Task: Breaking Camp

Despite our late night trek last night, group members were still up as early as 5 and 6 a. m Good Friday morning, to the familiar sounds of a curious group of Blue Jays. Dr. Holtz and Dr. Merck were working on a time schedule for us to be on the road again, so it did not take the group long to grow a-buzz. Dr. Holtz dubbed April "Ground Hog" because of the similar way she popped her head out of her tent entrance to, squinting and glaring (we were giving each other nicknames during trip). Also Dr. Holtz eyed a rare sighting this morning: a Chirichahua Fox Squirrel [with red under-breast]. According to Park Rangers there are only about 8 of such squirrels in the park. By 8:00-30 we hit the road west bound on route 186 to 191, heading towards Tucson to our next destination, the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area. There were no problems with directions and infact many slept during the ride. On our way we past the Old Western Town of Tombstone, still vibrant with old western architecture and historical landmarks.

San Pedro Riparian Conservation Area

Once in the Conservation Area, we headed for the San Pedro River, which, unlike the majority of rivers seen during the trip, had water. The biom of the area consists diverse vegetation types including both Sonoran and Chichuahuan desert scub, grasslands, chaparral and Mednean Evegreen woodlands, and high elevation conifer forests: willows, Arizona ash and cotton woods (McClaran and Brady 208-17). We walked along a trail and the riverbank, keeping eye out for the areas' rich wildlife - especially the bird species. On the riverbank samplings of all three major rock forms could be found - sedimentary, metamorphic, and igneous. We also observed evaporite - sedimentary rock, gypsum, that forms by precipitation from evaporating seawater (infoplease.com). The directional flow and pattern of the river played a role on the development of rock types along the riverbed. Flowing in a zigzag pattern, the river exhibits a cut-bank process; where the banks or point bars of the river are eroded slowly by water flowing in one direction. Flowing water cuts and erodes rocks on a point bar along the river and deposits those sediments on another point bar further down the river. The rocks in and around the river consists of gravel and stone because of the swift flow of the river. Mud can only settle out of fast slowing water - hence there was no mud present on banks. Walking along the riverbank we sighted various wildlife - bugs, birds and lizards, which we identified with our book guides:

• Vermilian Flycatcher
• Darkling beetle
• Wren
• Wilson's Warbler
• Cooper's Hawk (Raptors were sighted leaving the Chirichahua National Monument and entering Tombstone)
• Black Bellied Whistling Duck
• Northern Rough Winged Swallow
• Western Grassland Whiptail Lizards (Cnemidophorus uniparens) - according to our guide, this species consists only of the female sex, its members go through female and male cycles, and pairing occurs with two lizards in one of each cycle. They were really fast and we made several futile attempts to catch one for closer observation - with the exception of John K. who came real close to catching one that we had surrounded.

Works Cited

McClaran, M.P. and Brady, W.W. "Arizona's Diverse Vegetations and Contributions to plant ecology." Rangelands 16: 208-17.

Day 8 (part II) Kartchner Caverns
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