71st Santa Barbara International Orchid Show

Here are some pictures that I took on Sunday at the 71st Santa Barbara International Orchid Show.  We timed it just right and arrived a few minutes after the show opened and before it was crowded.

Vanilla Orchid (not in bloom)

Tillandsias mounted on a tree

Bromeliads and Tillandsias

Bromeliad Blooms

Today I took these pictures of some bromeliads blooming in our garden.

Sanderlings and Sandpipers

Today I went to the Santa Barbara Breakwater and saw these Sanderlings and Sand Pipers.

Sanderling

Least Sandpiper

Sanderling and Least Sand Piper

Sanderling

Least Sandpiper and Sanderling

Sanderlings

Petrified Forest National Park - Painted Desert

On my last road trip I visited the Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona and really enjoyed it.  Here are some pictures of the painted desert.

These mudstone and sandstone rock layers are called Chinle Formation and were deposited by a vast river in a forest ecosystem 205 to 227 million years ago.  All of the colors are caused by the iron in the sediments.  During deposition, drier climates allow the minerals to be exposed to oxygen, rusting the iron and creating red, brown and orange colors.  Wetter climates can "drown" the sediments, allowing little or no contact with oxygen, causing the layers to be blue, gray and purple.

Uplift and erosion of the Colorado Plateau erased overlying strata, exposing the rocks of the Chinle Formation.

Petrified Tree at base of boulders

Petrified Tree at base of boulders

Panorama view from Kachina Point

Petrified Forest National Park - Mule Deer & Ravens

While I was visiting the Petrified Forest National Park I saw these Mule Deer.

Mule Deer

Mule Deer

Mule Deer

Mule Deer

Mule Deer

I was photographing these two Ravens on the top of the hill and when I changed back to my normal lens they had flown down next to me.

Ravens

Raven

Raven

Petrified Forest National Park - Petroglyphs

These petroglyphs in the Petrified Forest National Park were scratched, pecked, carved or incised by Ancestral Puebloan people. 

This is one of several solstice markers.