Phon-D-Sutton--Salt River, Arizona

 

33.54822418188218, -111.65417028470912

I went on a day hike with Nathan, my son, and his daughter Amy  to look for birds and plants.  It was a beautiful day.

We hiked for a short distance on the open desert.  The desert is SO beautiful.  It was nice to get reacquainted with some of the plants:

 Santa Rita Prickly pear

There are a lot of different varieties of prickly pear on the desert.

 Mulenberg's Stippleback Lichen

You often see this lichen growing on rocks in the desert.

Then we drove to the Phon-D-Sutton picnic area and walked along the Salt River.  The river had very little water in it.  

It was a successful day in more ways than one, but I added two new species to my list--the Great Blue Heron and a beautiful Bald Eagle flying overhead!

Great Blue Heron

Bald Eagle