Late Summer - Early Autumn

Hello! These pictures are from four different days in September.

Paperflower

Deer

Flower crab spider on Desert Marigold

Acacia seeds

Janusia

Western Diamondback Rattlesnake

Harris' antelope ground squirrel

E n j o y  T o d a y !

Mushrooms

I never thought I would be doing a post about mushrooms in the desert, but here it is! I don't know any of their names. I have field guides for birds, reptiles, cacti, wildflowers and butterflies but not mushrooms because I rarely find any. However, we got a lot of rain this monsoon season and mushrooms are popping up now.

This first group of slender mushrooms was standing in a wooded area by the creek.

The next two mushrooms were growing on the side of the road right out in the harsh sunlight where the cacti grow.

These appeared in my backyard. I tipped one over to look at the gills.

I found the remaining mushrooms on the roadside. At first glance I thought this was a ground squirrel standing up:

The last one fascinates me because of the dirt on top and also the light portion on the rust colored cap, a patch of universal veil maybe?

Here's the same mushroom from the above picture nine days later:

Have a good day!