What wildlife do you see on your rides?

[azfiddle]

Wednesday I rode at Saguaro NP, just before sunset with the edge of a thunderstorm threatening, but keeping it cloudy and cooler. I ran over Sonoran Whipsnake - just didn't see it in time. I also saw a Black Racer zip off the road and into the desert.

Saturday I rode between Willcox and Chiracahua N. Monument. We saw lots of birds, including Red-Tailed and Swainson's Hawks, Blue Grosbeaks, sky-larking Cassin's Sparrows, Turkey Vultures, Loggerhead Shrikes, and Eastern Meadowlark, among others. We also saw one dead Javalina, a few dead toads, tarantula and what was probably a Mojave Green rattlesnake. I was hoping to see an antelope though.

[azfiddle]

I saw another Sonoran Whipsnake today but fortunately did not run this one over. I stopped to try to get a picture but it slipped off the road and under the bushes.

Other than that, just the usual - a few whiptail lizards, Gila Woodpeckers, Mourning and White-winged Doves, Phainopeplas, Curve-billed Thrashers....

Not on a bike ride, but after supervising the 7th grade movie night at my school, I spotted a Hog-Nosed Skunk rambling about on the school grounds. Though there is a wash nearby, and we're not too far from some open desert, the school is surrounded by suburban housing and I was quite surprised to see it there! Other recent wildlife at the school: a pair of Roadrunners and a tarantula which I kept in my classroom for a week. (It got out, but I found it last night and let it back out).

[bmccasland]

Saw a hawk hunkered down on the ground right next to the Green River trail where I was riding today. She/he was laying flat, wings partially out, but her head was up and watching me. I've seen hawks do this when they're trying to hide a fresh kill. I was rolling along at a nice clip, when the brain registered, Hawk! I passed her before I could think to stop and try to get a photo with my cell phone. But I didn't want to scare her off either. She was gone when I passed the same spot on the return trip.