Comical Cactus Wrens

Stink eye from a Loggerhead Shrike

Took a long hike west of Tortugas Mountain this morning half of which was spent bushwhacking through the desert.  As always I hoped to see some larger mammals and/or raptors, but no such luck.

I did see plenty of rabbits and birds; the most comical sighting of the latter involved the Cactus Wrens pictured below.  One spent much time eating seeds from spent Soaptree Yucca pods; I think I saw him spit out as many seeds as he ate.

There were no hikers where I was in the outback, but I did encounter two people just heading out as I headed in on the final leg of my morning trek.

Desert Cottontail

Torrey Yucca sentinels

Large arroyo west of the mountain

Nearly 4 foot tall Barrel Cactus

Cactus Wrens

From a small arroyo west of Tortugas

Soaptree Yucca

This and the next:  B&W experiments

This and the rest:  more comical Cactus Wrens