Last week I spent a few days recharging in Sedona, AZ.

The Airport Loop hike provides great views of the Red Rocks.















Sonoran Spotted Whiptail. A new species for me. Interestingly, all of them are female, and they reproduce asexually via parthenogenesis.





More new lizards, the side blotched lizard and the earless lizard.







Cactus flowers in bloom





Funnel-web spider



Gambel's quail, a bird I have been wanting to see for a long time!





Raven flyover



Hiking on the West Fork trail in Oak Creek, I was amazed to see so much green. The cool shade of the canyon was a welcome refuge from the blazing sun.















It was an awesome trip. I think my next visit to Sedona will be in the spring or fall, as I have done in the past. Thought Florida summers were hot, but Arizona takes it to a whole new level!

Walking by the river, I heard the distinctive screeeeech of a baby barred owl. Just off the trail, at eye level, I finally spotted this little guy. It is amazing how well they blend in.







Baby gators





Yellow-billed cuckoo with a lubber grasshopper



Thistles in bloom



I was in Daytona a few weeks ago and checked out the beaches of Palm Coast to the north. It very different to our southern beaches. The air was hazy with windblown sand. I liked that these beaches were more natural, as opposed to the crowded Daytona Beach where vehicles actually drive on the beach itself.