Montezuma Well, Red Tank Draw

Back on November 12, 2010, I went down to Montezuma Well (part of Montezuma Castle National Monument) near Camp Verde south of Flagstaff. The main purpose of my visit was to chase after some rare warblers that were reported the previous day, one of which I found: a female Black & White Warbler. This was only my second time seeing this species ever and my first for Arizona. This is an interesting warbler species in that behaviorally, it acts like a nuthatch crawling along branches and tree trunks. Here are a couple of photos of the bird (not great, but good enough to tell what it is):

After birding the lush vegetation at the picnic area, I walked around at Montezuma Well itself, which is a collapsed limestone cavern where water gushes out from springs. The water pooling in the well has very low oxygen, so no fish can survive in it. There are aquatic animals that make it home though, like muskrats, leeches, and aquatic insects. The water leaves the well at a "swallet", which is an opening of an underground stream. The water here travels 150 ft. before coming out of a hillside adjacent to Wet Beaver Creek. The ancient Sinagua indians that lived here created a canal to capture the outflow of water emerging from the well, which is still present today. Within the well, there are several cliff dwellings and above it there are remnants of pit-houses. Here are several photos of Montezuma Well:

 

Before heading back to Flagstaff, I stopped at Red Tank Draw a few miles north of Montezuma Well. The drainage has water intermittently, although south of the bridge there is enough water moving below-ground to provide for lush vegetation like Arizona alders (Alnus arizonica). To the north of the bridge there is more cottonwood-ash habitat along the draw with desert/chaparral habitat on the surrounding slopes. There are very scenic rock formations up and down the wash too (one of my favorite spots to hike). On this day I just went a little ways south of the bridge and checked out some ancient indian petroglyphs on a rock slab someone told me about. Many of the etched pictures have been covered up by lichens (a mixture of algae and fungi):

Another highlight at Red Tank Draw was finding a Madrean alligator-lizard, which has a very smooth, snake-like appearance and movement (notice the short legs):