Leighton Photography & Imaging

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  • First light peeks over the steep basalt canyon walls to touch the Yakima River in the incredibly picturesque Yakima Canyon at dawn. With this chilly springtime morning, the sounds of bats, frogs and coyotes fade, only to be replaced by early-rising songbirds, blue herons and the splashing of hungry rainbow trout.
    Wild Grasses in the Yakima River Can..Dawn
  • Believed to be the exact species adopted as the symbol of King Louis VII of France for the Second Crusade, this invasive import from Europe eventually because the infamous "Fleur-de-lis". Today it is found in wetlands all over North America on both coasts, but not quite in the center of the continent - yet. This one was found growing in extremely dense numbers in Yakima County, Washington between Yakima and Ellensburg.
    Yellow Flag Iris
  • An invasive, yet beautiful non-native yellow flag iris catches the first rays of sunlight over the basalt walls of Yakima Canyon on the Yakima River at dawn.
    Yellow Flag Iris
  • This huge batch yellow flag iris was found growing along the Yakima River in great profusion the eastern bank of the Yakima River, just north of Selah, WA. Although incredibly beautiful, they are considered a pest as they completely take over river banks. Because they lack the diseases and wildlife that eat them found in their native Europe, they can multiply unchecked - crowding out North American native plants that don't enjoy such an easy advantage.
    Yellow Flag Iris
  • Although very beautiful and showy, the yellow flag iris is a pesky invasive European import that is known to block waterways and choke out native plants and wildflowers. This one was found growing along the Yakima River in great profusion, on the eastern bank of the Yakima River, just north of Selah, WA.
    Yellow Flag Iris
  • One of the most interesting facts about the mock-orange is the fact that it develops different properties based on where it is found in the wild. Because of the varying habitats where it is found, Native Americans of different tribes and geological locations had very different uses for this same shrub. Some used the wood for making strong and straight arrow shafts. Others made reliable and sturdy digging sticks with them. One of the most amazing characteristics is that if you crush the leaves and flowers together between your hands and keep rubbing, you will create a soapy lather, great for bathing! This one was found blooming next to the Yakima River in Kittitas County, Washington.
    Mock-Orange
  • Showy Penstemon in full flower in Cowiche Canyon on a hot late-spring afternoon, just west of Yakima, WA.
    Showy Penstemon
  • This beautiful teal-green bullseye lichen was found growing in the Oak Creek Wildlife Recreation Area just west of Yakima, Washington. If you look closely, you can see the small fleshy fruiting bodies in the center of each lichen that will eventually release its spores to propagate the next generation. This region of the Pacific Northwest is very dry and rocky, and most of the basalt surfaces are covered in multiple types of lichen.
    Bullseye Lichen
  • Golden currants ripening in the late afternoon sunshine in Cowiche Canyon, just to the west of Yakima, WA. These native wild edibles were (and still are) used as food for many of the Native American tribes across North America.
    Golden Currant
  • Fairly widespread across most of North America, excluding the Southeast and the extreme Northeast, the golden currant is a member of the currant and gooseberry family. In early spring, this plant is covered in hundreds of beautiful small bright yellow flowers. By late spring and early summer, the limbs of this small water-loving shrub become heavily laden with golden yellow/orange edible fruits, such as these growing next to Cowiche Creek, just west of Yakima, Washington.
    Golden Currant
  • Common in most of the western United States and Canada, the arrowleaf balsamroot is a member of the sunflower and aster family (hence the sunflower resemblance) and has a historical significance to the various tribes and peoples of the American West as a source of food and medicine. The large root can be baked or steamed as a good source of carbohydrates. The stems can be peeled and eaten, and even the seeds are a great source for both nutrients and calorie-rich oils. These beautiful examples this springtime beauty were photographed on a beautiful spring day just outside of Yakima, Washington.
    Arrowleaf Balsamroot
  • Unusual sighting! A few of these flowers have six petals, and not the typical five! Showy phlox is one of the prettiest and widespread of the native phloxes and can be found from the American Southwest north to British Columbia, and is most often found in rocky sagebrush deserts, open grasslands, dry pine forests, and some mountain forests with lots of available sunlight. Distinctive to this species are the deeply notched pink petals. This one was found growing in Cowiche Canyon, just east of Yakima, Washington.
    Showy Phlox
  • Showy phlox is one of the prettiest and widespread of the native phloxes and can be found from the American Southwest north to British Columbia, and is most often found in rocky sagebrush deserts, open grasslands, dry pine forests, and some mountain forests with lots of available sunlight. Distinctive to this species are the deeply notched pink petals. This one was found growing in Cowiche Canyon, just east of Yakima, Washington.
    Showy Phlox
  • This attractive yellow non-native member of the mustard family is originally from Europe and North Africa, but is commonly found  nearly everywhere in North America, with the exception of Alabama and Labrador. This one was found growing in the rural sagebrush desert area between Yakima, Washington and the Cascade Mountains.
    Tumble Mustard
  • Garry oak leaves in the sagebrush desert just outside of Yakima, Washington. This attractive tree is native to Oregon, Washington and British Columbia and is depended upon by many different species of wildlife for their survival, such as the western gray squirrel, Lewis woodpecker, and slender billed nuthatch.
    Garry Oak Leaves
  • One of the most frustrating of all birds to get on camera, the violet-green swallow is an extremely fast, small swallow found in all western American states, most of Mexico, and British Columbia and the Yukon in Canada. This one paused for a lucky second halfway up a rocky cliff wall in a canyon west of Yakima, Washington.
    Violet-Green Swallow
  • Cowiche Creek in Yakima County, WA is a critically important waterway for coho and chinook salmon, as well as the endangered steelhead trout. Also found in the same waterway system are beaver as well as a host of supporting plant communities and wildlife as it passed through desert-steppe terrain. This photograph was taken in spring as melting snow in the springtime creates a surge in snowmelt runoff through Cowiche Canyon.
    Cowiche Creek
  • Given its somewhat similar appearance and fragrance to an orange blossom (besides the four petals vs. the orange's five) the mock-orange is the State Flower of Idaho and is native to Montana, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, California, British Columbia and Alberta. First collected by Meriwether Lewis himself on the famous Lewis and CLark expedition to find an overland route from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific, it was later named after him in his honor. This one was found growing halfway up a steep arroyo above the Cowiche Creek in Yakima County, WA.
    Mock-Orange
  • This cluster of flower buds will soon open into a small spray of tiny yellow flowers, that will by next winter become a head of bright red berries. Just by the sheer number of sumac shrubs that can be found like this one just west of Yakima in Cowiche Canyon, crowded together on both sides of the creek that flows through it - it is a veritable feast for all the animals living in the area and will keep them all fed throughout the long winter.
    Smooth Sumac
  • Sunset is almost always a dramatic show of light and shadow, as witnessed here in Cowiche Canyon, just west of Yakima, WA. Strong beams of sunlight beautifully backlit these desert wildflowers (Carey's balsamroot).
    Sunset in the Sagebrush Desert
  • The wax currant, also known as the squaw currant, is found accross most of western North America in drier, more arid habitats such as sagebrush steppe or talus slopes. This one was photographed in Cowiche Canyon just outside of Yakima, WA.
    Wax Currant
  • Close-up of the flowerhead of the arrowleaf balsamroot. It is often thought the entire sunflower-like head is the flower, but what are often mistaken for the long yellow petals are actually the ray florets, and the actual flowers are the dozens of tiny "mini-flowers" called disk florets, and these when fertilized are what produce the seeds. This perfectly-shaped arrowleaf balsamroot was photographed on a beautiful spring day just outside of Yakima, Washington.
    Arrowleaf Balsamroot
  • Showy phlox is one of the prettiest and widespread of the native phloxes and can be found from the American Southwest north to British Columbia, and is most often found in rocky sagebrush deserts, open grasslands, dry pine forests, and some mountain forests with lots of available sunlight. Distinctive to this species are the deeply notched pink petals. This one was found growing in Cowiche Canyon, just east of Yakima, Washington.
    Showy Phlox
  • Showy phlox is one of the prettiest and widespread of the native phloxes and can be found from the American Southwest north to British Columbia, and is most often found in rocky sagebrush deserts, open grasslands, dry pine forests, and some mountain forests with lots of available sunlight. Distinctive to this species are the deeply notched pink petals. This one was found growing in Cowiche Canyon, just east of Yakima, Washington.
    Showy Phlox
  • This small daisy is found at lower elevations in the drier, rocky parts of Central and Eastern Washington and Oregon. It is closely related to other similar aster species found in the same region but at higher elevations. This one was found with many others growing from a crack in a basalt canyon rock wall outside of Naches, Washington just west of Yakima.
    Dwarf Golden Daisy
  • Common Yarrow is one of the most common members of the aster family in all of the northern hemisphere. This one was photographed up close in the desert scrub in the Yakima, Washington area.
    Common Yarrow
  • Springtime means lots of melting snow in the Cascade Mountains to the west, and can be an exciting time to watch the explosive, often-violent and icy whitewater rapids as gravity forces water over submerged rocks and knocked-down trees. Here banks reach their ultimate capacity at Cowiche Creek in Yakima County, WA.
    Cowiche Creek
  • Wild golden currants vary in taste from plant to plant, much like other berry-producing plants. These currants range from light yellow to orange, red, and even black. Personally I think the orange and red ones are the sweetest, and the yellow ones (those that are fully ripe) are a bit bitter. All of them have large seeds inside, that are easier eaten than spit out. These were photographed (then eaten) in Cowiche Canyon, just to the west of Yakima, WA.
    Golden Currant
  • One of the several wild roses found in the Pacific Northwest, the Woods' rose prefers a drier habitat, and is often found along riversides and streams, such as this one that was actually overhanging Cowiche Canyon, just west of Yakima, WA.
    Woods' Rose
  • Wax currants in full flower in Cowiche Canyon in Yakima, WA. While these are particularly beautiful, the fruits may cause a burning sensation when eaten. These are often found growing with the closely-related golden currant which is not only edible, but delicious!
    Wax Currant
  • Common in most of the western United States and Canada, the arrowleaf balsamroot is a member of the sunflower and aster family (hence the sunflower resemblance) and has a historical significance to the various tribes and peoples of the American West as a source of food and medicine. The large root can be baked or steamed as a good source of carbohydrates. The stems can be peeled and eaten, and even the seeds are a great source for both nutrients and calorie-rich oils. These beautiful examples this springtime beauty were photographed on a beautiful spring day just outside of Yakima, Washington.
    Arrowleaf Balsamroot
  • A mixed bumblebee (Bombus mixtus) is busily feeding on the nectar of wild purple sage in the sagebrush steppe of White Pass, a dry desert-like canyon west of Yakima, Washington.
    Mixed Bumblebee
  • Backlit silky lupine flowers in the later afternoon in Cowiche Canyon, just west of Yakima, WA. These flowers were quite a bit more purple than the nearby blue-flowered lupines, but they are all the same species.
    Silky Lupine
  • Holboell's rockcress is a very common member of the mustard family found across most of the American west and all of Canada, excluding the Maritime provinces. It is eaily recognized by drooping white or pink flowers and fruits. These were photographed in Central Washington just outside of Yakima.
    Holboell's Rockcress
  • Golden currents grow in profusion along Cowiche Creek just outside of Yakima, WA. These beautiful flowers when pollinated will produce delicious, edible red currants that are important historically and locally as a food source for people and wildlife.
    Golden Currant
  • A wild male California quail hunts for seeds and insects in a disturbed field outside of Yakima, WA in Cowiche Canyon. Although it is California's state bird, this native quail is found from Canada to Mexico along the West Coast in dry, arid habitats.
    California Quail
  • While mostly harmless to humans (they might bite is self-preservation), robber flies are fierce ambush predators that wait perch patiently for a flying insect to fly by, then launch into the air, overpower then dispatch their prey mid-flight. They hunt grasshoppers, bees, wasps, butterflies and even other flies! This one was found hunting in the Oak Creek State Wildlife Area, just outside of Yakima, Washington on a hot, late-spring day.
    Robber Fly (Efferia sp.)
  • Yellow bells (also known as yellow fritillaries or yellow missionbells) are very small, beautiful bell-shaped wild native lilies that grow among the hills, slopes and upper canyons of sagebrush country in early sprint in the Western United States and both British Columbia and Alberta, Canada. The small bulbs were traditionally used for a food source, which can be eaten both cooked and raw. This one was found growing on a mid-March morning just east of Yakima, Washington State.
    YellowBells-1
  • Confined to Western North America, the bulbiferous prairie star is an interesting member of the Saxifrage family with peculiar spiky petals. These were found on the exposed hilltops above the sagebrush canyon lands just west of Yakima, Washington.
    Bulbiferous Woodland Star
  • This beautiful diminutive buttercup can be commonly found across most of the Western half of Canada and the United States roughly (but not completely) to the east of the Cascade Mountain range, and is mostly associated with sagebrush desert and wide open plains. This patch was found growing in a canyon just outside of Yakima, Washington in mid-March.
    Sagebrush Buttercup-3
  • Belonging to the family of wildflowers known as umbellifers that includes carrots, dill and celery, this just-about-to-blossom Columbia desert parsley is an uncommon native to the sagebrush steppes of Washington State and Oregon east of the Cascade Mountains. This one was found growing on the hilltops just outside of Yakima, Washington in mid-March.
    Columbia Desert Parsley
  • Confined to Western North America, the bulbiferous prairie star is an interesting member of the Saxifrage family with peculiar spiky petals. This one was found on the exposed hilltops above the sagebrush canyon lands just west of Yakima, Washington.
    Bulbiferous Woodland Star
  • This absolutely beautiful diminutive wild iris is the only member of the genus Olsynium found in North America (the rest can be found in South America) and can be found growing at mid-level elevations in the rocky slopes and steppes in the mountains of California, Oregon, Washington and British Columbia. This one was found on the exposed hilltops above the sagebrush canyon lands just west of Yakima, Washington.
    Grass Widows
  • This beautiful diminutive buttercup can be commonly found across most of the Western half of Canada and the United States roughly (but not completely) to the east of the Cascade Mountain range, and is mostly associated with sagebrush desert and wide open plains. This one was found growing in a canyon just outside of Yakima, Washington in mid-March.
    Sagebrush Buttercup-1
  • Also known as the Rainier violet and desert pansy, the sagebrush violet is a stunningly beautiful member of the viola family that is only found in the dry sagebrush deserts of Oregon and Washington State in the early spring where melting snow leaves moist patches in the soil. This one was found growing on the hilltops just outside of Yakima, Washington in mid-March.
    Sagebrush Violet
  • Also known as the Rainier violet and desert pansy, the sagebrush violet is a stunningly beautiful member of the viola family that is only found in the dry sagebrush deserts of Oregon and Washington State in the early spring where melting snow leaves moist patches in the soil. This one was found growing on the hilltops just outside of Yakima, Washington in mid-March.
    Sagebrush Violet
  • This absolutely beautiful diminutive wild iris is the only member of the genus Olsynium found in North America (the rest can be found in South America) and can be found growing at mid-level elevations in the rocky slopes and steppes in the mountains of California, Oregon, Washington and British Columbia. This one was found on the exposed hilltops above the sagebrush canyon lands just west of Yakima, Washington.
    Grass Widows
  • This beautiful diminutive buttercup can be commonly found across most of the Western half of Canada and the United States roughly (but not completely) to the east of the Cascade Mountain range, and is mostly associated with sagebrush desert and wide open plains. This one was found growing in a canyon just outside of Yakima, Washington in mid-March.
    Sagebrush Buttercup-2
  • This absolutely beautiful diminutive wild iris is the only member of the genus Olsynium found in North America (the rest can be found in South America) and can be found growing at mid-level elevations in the rocky slopes and steppes in the mountains of California, Oregon, Washington and British Columbia. This one was found on the exposed hilltops above the sagebrush canyon lands just west of Yakima, Washington.
    Grass Widows
  • Also known as the Rainier violet and desert pansy, the sagebrush violet is a stunningly beautiful member of the viola family that is only found in the dry sagebrush deserts of Oregon and Washington State in the early spring where melting snow leaves moist patches in the soil. This one was found growing on the hilltops just outside of Yakima, Washington in mid-March.
    Sagebrush Violet
  • Also known as the Rainier violet and desert pansy, the sagebrush violet is a stunningly beautiful member of the viola family that is only found in the dry sagebrush deserts of Oregon and Washington State in the early spring where melting snow leaves moist patches in the soil. These were found growing on the hilltops just outside of Yakima, Washington in mid-March.
    Sagebrush Violets
  • If you are a parent, then you know this face well - this very young elk calf is a sloppy eater! Photographed in the Eastern Cascade Mountains near Yakima, Washington.
    Baby Elk
  • Yellow bells (also known as yellow fritillaries or yellow missionbells) are very small, beautiful bell-shaped wild native lilies that grow among the hills, slopes and upper canyons of sagebrush country in early sprint in the Western United States and both British Columbia and Alberta, Canada. The small bulbs were traditionally used for a food source, which can be eaten both cooked and raw. These were found growing on a mid-March morning just east of Yakima, Washington State.
    Yellow Bells-2
  • The cat-faced spider is a small member of the orb weaver family that rarely exceeds a centimeter in length and is harmless to humans. There are two "horns" on the abdomen that if looked at the right way, appear to be shaped like cats' ears with two small dimples exactly where you would expect to see the cat's eyes. Common in the Western United Staes and Canada, these spiders breed in the summer, lay an egg sac in the fall, and the spiderlings hatch and disperse in the wind via "web parachutes" in the spring to start the life cycle all over again.
    Cat-faced Spider
  • The cat-faced spider is a small member of the orb weaver family that rarely exceeds a centimeter in length and is harmless to humans. There are two "horns" on the abdomen that if looked at the right way, appear to be shaped like cats' ears with two small dimples exactly where you would expect to see the cat's eyes. Common in the Western United Staes and Canada, these spiders breed in the summer, lay an egg sac in the fall, and the spiderlings hatch and disperse in the wind via "web parachutes" in the spring to start the life cycle all over again.
    Cat-faced Spider
  • Unusual variety of the grizzlybear prickly pear cactus (Opuntia columbiana) near Naches, WA showing unusual flower size and particularly long white spines.
    Grizzlybear Prickly Pear
  • Purple sage beautifully backlit as the morning sun creeps over the canyon ridge in White Pass, just south of Naches, Washington.
    Purple Sage
  • Also known as the saskatoon, the western serviceberry is another very important plant found in the American West. The beautiful white flowers give way to the red to dark purple or black berries that are much sought-after in winter by moose, elk, deer, and birds. Historically, they were highly regarded by native American tribes and called "sweet-berries." This was photographed in Central Washington's Cowiche Canyon where they grow in great profusion along Cowiche Creek.
    Ripening Saskatoons
  • Close-up of the tiny flowers of purple sage. From this point of view, it is easy to see how it resembles mint, which it is a member of the same family called Lamiaceae.
    Purple Sage
  • Augochlora sweat bee feeding on the abundant nectar of a grizzlybear prickly pear cactus while collecting pollen in Central Washington.
    Augochlora Sweat Bee on Grizzlybear ..Pear
  • Occasionally heard in remote canyons and rocky cliffs, but seldom seen, this curious canyon wren stayed with me for some time as I wound my way up a narrow trail up the steep basalt cliffs of White Pass near Naches, Washington.
    Canyon Wren
  • Close-up detail of Lupinus sericeus, the silky lupine. Notice the fine, soft hairs on the back of the flowers - that's where it gets it's name. Sericeus is Latin for "silky".
    Silky Lupine
  • This native buckwheat has just past its peak flowering and as the flowers begin to droop, seeds will ripen that will feed the wildlife of the sagebrush desert, like here in Central Washington's Cowiche Canyon.
    Parsley Desert Buckwheat
  • Ancient basalt columns are a typical sight in Central Washington. They are formed by cooling lava, forming cracks that create these columns by contracting. The faster the lava cools, the thinner the columns. These thick columns cooled gradually over some time. The presence of the lichens that now cover the stony face is an indicator of very good air quality and a lack of pollution.
    Lichen-Covered Basalt Cliff in Cowic..nyon
  • Unusual variety of the grizzlybear prickly pear cactus (Opuntia columbiana) near Naches, WA showing unusual flower size and particularly long white spines.
    Grizzlybear Prickly Pear
  • I found this beautifully blue and violet lowly penstemon (also known as low beardtongue or and lowly beardtongue) in a dry canyon on the eastern side of Washington's Cascade Mountains  in White Pass surrounded by very many of the closely related showy penstemon. Something seemed odd about them at first until I finally realized it was a different species.
    Lowly Penstemon
  • I found this beautifully blue and violet lowly penstemon (also known as low beardtongue or and lowly beardtongue) in a dry canyon on the eastern side of Washington's Cascade Mountains  in White Pass surrounded by very many of the closely related showy penstemon. Something seemed odd about them at first until I finally realized it was a different species.
    Lowly Penstemon
  • Extremely dry and arid throughout the year, White Pass in Central Washington experiences a boom in greenery as spring turns into summer.
    White Pass in Central Washington 3
  • Dense foliage grows in the riparian parts of White Pass near Naches, Washington along the Tieton River. Here you can find several types of sage, bitterbrush, ponderosa pine, Oregon white oak, rare cactus and a profusion of wildflowers in the springtime.
    White Pass in Central Washington 1
  • An acmon blue butterfly pauses for a moment on an antelope-brush on a chilly late spring morning in Central Washington, just south of Naches.
    Acmon Blue Butterfly
  • Easily the most beautiful of all of the native currants that grow wild in the Pacific Northwest, the waxy current is also one of the most flavorless. I actually ate one of these after the shot and there was no sweetness or taste, just texture which I thought was very strange. Apparently not so to the hummingbirds, who take advantage of these early spring bloomers to feed on the nectar of the tubular white flowers where they might be the only flowers available to them at the time.
    Wax Currant
  • One of my favorite sagebrush-steppe native wildflowers, this silky lupine is growing straight and tall in the late afternoon, late springtime sunlight in Washington's Cowiche Canyon.
    Silky Lupine
  • One of the great adaptations the silky lupine has evolved is to grow in places where the soil has a very low fertility. Its nitrogen-fixing ability not only allows it to grow in large colonies in the most arid of dry steppes, it actually improves soil quality allowing new species of plants to come in, take seed and grow.
    Silky Lupine
  • This beautiful native member of the pea family has an interesting story. Like all lupines, they have toxic properties, that vary from species to species. The silky lupine is highly toxic to sheep, and moderately toxic to cattle and horses. That said, bighorn sheep rely on it heavily as a food source, as do white-tailed deer, Columbia ground squirrels and other birds, mammals and insects. It seems that while it is toxic to imported domesticated non-native animals, it is completely safe and nutritious for native wildlife that has evolved alongside it.
    Silky Lupine
  • One of the more common lizards of the West Coast of North America, this one was found in its northernmost part of its range in Central Washington, by the bank of the Tieton River on a chilly late spring morning.
    Western Fence Lizard
  • Unusual variety of the grizzlybear prickly pear cactus (Opuntia columbiana) near Naches, WA showing unusual flower size and particularly long white spines.
    Grizzlybear Prickly Pear
  • Unusual variety of the grizzlybear prickly pear cactus (Opuntia columbiana) near Naches, WA showing unusual flower size and particularly long white spines.
    Grizzlybear Prickly Pear
  • Unusual variety of the grizzlybear prickly pear cactus (Opuntia columbiana) near Naches, WA showing unusual flower size and particularly long white spines.
    Grizzlybear Prickly Pear
  • Volcanic basalt cliffs, steep slopes and sagebrush steppe pretty much define Central Washington's White Pass. Springtime turns the typical brown desert landscape into a green paradise attracting a plethora of wildlife to the region.
    White Pass in Central Washington 2
  • Brightly colored, yet perfectly camouflaged, the somewhat rare canyon wren blends in perfectly with the lichen encrusted basalt cliffs of White Pass, above the Tieton River.
    Canyon Wren
  • Smooth sumac spreads rapidly once the first plant becomes established in an area. This native member of the cashew family produces very beautiful bright green leaves in the spring that turn to bright scarlet in the winter. Native Americans in the Pacific Northwest traditionally smoked these dried leaves for medicinal uses, such as treating ulcers.
    Smooth Sumac
  • Common in many types of dry habitats in the western United States, silky lupine is a blooms in a variety of colors, usually blue to purple, they can sometimes be found in pink, yellow or creamy white. This large specimen was found in abundance in Central Washington's Cowiche Canyon.
    Silky Lupine
  • Closeup detail if one of the most spectacular of the sagebrush steppe native wildflowers to be found in the American West.
    Showy Penstemon
  • Also called the royal penstemon, this large and brilliantly purple native can reach 30" tall and is found in the more arid forests and mountainous subalpine or sagebrush steppe habitats of California, Washington, Oregon, Nevada, Utah and Idaho.
    Showy Penstemon
  • Common all over the dry, rocky places of the American West, purple sage (sometimes called desert sage) is a very important food source for many insects, particularly bees.
    Purple Sage
  • A close relative of poison ivy, smooth sumac is a very widespread shrub across nearly all of North America (excluding the Arctic and Maritime provinces of Canada) that grows in a wide variety of habitats. The bright red berries (as seen here) follow nondescript green flowers and are not only edible, but provide a bountiful harvest for all kinds of wildlife. One thing particularly beautiful about this native plant are the alternate compound leaves that turn a bright waxy red in the fall.
    Smooth Sumac Berries
  • This rock was once molten lava forced from deep within the earth as it covered most of Central Washington, up to three miles deep in some places. Many thousands of years of erosion, weathering and exposure to the elements has left us with massive crumbling rock formations like this basalt rock wall.
    Rocky Basalt Bluffs of Cowiche Canyon
  • Close-up detail of a northwestern ringneck snake in Cowiche Canyon, WA. Normally a moist forest-loving species, I was very surprised to find this slightly venomous, rear-fanged colubrid under a rock in the sagebrush desert next to Cowiche Creek.
    Northwestern Ringneck Snake
  • A wild northwestern ringneck snake posed in an antelope bitterbrush shrub solely for this photograph. This fast, secretive, nocturnal and beautiful small predator is a subspecies of the ringneck snake found all over North America. Unlike most other subspecies, instead of the normal black background, this group has a blue-gray color variation with the typical striking bright orange belly and neck ring. Notice the curled tail, which serves as a "warning flag" - a common threat display warning a bigger predator (me in this case) that it is toxic to eat, which is entirely a bluff.
    Northwestern Ringneck Snake
  • The mighty Tieton River as it flows out out the Cascade Mountains and through White Pass on it's way to Naches, Washington.
    Tieton River
  • The violet-green swallow is a jewel when it comes to the birds found in the Pacific Northwest. Intensely green and purple plumage stand out in sharp contrast to the snow-white breast, cheeks, flanks and belly. Unfortunately it was early morning here and I wasn't able to get a shot of the feathers in the sunlight.
    Violet-Green Swallow
  • These exceptionally fast fliers feed on insects that they catch in flight, and can often be seen at dawn or dusk in great numbers performing incredible aerobatics in huge numbers over ponds, lakes, and open areas where there are lots of flying insects. This was one of a pair that were circling me as I wound my way up a risky trail up a steep basalt cliff just south of Naches, Washington.
    Violet-Green Swallow
  • Yellow salsify is a tall, single-flowering non-native European import commonly found in the drier parts of the North America, excluding much of the American Southeast. The flowers are known for their unusual habit of closing in the middle of the day. This one was photographed early in the morning near the banks of the Tieton River, just south of Naches, Washington.
    Yellow Salsify
  • Yellow salsify is a non-native, European import and relative to chicory commonly found in the drier parts of the North America, excluding much of the American Southeast. This one was photographed near the banks of the Tieton River, just south of Naches, Washington.
    Yellow Salsify
  • Almost ready to eat! These golden currants are about to burst with tart, fruity goodness along the banks of Cowiche Creek as it flows through the desert steppe in Central Washington.
    Golden Currant
  • This native buckwheat is found throughout most of the American West (excluding the southernmost states) and is an extremely important food source for many of the sagebrush desert inhabitants where it is found. For bees, butterflies, birds, and other insects and animals it can at times be the only food available to them, and some species of butterflies will lay their eggs only on this plant.
    Parsley Desert Buckwheat
  • Until recently, the showy penstemon (including all other penstemons) was categorized as a member of the figwort family (Scrophulariaceae), which they clearly and closely look similar to. Recently, they have been reclassified as part of the plantain family (Plantaginaceae). As is often the case in botany, new research and genetic testing makes it easier for botanists to more accurately understand these plants which often means reclassification.
    Showy Penstemon
  • Close-up of the structure of purple sage. I particularly like the minty scent it leaves on my hands when I run my fingers through the silvery-green leaves.
    Purple Sage
  • Sometimes it can be hard to find an unblemished rose out in the desert at the height of late spring, but this beauty just opened up in Cowiche Canyon in Central Washington.
    Woods' Rose
  • The golden currant is one of the most attractive found across most of North America, excluding the American Southeast and Canada's Maritime provinces. Commonly associated with dry, gravelly streams and creeks, the bright red berries are particularly good for making jelly!
    Golden Currant
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