The Daily Bucket is a regular feature of the Backyard Science group on Daily Kos. The purpose of the bucket is the posting of observations of the natural world. Plants flowering, leaves falling, meteors showering, insects emerging, fungi fruiting, storms gathering, road kill decomposing, and rocks just sitting there; all are worthy contributions to the bucket. Please post anything you see and find interesting from the natural world in the comments. No drop is too small for the bucket. Also please post, as close as is comfortable for you, where you made the observation.
This is a view close to one of the best backyards I’ve ever had, if only briefly, in my life. Ms mole and I are fortunate to have friends who live in Aravaipa Canyon, an hour’s drive north of Tucson. It is one of the most amazing places I have been to in my life. Back in the 90s, when we lived in Phoenix, we would house sit for them fairly regularly, keeping an eye on the house and the sheep often staying for a week or two.
Two and a half weeks ago, on our way home, we visited them for a couple of nights. Unfortunately our day there was the day it chose to rain all day. So we didn’t get to explore as much as we liked. Still we got to hang out with old friends and see some spectacular scenery.
In the arid southwest water is all important. Rivers and streams that provide a regular and dependable supply of water allow for a tremendous amount of life that could not otherwise live in the area. This is also true for human beings and our great skill at diverting this water for our own uses has caused many of the major waterways of the southwest to become shadows of their former selves or run dry completely.
The Colorado river drainage encompasses almost all of Arizona, with the exception of a couple of very small areas right on the Mexican border. It also drains areas of other states as well of course but I’ll just focus on Arizona. This drainage has a unique group of endemic fish species. Today, most of these fishes are highly endangered due to loss of habitat. Some of the larger species are now restricted to artificial lakes, an environment to which they are less suited than the non-native eastern species (bass, sunfish) that have been introduced.
Aravaipa creek has it source high on the slopes of Mt Graham, the highest peak in southern Arizona. Water flows year round the entire length of the creek until it meets the San Pedro river. This permanent flow is most unusual at lower elevations in Arizona. Aravaipa Canyon provides habitat for many species that could not otherwise survive in the Sonoran desert. Seven species of native fishes live in the creek along with plants and aquatic invertebrates. Our friends have a trail camera and pictures of javelina (collared peccary) and coatis are routine as are deer and sometimes mountain lions. During the spring and summer the riparian woodland of cottonwood, sycamore, and willow is alive with brightly colored birds: cardinals, hooded orioles, blue grosbeaks, and vermillion flycatchers. Over half of the Gila Monsters I’ve seen in the wild in my life have been seen in the canyon. Common Black Hawks can be easily seen here in the summer, just about the only place where that is true.
The canyon is a popular destination for hiking. The lower portion is all privately owned but there is a large wilderness area controlled by the BLM. Permits are required to enter this area to limit the number of people in the canyon at any point in time. Although I think getting a permit is possible at any time most hiking is done in the spring and fall. There is no trail and hiking requires frequent wading in the creek which would be cold in winter. Hiking in summer would be very uncomfortable during dry periods and extremely dangerous during the monsoon due to the possibility of flash floods.
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