiful anymore.
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