Hot at work

By the time I arrived at the oasis around 9 AM the film crew was already hard at work. I started watering almost immediately but by early afternoon I had to take a break. Will finish later this afternoon after it starts to cool down. It was over 100° today in the shade.

Shot this lovely Red Admiral lurking in the shade

Mac is packed and leaving in the morning. The film crew said they got an extension on their deadline so they may be around for quite awhile yet. In the 3 months they've been filming here, off and on, the finished documentary will probably only have fives minutes of footage that was shot here. They're always striving for that perfect shot as they sit in the shade watching through the lens via a computer screen. 

I hope these award-winning videographers get a big award for this one. They've endured a lot.

Every once in awhile I find an interesting plant at the oasis, but it's been disappointing on birds, odes, and butterflies so far this summer. The California Spreadwing is the only interesting ode I found. Today I couldn't even locate one of those. Hoping for Mexican Amberwings soon now.

I got this plant, growing in the mud along the edge of the dragonfly pond, ID'd today. It's Round-leafed Mud-Plantain (Heteranthera limosa var. rotundifolia) of the Pickerel-Weed family. As the water evaporates and leaks out of the pond the leaves get that white residue on them. 

This male Kiowa Dancer left the female dangling for a bit, but she swung her body up and latched on after a couple of tries.

This Western Giant Swallowtail was so gorgeous that I couldn't resist taking a bunch of shots of her. Here she is, oblivious to me, with her head stuck inside a Flame Acanthus bloom.