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.

Pomegranate

I was only going to do one post but had to share this one because I thought it was pretty cool. I've seen pomengranates before, and used to eat plenty of them as a kid from a neighbor's tree. But I didn't know they split open like this. I guess it's how they drop their seeds. Cool!

Black and White

These are just a couple of black and whites I took and I rather like the way they came out. And these are actually black and white, not color ones that I converted.

Misty Trees

I took these at the Descanso Gardens . There was a water sprinkler shooting through the trees and I like they way it looked through my lens.

Angeles National Forest - Mt. Baldy

Angeles National Forest is no joke. It stretches over 655,000 acres. There are two places I like to go located in the forest - Azusa Canyon and the Mt. Baldy area, mostly because they're not far from me and I know them. The last time went up to Mt. Baldy there was still some snow on the ground. Everything is drying up with all of this heat and starting to look deserty except in the areas were there was a lot of snow. There was still water running down the stream and plenty of greenery in my favorite spot.

TODAY'S PHOTOS

I thought these were some interesting little things hanging from a tree up in the hills over the canyon. I don't know what kind of tree or what these are but they reminded me of Christmas tree ornaments:




As I wandered around the hills there were all of these tiny little butterflies and dragonflies (if that's what they right name is) flying around. It was difficult trying to get a picture of one. I never did get a butterfly that would sit still long enough for me to focus on it.




I do love being outdoors but I can't stand when the little flies and gnats are doing fly-bys in my face making life difficult. I'm so busying swinging at them I miss my shots. LOL! I did manage to get this one of a red ant coming out of their home.