A week in the Las Vegas Area - May 17-24

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tspuckler
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A week in the Las Vegas Area - May 17-24

Post by tspuckler »

The first two days started off quite warm, with temperatures hitting 100 degrees, after that things cooled down to the 70s and 80s for the rest of the trip.

I started things out by checking out the Cerbat mountains in Arizona.
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Plateau Fence Lizards were the most commonly seen reptile inhabitants.
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Arizona Stripe-tailed Scorpion.
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Spotted Towhees have a similar "drink your tea" call that Eastern Towhees have in my home state.
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A Gopher Snake that was crossing the road in the daytime.
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Landscape with tiny Arizona town in the background.
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There were a number of wildflowers in bloom - Sand Verbana.
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Most of the flowers were being visited by insects, like this White Prickly Poppy with a Ornate Checkered Beetle.
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Robberfly.
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Side-blotched Lizard.
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Grizzled Skipper.
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Later that night - Western Diamondback Rattlesnake.
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The following day I visited a mountain in southern Nevada.
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Spiny Lizard.
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A Spotted Sandpiper patrolling the edge of a man-made concrete pond.
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Marine Blues.
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Great-tailed Grackles seem to be becoming much more common in the Las Vegas area.
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A Clark County Gopher Snake.
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A family of Long-eared Owls.
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Zebra-tail Lizard.
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Longnose Snake.
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Close-up of the same Longnose snake pictured above.
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Sometimes I find myself promoting the virtues of trees - even while on vacation.
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A Western Whiptail showing off its long, whiplike tail.
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At the base of the mountain it is a desert, but as you get close to the top, the increase in elevation causes a dramatic change in temperature and moisture and you find yourself in a cool, temperate forest.
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Nuttall's Linanthus
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A pair of Sagebrush Lizards.
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A cave made of branches.
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Female Sagebrush Lizard.
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Indian Paintbrush.
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Male Sagebrush Lizard doing "push ups."
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Alpine Shooting Star.
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On the following day I visited this popular tourist area.
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Desert Night Lizard.
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White-tailed Antelope Squirrel
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There is a creek in the canyon that supports a variety of wildlife - Sierran Treefrog.
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A Flame Skimmer that appears to be smiling.
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Western Blind Snake.
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Damselfly.
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Desert Glossy Snake.
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Robberfly.
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A young Spiny Lizard.
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Gambel's Quail were a familiar sight, I saw several pairs roaming the desert with groups of chicks.
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Side-blotched Lizard.
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One the next day I returned to the Cerbat Mountains.
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Junkyard herping - you never know what you'll find.
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Giant Desert Hairy Scorpion.
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Zebra-tail Lizard.
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Purple Aster.
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Great Purple Hairstreak
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Cave jail.
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Arizona Glossy Snake.
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Bloody Net-winged Beetle
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Beavertail Cactus.
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Western Wood-Pewee
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Eventually it began to get dark.
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And I found this - Gopher Snake.
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And this - Mojave Rattlesnake.
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I visited a canyon on the next day, but on the way stopped by this Joshua Tree preserve that I like to visit whenever I'm in the Silver State.
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Say's Stink Bug (Chlorochroa sayi).
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The Mojave Desert has a surprising amount of junk that can be found at random places - desert couch.
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Speckled Rattlesnake.
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The snake in its "natural habitat."
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Black-throated Sparrows are very common.
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Zebra-tail Lizard.
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The smallest Glossy Snake I've ever found, probably one of last year's hatchlings.
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California Barrel Cactus.
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A Spiny Lizard/Chuckwalla combo.
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I checked out another very popular tourist attraction on the following day - "groovy" rocks.
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Western Whiptail.
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The desert sure is scenic.
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Desert Iguana.
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Petroglyphs.
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Gopher Snake.
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California Goldfields growing by the side of the road.
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Darkling Beetle.
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Chuckwalla.
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American Rubyspot.
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Later that night - Sidewinder.
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My last outing was a trip once again to the Cerbat Mountains. I was on a quest to find a Rosy Boa. That didn't happen, but I found some other cool stuff, like this "in situ" Patchnose Snake.
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"Posed" Patchnose Snake.
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Mural featuring a snake.
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Lichens.
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Black-tailed Jackrabbit.
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Herp habitat.
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Plateau Fence Lizard.
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Desert Cow.
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California Juniper.
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California Kingsnake.
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A cactus cleverly disguised as a rock.
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Yellow-bellied Bee Assassin.
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It actually rained a little bit for two days - Prickly Pear in bloom.
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Before I knew it, my trip had come to a close. It sure was fun while it lasted.
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hellihooks
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Re: A week in the Las Vegas Area - May 17-24

Post by hellihooks »

good stuff Tim... we'll get you your rosy next time fo sho... :thumb: jim
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Fieldherper
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Re: A week in the Las Vegas Area - May 17-24

Post by Fieldherper »

Wow. Great stuff and nice photos. That CA king is amazing. Nice variety of Pituophis also.

FH
BethH
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Re: A week in the Las Vegas Area - May 17-24

Post by BethH »

Absolutely beautiful!
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Bryan Hamilton
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Re: A week in the Las Vegas Area - May 17-24

Post by Bryan Hamilton »

Cool stuff. I really like the blindsnake and all the photos.

I think some of your Sceloporus are S. occidentalis.
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Jeroen Speybroeck
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Re: A week in the Las Vegas Area - May 17-24

Post by Jeroen Speybroeck »

Great post! A week earlier and we might have bumped in to each other.
hellihooks
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Re: A week in the Las Vegas Area - May 17-24

Post by hellihooks »

shame you didn't... having herped with both of you... I can say with confidence you two would have gotten along famously... ;) jim
Zach_Lim
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Re: A week in the Las Vegas Area - May 17-24

Post by Zach_Lim »

Excellent photographs, Tim.

The patch nose and the getula- WOW!
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Rothdigga
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Re: A week in the Las Vegas Area - May 17-24

Post by Rothdigga »

Good stuff Tim. I was just out there this past weekend but didn't find much. Although I ended up in the Black's and not the Cerbats. Fun post as usual.
doccod
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Re: A week in the Las Vegas Area - May 17-24

Post by doccod »

Nice, that's a lot for one week!
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ThamnElegans24
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Re: A week in the Las Vegas Area - May 17-24

Post by ThamnElegans24 »

Great post! Love that first Gopher and the Cal King. Thanks for sharing.
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Will Wells
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Re: A week in the Las Vegas Area - May 17-24

Post by Will Wells »

very nice series, thanks for sharing
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