Characters and Traits

My favorite uncle recently had his first child. For Spring Break, he invited me and my siblings to visit him in Nevada and meet the baby. While there, we took the opportunity to hike at Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area. The area is a part of the large expanse of desert known as the Mojave, located around 20 miles from the Las Vegas Strip, with a surprising abundance of plant and animal life and large, towering cliffs of red-striped rock. The canyon gets its name from the build up of iron oxide in the sandstone rocks, a process that's taken centuries and has resulted in their bright red appearance against the backdrop of gray limestone.

During the hike, I observed many species and photographed around 20 of them. The critters I chose to photograph and post to iNaturalist caught my eye because of their particular traits and characteristics. Some plants had beautiful and interesting flowers, ranging from brilliant red and tubular to lilac and delicate. Others, like an eye-catching fern growing in the shade of the rocks, had the appearance of a succulent, with leaves made of hundreds of green spheres. I even snapped a photo of a striking lizard, that had an ombre, rainbow-esque coloring to it. The tip of its tail was red and this color faded into its midsection and the color then intensified once more around its top half and head. In addition, it featured a geometric print all down its back and sides. I also observed a desert shrub that had ciliate leaves that looked like fuzz or fine hair all over it, that's edges rippled like waves.

Posted on April 8, 2014 10:57 PM by turmiyah