We picked a hiking trail near some campsites and kept our eyes peeled for herps as we walked along amongst oaks and alligator junipers. The air temperature was a little cool, but the sun was out in full force. Before too long we spotted some lizards along the trail, something new, a sceloporid with two light stripes along each side of the body. These were Striped Plateau Lizards, Sceloporus virgatipes, and a new species for us. S. virgatipes has a small range, found only in the Chiricahuas and the Peloncillo Mountains. We saw a number as we went along, either on the ground or low on the trunks of trees, a very distinct and pretty lizard.

In places where the sun reached the ground in strength we found clumps of agave, which got Tracey's botanical engine going. These were probably Agave parryi, a common enough species for the region, and very attractive. I had a nice Lepidoptera moment when I spotted a couple Dull Firetips nectaring on a tall plant. These were a Mexican species of skipper that follow the mountain ranges up into Arizona.

Another lizard scurried along the length of a fallen tree - an old friend of mine, the Tree Lizard (Urosaurus ornatus). This one came to rest hanging upside down on the log, and I took his picture. I find Urosaurus an interesting species; the upper body and limbs are colored and marked to resemble tree bark. They can blend in pretty well with their surroundings.

As the trail climbed higher, Chihuahuan Desertscrub gave way to the Madrean Woodland life zone. The trees and other vegetation had slowly changed in succession, with pines becoming the common tree.  Agave and cacti still appeared in open, sunny spots. The lizards changed, too - now we were finding Mountain Spiny Lizards (Sceloporus jarrovi), the dominant lizard species at higher elevations. This lizard is at home on the rocks as well as on trees and logs, and we saw plenty of them on both.

All the while, of course, we were searching for rattlesnakes and other reptiles, and so every rockpile and sunny spot were carefully inspected. Nothing else turned up, and as clouds began rolling in from the southeast we decided to move on and find some other spots.