Midweek Trekking

Try focusing on two Scott's Orioles flitting around in a Mesquite Tree

There were only a few outdoor enthusiasts west of Tortugas Mountain when Becca and I got there early this morning.  During our 90-minute trek we encountered only one other hiker, and that was during our inbound leg.  By then I had started to warm up.  The weather was surprisingly cool at the start, and I was under dressed, having worn a long-sleeve shirt over hiking shorts.  Weatherwise we seem to be rollercoastering day to day, and tomorrow and Friday there's potential rain in the forecast.  We certainly need the precipitation.

There's one of them

Dove on the bricks

Could be a Brewer's Sparrow

Mesquites along the arroyo

Mesquites just west of the mountain

Strawberry Hedgehog

On the upper foothills trail

Steep cactus garden

Bicolor Fanmustard (Velvety nerisyrenia)

Sandy desert just west of Tortugas Mountain

Ocotillo flowers against the mountain backdrop

A female Ladder-backed Woodpecker (Picoides scalaris)

Waiting

Soaptree Yucca and Becca

Ocotillo flowers and Torrey Yucca

Here's something you don't see very often

Single flower on the end of a branch

Put two of these up to see which I liked best

Does a slight difference make a difference?

In full bloom west of the mountain, but not one leaf