Mogollon Rim

Between my job ending in Nevada on July 31st and waiting for the next semester to begin at NAU at the end of August, I hung out at home in Heber with my folks and did day trips mostly around the Mogollon Rim nearby, the large escarpment that bisects central Arizona. The main highlight in the Rim area was all of the wildflowers blooming with the ample monsoon rains we had been getting. Below are some of the flowers that we encountered while walking around the Apache-Sitgreaves and Coconino National Forests, as well as in our yard in Heber:

Scarlet lobelia, or cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis) in the Heber yard. We had planted the seeds a couple of years ago and this summer at least four plants emerged. They are another flower that times its bloom with the fall migration of hummingbirds. It's interesting that the anthers on the flowers (the pollen bearing parts that protrude out of the flower) are situated just above where a hummingbird would stick its beak in. Therefore, this would seem specialized for getting the pollen grains on the hummingbirds' foreheads when they come in for a sip of nectar.

Rocky Mountain beeplant (Cleome serrulata) in the Heber yard:

blanket flower (Gaillardia pulchella) in the Heber yard:

 Jacob's ladder (Polemonium foliosissimum) in the Heber yard:

Apache plume (Fallugia paradoxa) along Cottonwood Wash, northeast of Heber:

western spiderwort (Tradescantia occidentalis) in the Heber yard:

Torrey's crag-lily (Anthericum torreyi) west of Heber:

red columbine (Aquilegia triternata) west of Heber:

prickly poppy (Argemone pleiacantha) west of Heber:

pine white butterfly on cutleaf coneflower (Rudbeckia laciniata) below the dam at Willow Springs Lake:

Reflection of cutleaf coneflowers in creek below the dam at Willow Springs Lake:

fritillary butterfly (?) on thistle (Cirsium sp.) below the dam at Willow Springs Lake:

Pinedrops (Pterospora andromedea) west of Heber. This plant lacks chlorophyll for photosynthesis, so it feeds off of decaying plant matter to obtain the byproducts of photosynthesis for food. Interestingly, this plant is in the family Ericaceae (the heather family), which also includes blueberries, huckleberries, madrones, and manzanitas.

Noseburn (Tragia nepetifolia) at Tonto Creek. This plant is related to stinging nettle and does cause pain for a couple of hours if your skin comes in contact with it.

red-and-yellow pea (Lotus wrightii) in Heber yard:

morning glory (Ipomoea sp.):

hairy golden aster (Heterotheca villosa) in Heber yard:

 New Mexico checkermallow (Sidalcea neomexicana) below the dam at Willow Springs Lake:

Mexican silene, or catchfly (Silene laciniata) below the dam at Willow Springs Lake:

pink windmills (Sisymbrium linearifolium) in the Heber yard:

white death-camas (Zigadenus elegans) west of Heber:

western dayflower (Commelina dianthifolia) in Heber yard:

tick-clover (Desmodium sp.) at Tonto Creek:

wild potato (Solanum jamesii) west of Heber; this is just the common name given in one of my plant books...I don't know if this is actually the species that domesticated potatoes were derived from:

wild bergamot, or mintleaf beebalm (Monarda menthaefolia) below the dam at Willow Springs Lake:

unidentified mint species (Monarda? sp.) in the Heber yard:

Daisies (Erigeron sp.), bracken fern (Pteridium aquilinum), and Richardson's geranium (Geranium richardsonii) below the dam at Willow Springs Lake:

Along with flowers, there was also ample evidence of the eventual products of the wildflowers: the fruit. Here are some pictures of the plants with fruit that we saw:

common baneberry (Actaea rubra) below the dam at Willow Springs Lake:

wax currant (Ribes cereum) west of Heber:

Arizona mountain-ash (Sorbus dumosa) below the dam at Willow Springs Lake:

hawthorne (Crataegus sp.) below the dam at Willow Springs Lake:

Also while we were looking at wildflowers we observed lots of animals too. Here are some pics:

mountain horned-lizard west of Heber:

Osprey at Willow Springs Lake:

unidentified lizard west of Heber:

Apparent track of a baby bear, west of Heber (notice chapstick for size comparison):

caterpillar below the dam at Willow Springs Lake:

Red Crossbills at our feeders in Heber (all are crossbills except House Finch and Pine Siskin in center):

Broad-tailed Hummingbird in Heber yard:

 

Blue butterflies at Tonto Creek:

 robber fly killing blue-winged grasshopper:

weird ant hill at Tonto Creek:

Eva having fun in Tonto Creek (the stubby tail is from the amputation she had this summer after she accidentally broke it and it became infected):

Mushrooms at Tonto Creek:

View of the Mogollon Rim from the road up to the Tonto Creek Hatchery: