We went to Tucson in August intentionally! Hummingbird diversity is highest in August as young birds disperse north from Mexico into the canyons in Southeast Arizona. It WAS hot — lows of 75F and highs of 107+. More important, most days it was 100F+ by noon. By 10 a.m. not much was moving but hummingbirds and lizards. Still, we had a good time and got some amazing images.

The Tucson area gets summer rains, which means that some cactus bloom in August. We got some respite from the heat at the 9000-foot summit of Mt. Lemmon, where we found hummingbirds and yellow-eyed juncos, and 7,000-foot Kitt Peak, where we found Mexican jays and black swallowtail butterflies. Tohono Chul Park in Tucson was a wonderful place for many common plant species, birds and small mammals.

Click on each image for a larger view plus caption.

Yellow-eyed junco, adult Select		Yellow-eyed junco, juvenile Select		Yellow-eyed junco, adult Select
Queen butterfly Select		Queen butterfly Select		Atlantis fritillary Select
Black swallowtail butterfly Select		Lesser goldfinch Select		Lesser goldfinch Select
Datura bloom Select		Fish-hook barrel cactus in bloom Select		Fish-hook barrel cactus in bloom Select
Cactus wren on prickly-pear Select		Chihuahuan collared lizard Select		Zebra-tailed lizard Select
Desert cottontail hiding Select		Spotted ground squirrel Select		Palo verde and saguaro Select
Mexican jay Select		Mexican jay juvenile begging Select		Acorn woodpecker Select
Male Gila woodpecker Select		Old man of the desert Select