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Friday, March 11, 2005: Five members of the Cabeza Prieta Natural History Association (in alphabetical order: Bill Browne, Dorothy & Hank Jorgensen, Don & Gayle Weyers) met at 9:00 a.m. at the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge (CPNWR) (32.386361°N, 112.872666°W [wp 1, Map 2]) Headquarters. By 9:30 we were on our way southwest on Darby Well Road which joined Bates Well Road (32.33931°N, 112.84936°W [wp 2, Map 2]). This stretch of the desert is overseen by the Bureau of Land Management. It is 17.8 miles to the boundary of Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument (32.200444°N, 112.905444°W [wp 3, Map 2]). Some of the plants we saw were: creosote bushes, saguaros, brittlebush, ocotillos, blue palo verde, triangle-leaf bursage, teddy bear and chain fruit cholla. The birds were plentiful: red-tailed hawks and turkey vultures soaring on the thermals, phainopeplas, northern mockingbirds, Gila woodpeckers, ash-throated flycatchers, verdins, cactus wrens and curve-billed thrashers.
We arrived at the CPNWR boundary at 10:30 am (32.130305°N, 113.085583°W [wp 4, Map 2], elev. 1108). Our odometer showed 21.9 miles (from Refuge Hdqtrs). The desert is covered by a blanket of green - mostly annual broad-leafed plants, some grasses, desert shrubs and trees. It is a very unusual sight, but is due to the abundant rainfall experienced since early October. It has been a very good winter for desert plants. On the way, we traversed Cholla Pass, resplendent with its thick forest of saguaros and teddy-bear chollas (32.110666°N, 113.181027°W [wp 5, Map 2], elev. 1093).
Lunch was at Papago Well (32.098888°N, 113.287222°W [wp 6, Map 2], elev. 906) with Costa's hummingbirds, phainopeplas and the ever-present mockingbirds.
We stopped at O'Neill's grave (32.097666°N, 113.353611°W [wp 7, Map 2], elev. 783), which is just south of the el Camino where we left a "coin offering" as many others have done. It's interesting to note that the coins have not been taken.
We camped on the Pinacate lava flow just past the eastern part of the Pinta Sands. Hank and Don hiked to the north end of the lava flow (32.138861°N, 113.463555°W [wp 8, Map 2] aerial photo aerial photo crater zoom, elev. 741). We were serenaded all night long by a northern mockingbird. He was on a mission! Our mission was to sleep!
Saturday, March 12: This morning we spent exploring parts of the dunes looking for animal tracks and holes, birds, lizards, plants (32.0995°N, 113.474361°W [wp 9, Map 3], elev. 735). The Pinta Sands were covered with sand verbena, dune evening primroses, globe mallows and an occasional sand lily.
It was 79 degrees at 11 a.m. when we resumed our trip west on the el Camino. It was really difficult to adjust to the multitude of green plants that are all over the desert. In one area the dune evening primroses were profuse (32.130333°N, 113.566222°W [wp 10, Map 3], elev. 791). Upon closer inspection we noticed hundreds of hornworm caterpillars eating on the plants. We later learned that these were the larvae of white-lined sphinx moths. This quote by Richard Felger in his book "Flora of the Gran Desierto and Rio Colorado, NW Mexico" illustrates the potential impact of these caterpillars: "Toward the end of the season the plants (dune evening primrose) are ravaged by hoards of sphinx moth caterpillars. Great masses of evening primroses carpeted the dunes during the 1992 El nino, but the caterpillars destroyed almost the entire fruit (seed) crop."
In some places the globemallow covered the desert in profusion. It was in these areas that we saw many large groups of painted lady butterflies flying around. This was quite a scene to feast our eyes on.
At 3 p.m. we arrived at Tule Well (32.226222°N, 113.749361°W [wp 11, Map 3], elev. 1180) where we walked around taking pictures of the blooming compass barrel cactus. There were several in the area, and each was a wonderful find. We were surprised to be joined by a curious black-tailed jackrabbit that didn't seem too concerned with our presence. We also got some pictures of cotton-top cactus (aka many-headed barrel cactus and cannon- ball cactus).
Some of the new birds we saw today were the greater roadrunner, black-tailed gnatcatchers, mourning doves, American kestrels, loggerhead shrikes, Gambel's quail, rock wrens, Say's phoebes, white-crowned sparrows, and a western meadowlark that sang out and alerted us to its presence.
Christmas Pass (32.277444°N, 113.694111°W [wp 12, Map 3], elev. 1008), Christmas Pass area.
Camp that night was set up about half way between Christmas Pass and Tule Well (32.239972°N, 113.717527°W [wp 13, Map 3], elev. 1127). This was the scene from the ridge Photo 1, Photo 2, Photo 3, Photo 4 east of our campsite. It shows the sun setting on the Sierra Pinta Mountains. This range of mountains trends northwest to southeast on the Refuge. It is one of seven ranges that are part of the basin and range province within the CPNWR.
In addition to another night of northern mockingbird serenading we also had a great-horned owl that joined the chorus line. The silence of the desert is enhanced by their sounds.
Sunday, March 13: This morning we hiked up some ridges west of our campsite. We found desert hibiscus and blazing stars. Black-throated sparrows, rock and canyon wrens were numerous.
Once more we were on the el Camino driving toward the west entrance of the Refuge by noon. On both sides of the road were fields of globemallows at least 2 to 3 feet high. We had hoped to have lunch at Tule Tank (32.226611°N, 113.796472°W [wp 14, Map 3], elev.1320), but couldn't find it. In the end we had lunch up a gorgeous canyon just west of Tule Tank (we discovered later). See Cabeza Prieta Mountain in the distance. There were numerous elephant trees, limber bushes, nolina, and chuparosa. Afterwards we had three very memorable discoveries: a flat-tailed horned lizard, a western screech owl (gray) resting in a saguaro, and several broomrape plants, parasitic on bursages and burrobrush (Richard Felger, 2000).
We left the Refuge and traveled to the Tinajas Altas Mountains where we would camp for the next couple of nights. A brief hike up into the rocks to the lower tanks (32.311833°N, 114.050944°W [wp 15, Map 4], elev. 1244) provided us with a glimpse of a red-spotted toad.
Monday-Tuesday, March 14-15: In the spring the area below the high tanks in the Tinajas Altas (Spanish for "High Tanks") is a wonderful birding spot. In the early morning a symphony of bird song was heard. Birds we saw were: white-throated swifts, common ravens, turkey vultures and red-tailed hawks soaring above the ridges, ash-throated flycatchers, Lincoln, black-throated and white-crowned sparrows, Costa's and Rufous hummingbirds, verdins, black-tailed gnatcatchers, Say's phoebes, canyon and rock wrens, phainopeplas, ladder-backed and Gila woodpeckers, Bullock's orioles, Lawrence's goldfinches, orange-crowned warblers, spotted towhees, house finches, and mourning doves. Once again our night was alive with the sounds of the northern mockingbird, common poorwills and bats.
We had traveled 267 miles when we arrived back at the Refuge headquarters in Ajo, Arizona.
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