I left Granite Gap on Monday and drove to Ajo. Before next week is over I may wish I had stayed at Granite Gap, it is going to get hot again! I suppose I will survive. I’m glad I came here though, last night we got a California Kingsnake, a species that I’ve only seen dead on the road once before. This one was smaller and easily photographed and handled. Birding has been pretty good too. There is an invasion of Red-breasted Nuthatches, and they are turning up in places where the species has never been reported, like Ajo. Previous to yesterday, there were no eBird records of Red-breasted Nuthatch in the Ajo area, I’ve now seen three.
This is the first Red-breasted Nuthatch I saw. It was in Bud Walker Park. Yesterday Greg Gilson found this Palm Warbler at the golf course. This morning, five of us were treated to see it as it was still here. Another first for the Ajo area. Greg also saw a Golden-crowned Sparrow yesterday, but we could not find it today. Here’s the California Kingsnake. It is very similar to the Long-nosed Snake, but the snout is shorter and the black bands go around the entire body. The white patches are wider at the bottom too. A pair of Western Diamondbacks we found under some old plywood at the golf course. I went to Highway Tank one day and found this lion track with a coyote track superimposed over the left toe. While out for a hike at Granite Gap I came across this plant, something new to me. It is Stinging Serpent, Cevallia sinuata. The leaves are armed with spines that emit formic acid. The plants were past flowering, this is a seed head. Another image that shows the leaves of Stinging Serpent.
One reply on “Back in Ajo”
That California kingsnake is stunning. Looks like the birds are off their normal flyways. Dad says it might be because the polarity of the sun is shifting.
One reply on “Back in Ajo”
That California kingsnake is stunning. Looks like the birds are off their normal flyways. Dad says it might be because the polarity of the sun is shifting.