Red Tail Hawks and Blue Bellied Lizards

Saw a gorgeous Red Tail Hawk yesterday while winding through the mountains in and out of uncountable small canyons, while traversing to the North. I have seen all sorts of hawks through the years, but unless somewhere like the Sonoran Desert Museum , I haven't seen one this close up. As close as the bear in Mission Creek--about 15 feet away, at eye level, perched on a manzanita bush offering it a sweeping view of what I can only guess would be prey on the steep slopes below the trail. What was remarkable about it to me, was how detailed I could see the eye, the feathering around it, and as it silently, gracefully, and without any perceptible effort lifted off of its perch into the warm, upward drafting breeze; it fanned it's tail feathers wide to facilitate liftoff, displaying a detail of the ruddy red color that though not a "striking red," was striking in and of itself to me. Wings stretched out wide...within 10 seconds it seemed he/she was hundreds of yards away, and a hundred or more feet above in altitude. All with absolute economy of motion, and imperceptible expenditure of energy stores. I watched all this in silent wonder, motionless for half a minute until he lit upon a new watch post a quarter mile or more away, scanning the slopes below for a late morning meal perhaps.
Ok, there are sooooo many lizards...blue bellied lizards apparently. Some of these are quite large, reaching a foot or more with tail. They look like miniature monitor lizards. I've seen a few eating grubs, but mostly these and a couple other kinds just litter the trail and scurry with startling quickness for cover when I come tromping along. Though I'm glad they far outnumber the snakes, it seems these little reptiles are growing in abundance, a never ending food source for rattlers (if they like 'em). I've seen a couple of gopher/rat snakes dart across the trail at my coming with ridiculous speed. If in a race, I think a person would be hard pressed to keep pace. So fast.
Oh, this is funny--ran across 4 high school kids on my way down one of the creeks. They had been up swimming for the day, and one looked as if he was wearing his shirt as a pair of shorts. I asked, and he replied in the affirmative with pride in his ingenuity. He stated that his swim trunks were wet from swimming, and he didn't wish to hike in wet shorts. I couldn't help thinking that had he done so, his trunks would have been dry long ago, but replied to him that he looked like he was attired in some sort of traditional Eastern garb (a baggy wrap of sorts)---he said COOL! The rest of the time until I paused for dinner was their fascination with the concept that I would even consider hiking from the Mexican border to Canada, and some bizarre teenage fascination with whether or not I was carrying weapons (I told them some people do, and that it was not a polite question (not that I really think this)-but just to facilitate the dropping of the topic). I thought the half hour or so we were hiking in proximity conversing was interesting and amusing, as they seemed to be very interested in what I was doing.