Flowering senna.

Flowering senna.

Her’s a couple of black-headed grosbeaks. By the behavior I think the one on the bottom was a juvenile. Montrose Canyon, Tucson AZ 🪶

Dead Horse Canyon, Tucson AZ

Lookout

Honeybee in a cactus flower. Tucson.

Dry arroyo that drains Dead Horse Canyon northwest Tucson AZ

3 different rattlesnakes I have come across while hiking in the past week. They are all in what I call the “cold position”. If you’re going to surprise stumble on a rattlesnake this is probably a better scenario. They are usually too cold to go into strike mode.

I came across this rattlesnake (Western Diamondback) this morning while hiking up Sutherland Wash northwest of Tucson. They curl up like this (usually in this same exact position, even different individuals). I almost missed it until I was right on top of it.

Twin saguaros growing up from the rocks

Third hike in a row that I’ve seen a horny toad / horned lizard.

Globe cactus (Mammillaria grahamii) in flower. Taken today in Catalina State Park northwest Tucson

No snakes this morning but I did see a Gila monster

Canyon towhee, Tucson, AZ 🪶

Fishhook barrel cactus.

A saguaro stands watch over Sutherland Wash northwest of Tucson.

New for me but there are a lot of giant velvet mites out exploring after the monsoon rains. (I didn’t try tasting them) news.arizona.edu/news/meet-bu...

I saw the tiniest tortoise this morning. Its carapace is about the size of an avocado.

This morning I saw two Western Diamondback rattlesnakes, another horny toad (horned lizard), a herd of 7 or 8 javelina, a white-tailed deer and a fawn, a desert tortoise and a pair of blue grosbeaks. Along with all of the usual birds and lizards. I turned around after snake #2…

Catalina State Park northwest of Tucson AZ

Sanyo MC-2 almost done with restoration

Here’s the first horny toad I saw this morning. It’s a lot darker.

I spotted two horny toads this morning. This one at about 3000 feet and a darker one at about 3500 feet. Both were large, full sized. Always a treat seeing these.

I spotted a desert tortoise this morning.

Pusch Ridge Wilderness northwest of Tucson

Random plants I saw in the desert today

I think this is Dead Horse Canyon in the Pusch Ridge Wilderness northwest of Tucson.

On this morning’s hike I found an unusual arrangement of large stones in a curved line. The stones are large - maybe 100 lbs each and are mostly buried except for the flat tops. They were definitely placed like this and the closest place to find stones of this size is a few hundred yards away.

My work area is getting a little cluttered I’d say. I’m just about to that place where I go get a big basket and start loading everything that’s a visitor into it, or I just pile it outside the door. I get everything back to tidy and put all the stuff in the pile away. Then it slowly comes back… ♻️♻️♻️

In this place the two distant ridgelines line up in an interesting way. Tucson, AZ