Red Mountain Park

While in Arizona, most days were spent doing nothing as we had no vehicle to go anywhere and it was a bit warm to try walking anywhere. Besides, there's absolutely nothing within a couple miles of Grandpa's place... just other housing and commercial shops selling things we had no desire or need for.

But one afternoon, Grandpa and Dad finished up their errands by about 1 p.m. So mom & I took off in the car for a local park called Red Mountain Park. It's fairly new and the amenities are still being built there and around it. But it's an oasis of sorts. They actually spend the money keeping up a pond and a major grassy area. Not eco-friendly, but at least the animals like it :)

We saw quite an array of critters despite it being the heat of the day.

This Rock Squirrel could easily be mistaken for a California Ground Squirrel except for the location.

We also saw Round-tailed Ground Squirrels that are quite small compared to the Rock Squirrels.

Red Mountain Park certainly had tons of Great-tailed Grackles. They seemed to rule the park. But looking at the tree landscaped areas, I had a hunch I'd see other birds. That hunch was rewarded as there I saw for the first time, a Verdin.

I didn't know what it was at the time, but after searching later back at Grandpa's I discovered what it was. It wasn't all that hard, not too many little gray birds have solid bright yellow heads.

It's also the place to easily see Gambel's Quail. There were plenty about.

Including this family of Quail!

Best of all though were the two Turkey Vultures that circled overhead several times.

Once, even VERY close.

There were a lot of other birds, but instead of boring you here on this blog, I invite you to look at my Flickr page. This link is mine tagged "Red Mountain Park"