West Fork hike on M. Day

On May 8, 2011, I met with my mom for hiking/birding on Mother's Day. Knowing that the winds were going to be bad that day and seeing that it was already breezy in the morning, we decided to go down to hike the trail in West Fork of Oak Creek Canyon. The canyon walls and dense riparian vegetation kept us mostly sheltered from the wind and  made for a warm hike. Everything was in bloom and most of the trees had leafed out, including a tree species new to us, western hophornbeam (Ostrya knowltonii, Family Betulaceae). The tree was everywhere in West Fork, along with probably the highest density of bigtooth maples (Acer grandidentatum) we've seen in the state. Tons of breeding and migrant birds were active in the canyon, including our first-of-season Red-faced Warblers. At one point we were surprised by a Painted Redstart flushing just in front of us on the trail, revealing where its nest was in a cut in the bank on the side of the trail. The nest had 4 eggs in it. We only went up to the point where there are towering cliffs above the creek (kind of a cliff theater), although the trail apparently keeps going up to the Rim. A gorgeous hike! After getting back to Flagstaff we ate out at a Mexican restaurant before she headed back to Heber.

Here are various shots of the scenery, flowers, and wildlife of West Fork:

Red-faced Warbler:

Painted Redstart and nest with eggs:

House Wren:

Freshwater snail species:

Sucker [fish] species:

Caterpillar (unidentified):

Tent caterpillars on chokecherry:

cliff fendlerbush (Fendlera rupicola, Family Saxifragaceae):

chokecherry (Prunus serotina, Family Rosaceae):

liverworts (Marchantia sp.) with gemmae cups used in asexual reproduction; the first land plants:

Douglas-fir (Psuedotsuga menziesii, Family Pinaceae) with large "witches-broom" created by parasitic mistletoe:

silverleaf lupine (Lupinus argenteus, Family Fabaceae):

western wallflower (Erysimum caespitosum, Family Brassicaceae):

New Mexico raspberry (Rubus neomexicana, Family Rosaceae):

Western hophornbeam (Ostrya knowltonii, Family Betulaceae), which has very shreddy bark and birch-like leaves. Its range is very restricted in the state, also occurring in the Grand Canyon besides West Fork. Probably relict populations that got trapped in certain drainages after the last ice age. Many of these trees had sprouting of new leaves from certain spots that, from a distance, looked like mistletoe. Perhaps this is a response to herbivory by mammals or insects:

duckweed (Lemna minor, Family Lemnaceae), an aquatic plant:

yellow monkeyflower (Mimulus guttatus, Family Scrophulariaceae):

false Solomon's seal (Smilacina racemosa, Family Liliaceae):

horsetails (Equisetum arvense), which is a member of the true ferns:

coral bells (Heuchera sanguinea, Family Saxifragaceae), with unopened flower buds:

bigtooth maple (Acer grandidentatum, Family Aceraceae):

meadow violet (Viola nephrophylla, Family Violaceae):

Canada violet (Viola canadensis, Family Violaceae):

western waterleaf (Hydrophyllum occidentale, Family Hydrophyllaceae):

starwort (Stellaria jamesiana, Family Caryophyllaceae):

mountain lover (Pachystima myrsinites, Family Celastraceae):

mountain spray (Holodiscus dumosus, Family Rosaceae):

unidentified fern:

golden pea (Thermopsis pinetorum, Family Fabaceae):

Gambel oak (Quercus gambelii, Family Fagaceae) leaves, with reddish fungal galls:

timothy grass (Phleum sp., Family Poaceae):