This is what happens to the fruit of the Devil’s Claw (and gives them their name). The marigolds continue to bloom, there’s a whole field of them hidden in a grove in the middle of the wash. Saw a humming-bird driving off the kestrel by charging at him. Also a Road-runner, the first time I’ve seen one in the wash (they are more common on the roads, funnily enough).

Yesterday I saw a hawk, and accipiter, but couldn’t tell whether it was a Cooper’s or a Sharp-shinned. It was soaring in the sun, glowing reddish-brown underneath, banded tail with white edge, finely barred wings, red head, short bursts of flight followed by gliding, wings about as long as its body.

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