This year I wanted to have a low-key Spring Break and stayed with la familia over in Heber. During the day we did some exploring of forest roads on the north side of the Mogollon Rim south and east of Heber that we had not been on before, in addition to a couple roads we had not been on since before the 2002 Rodeo-Chediski fire. To our surprise, good portions of the habitat were spared by the fire along FR 487 with nice patches of mixed conifers and huge Gambel oaks still alive and well. On one day my mom and I also did some birding over in the Show Low-Pinetop-Lakeside area and checked out the far east end of the Rim Rd. (FR 300). We also went below the Rim to hike and look for fossils down near Sharp Creek. The last day was spent at Petrified Forest National Park (separate post), where we hadn't visited in probably over a decade. During the nights we cooked up some new recipes and made margaritas, in amongst blasting the new Dropkick Murphys album and watching episodes of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, South Park, and Seinfeld. And, of course, Eva got lots of playtime out in the woods on our jaunts. There was action in the yard as well, with an influx of American Robins and Pine Siskins swarming our seed feeders.
Here are various photos from over Spring Break:
One of the highlights from the break was getting better-than-ever views of Red Crossbills foraging on some fairly low pine branches over our heads at Jacques Marsh in Lakeside (good photo ops too!). They are an interesting bird because with crossed mandibles, they are adapted for prying open pine cone scales to get at the seeds inside. Furthermore, Red Crossbills consist of what are called "cryptic species" where the whole species complex may actually consist of as many as nine separate species. Those types that have been classified so far differ in the conifer species they feed on, bill measurements, and dialect:
Two crossbills fighting over rights to forage at that special cone (one is biting the other with its bill):
On one of the days we went down parts of FR 86, 487, and 300. On the first stretch of FR 487 near Legacy Ranch, we came upon a herd of feral horses foraging on the regenerating grasses in the burn area. These horses are descended from stock released by the U.S. military and the Apaches after the indian subjugation campaigns of the late 1800's. We've encountered these horses in many areas of the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest along the Rim between Heber and Pinedale. You can also find huge dung piles left by stallions to mark their territories.
Here are some pics of the areas along FR487 that we found had survived the Rodeo-Chediski fire:
Also while walking around this grove, we heard and saw our first-of-season Olive Warblers, in addition to an immature Bald Eagle soaring over:
Adjacent burned forest, showing how patchy the fire behavior was (hit-and-miss) and what pine regeneration looks like almost nine years after Arizona's largest fire in history:
Some views from the Rim Rd. near Gentry Lookout of the R-C burn area:
Zoomed in, hazy view of the San Francisco Peaks in the distance from the edge of the Mogollon Rim near Gentry Lookout (you can barely make them out over the horizon, with lots of snow still on the peaks):
While driving the forest roads, we also came across lots of elk and Wild Turkeys. Here are a couple of the turkeys crossing from the national forest land onto the White Mountain Apache Reservation (I don't think the organisms we share this world with care about our petty boundaries that we try to designate):
Steller's Jay feather:
While we stopped to pick up some rocks for my parents to use in creating more gardens, we came across a stock tank that contained lots of aquatic animals starting to wake up as the temperatures increased and the snow continued to melt. Among these, we saw insects like water-striders, backswimmers, and waterbugs, some small snails, and what appeared to be fertilized amphibian eggs. It's amazing what you see when you take the time to really see all of the cogs and wheels in the world around you:
Eva playing in snow (all in one toy, slushie, and evaporative cooler):
Down at Sharp Creek we found lots of cool fossils, mainly of marine organisms (still trying to figure out what exactly they are...). We think some of the fossils are corals, anemones, and hemichordates. The fossil in the last photo looks like petrified wood:
Views of Sharp Creek and the pine-oak forest there:
And lastly, a few flower shots exhibiting the first signs of spring. This first one is a stemless daisy (Townsendia exscapa):
wild candytuft (Thlaspi montanum):
Old inflorescence of teasel (Dipsacus sylvestris), an introduced species from Europe:
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