Mike in the Wild

One of the greatest pleasures of birding is bearing witness to the kaleidoscope of colors in the subjects: the iridescent amethyst of a Costa's hummingbird's gorget, the azure of a blue grosbeak's head and torso, the chartreuse of a green-tailed towhee's wing and tail feathers, and the all-encompassing scarlet of a summer tanager.   While enjoying this pastime in the idyllic outdoors of Arizona, you're bound to see an equally vibrant range of hues in the abundant wildflowers and butterflies that populate the landscape, and to a lesser and more subtle degree, in the reptile population. Lizards and snakes are usually best known for the intricate patterns in their scales of their skin, the most famous of which might be in the aptly named diamondback rattlesnake.  These designs are often unique enough to identify specific individuals.  However reptiles are also quite colorful, as seen in the red stripes of some king snakes and the pinkish orange of Gila monsters. ...