Tortoises in Zion II

beetles in a thistle flower, a male desert tortoise, a yellow opuntia blossom, and a Chuckwalla that thinks he is sneaky

Tortoises in Zion

I've just finished the desert tortoise survey in Zion, which I've been working on for the past seven weeks. This involved a lot of hiking, climbing, and sometimes falling.

We saw a lot of cool stuff aside from tortoises (even though it's hard to beat a cute tortoise that you just stumble upon in the middle of nowhere that looks up at you all "hey, what up?").

I'll be posting some of my favorite photos of the all flora and fauna to be found in the springtime where the Mojave Desert, the Colorado Plateau, and the Great Basin collide.







Claret Cup cactus, Banana Yucca in bloom, Desert Collared Lizard, workin' a transect, prickly pear blossom