On my Arizona trip, in addition to birds, which were my official goal, I ran across quite a lot of other wildlife, and got pics when I could. This Black-tailed Rattlesnake gave me plenty of photo ops, as he was quite sure he didn't want me on "his" trail. I was hiking in South Fork of Cave Creek Canyon out of Portal, looking for nesting Elegant Trogons, and this snake rattled at me, crossed my trail, and curled up beside the trail and continued to rattle and stick out his tongue. Some of the pics show the rattles in motion, but I preferred this one in which we could see the rattles more clearly, as well as that forked tongue. I finally had to climb up over some rocks to get past this guy, and to get on to my birds. Most of my other wildlife sightings were more quiet and tame. 8/29/21 www.sparhawkphotography.com
I'm baaaccckk! Had a great 10 days of birding in southeast Arizona. Added 58 new species to my year list. This view was from the road between Portal and Paradise, Arizona, both very small "towns" in the Chiricahua Mountains near the New Mexico border. It was monsoon season, with more rain than usual, creating green hillsides and great cloudy skies. 8/27/21 www.sparhawkphotography.com
This shot shows Tyrese and Kailaye performing a fairly complicated maneuver with 7 hoops each, in this Hoop Dance. All this done while balanced on rocks in the creek! Oak Creek Canyon, Sedona, Arizona. I will be away from my computer for awhile, so won't be posting or commenting. Stay safe and well, and I'll be back..... 8/14/21 www.sparhawkphotography.com
