One of the special birds I always hope to see when I visit Arizona, is this Yellow-eyed Junco. This species only shows up in the US in a small part of the southeast corner of the state. This little cutie actually showed up on the back porch of the cabin in which I stayed in Madera Canyon. He hopped around just a few feet from me, where the raccoons showed up later in the evening. This was certainly one of the easiest bird sightings of the trip.! 9/4/21 www.sparhawkphotography.com
Ten miles above Portal in Arizona, over a steep, narrow, curvy and very rough road, is Rustler Park and campground in the Chiricahua Mountains. When birding there I discovered this very pretty and interesting mushroom growing out of the forest floor. It was the only one in sight, in among the pine trees. I don't know anything about mushrooms, other than the fact that I only "harvest" them with my camera. I think the extra rain in this monsoon season had increased the mushroom growth, as I saw other, different ones, in other places. 9/3/21 www.sparhawkphotography.com
When hiking near Florida Canyon in SE Arizona, I saw two of these very fuzzy caterpillars, climbing in the grasses beside the path. I'd never seen any like it, but I believe it is the larval form of Virginia Tiger Moth. I've never seen the moth either. One of the things I love about travel is all the new things you find, and this very monsoon season was no exception! 9/2/21 www.sparhawkphotography.com
