Though the day started out like it was going to be rotten (just like the forecast), it actually turned out to be pretty good for most of the day. We started out with a visit to Arches National Park where it was cloudy when we visited the only actual arches you could see by driving to them (most require at least a short hike and you-know-who is absolutely forbidden from being on the trails at both Arches and Canyonlands). The Sun did finally come out and I siezed the opportunity to shoot 2 or 3 of the 'fins" in the Courtyard Towers area; this one is called "Tower of Babel".

Once the Sun got a little high and bright for shooting much we headed into Moab to grab a little lunch and headed from there back to Canyonlands National Park because I had found a spot with a few birds when we visited yesterday afternoon. The location was a picnic area toward the south end of the Islands in the Sky unit of Canyonlands and the birds (and others) probably hang out there and scrounge food scraps left behind by the human visitors. This Western Scrub-jay was flitting around with a couple of buddies - a new species ticked off the list for me. I also got another new one but plan on keeping it in my hip pocket for the Firday Quiz this week.

This must be chipmunk week, getting the Least the other day at Black Canyon of the Gunnison then this Hopi Chipmunk today - and I hadn't even moved from the location where I had been shooting the scrub-jays. Not far from where they were shot I caught some movement by a small lizard and made some images of it as well (a Common Side-blotched Lizard).