PHOTOS: Biologically diverse Whitewater Canyon

Volunteers walk through Whitewater Canyon during a biological inventory of the area. Winter rains have made the canyon preserve flush with wildflowers and blooming plants.
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Doug Yanega, UC Riverside manager of insect collections, picks specimens from his net in Whitewater Canyon. He’s part of a volunteer team of about 50 people helping conduct a biological inventory in the canyon preserve about 10 miles northwest of Palm Springs. It’s home to many rare plants and animals.
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Doug Yanega, UC Riverside manager of of insect collections, observes a yellow crab spider on a brittlebush flower in Whitewater Canyon. By midmorning he had collected or noted more than 60 different insects that will become part of a biological inventory of the canyon preserve area near Palm Springs.
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Tracy Philippi takes a close look at a desert tortoise soaking up the sun in Whitewater Canyon near Palm Springs. He noted in his inventory of animals that the tortoise shell had been chipped, probably by a desert fox whose den he discovered nearby.
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Parked on the side of Whitewater Canyon Road, plant biologists carefully lift a thorny cactus plant to be identified and logged into their inventory.
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A plant biologist carries a thorny cactus specimen to a field inventory station in Whitewater Canyon.
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Two Nelson’s bighorn sheep forage on the steep southern wall of Whitewater Canyon.
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A red house finch and a Lawrence’s goldfinch perch on the leafless branches of a desert willow in Whitewater Canyon.
See full story  (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

Doug Yanega, UC Riverside manager of insect collections, sweeps a net over vegetation in Whitewater Canyon to catch insects.
See full story  (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)