More from the Arboretum

Just a few more shots that I took at the Los Angeles Arboretum. The arboretum has a pretty decent little hill on the property. They have a watefall where you can take the steps up, walk around the top of the waterfall and it leads to another pond where during the right season it's full of dragon flies and butterflies. Beyond this area there is an area I love. It's the photo below.


To me this area is beautiful and I don't know that this photo really captures it. The beautiful green of the grass, the blue sky peeking through the trees, the patchwork of light on the grass... It's one of those areas you just want to spread out a blanket and lie down with your head in the lap of a loved one listening to the birds and waterfall in the distance.


I've only started revisiting the Arboretum last year. This is the first time I've seen the wood duck there. I wish I had captured the colors better but this was in a shaded area with the light reflecting off the water.



This little guy below played with me for a good little while. It flittered around and landed near me but when I moved slightly it would flitter off but it would flitter all around me coming so close I thought it was trying to land on me then it would return to this wood railing near the water. That happened a few times before another butterfly caught it's interest and they flittered off together.

Today's Flower #12 - Succulent Flower

Though this is a succulent plant, because it actually flowers and is called a rosette succulent, I thought it would be an interesting Today's Flower.




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Today's Flower #11 - Betty Boop

I've already done two posts today but I'd better do this one because it's back to jury duty tomorrow so, hopefully y'all won't just look at this one (smile).

This little beauty of a rose is called Betty Boop. I think it's a good name for it, what do you think?



Image from www.crazyhorseindustries.net



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My Bad Bird Shots

These aren't too bad but they sure aren't the quality of some of the jaw dropping photos I've seen. Still, I wanted to share them just the same. This was the first time in my visits to Descanso Gardens that there were so many out and about and I think it was because it was overcast and a little cooler than the other days. I haven't a clue what they are. I was just excited that I finally saw some. :-) If you know what these birds are please feel free to let me know.

This little one swooped down while I was standing still and decided to play in this puddle of water.

And these are about the prettiest ducks I've ever seen. They are ducks, right? :-)


This was the first bird I captured a photo of at Descanso Gardens, maybe last week. I saw quite a few of them on this day. And looking at the feathers and coloring I think the one following this picture is a female or baby of the same bird...but maybe not but they were pecking around through the grass together. I've been trying to look these up and I think the one with the curved beak is a California Thrasher. I saw a pic that looked like the other which read California Towhee but don't take it as fact.

And this is where a bird was. LOL! It took off before I could snap it.

Succulents

Just some clipped shots of a couple of succulents. I also tried these in black and white. I'm not sure which I like better. I'd appreciate knowing what you think.

Hibiscus - Today's Flower #5

I've seen many hibiscus in my day but I've never seen any quite this color before, especially the one that I'm not sure if it's grey or lavender.



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Today's Flowers

Zebras

I love the black and white stripes of a zebra. Thought I would share something I just learned. The name "zebra" comes from the Old Portuguese word zevra which means "wild ass".





This one looks like it is laughing but actually, it was reaching for some leaves that were hanging over its head.

Chimpanzee

This particular day it was a little overcast and the mood of the chimpanzees seemed to dictate their really lazy mood.

THE TORTOISE

My visit to Sandpiper's Place and her series of photos at a trip to the zoo encouraged me to go back through my photos to my trip to the Los Angeles Zoo a couple of months ago. I always take so many pictures but never post them all because there are so many. Since I haven't been anywhere this week I thought I'd go ahead and revisit my own zoo trip. This will probably carry over into the next several posts.

This big 'ol turtle, I mean tortoise was big enough for two people to ride on. Personally, I found it's almond shaped eyes a little intriguing.

Splish Splash

Butterflies 3

Dragonflies

I've been hoping to catch some dragonflies and butterflies one of these days. Today was the day! The butterflies will be in a separate post.