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FRIENDS OF CAVE CREEK CANYON
Our Mission is to inspire appreciation and understanding of the beauty, biodiversity and legacy of Cave Creek Canyon through volunteer work and outreach programs.
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Cave Creek Canyon from Vista Point
All Photos by Peg Abbott of Naturalist Journey's
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Mason Bees
By Raymond A. Mendez
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Having collected a large amount of lumber cut to about 22” in length, I delight in the sound of our log splitter as it snaps, pops and splits the logs. I can carefully control most splits so as to stop the unit in the event that a treasure appears. It is a joyful experience to see what each log offers in revealing the inner dwellings of insects from termites to ants to beetles to moth larva to bees and on and on. If I find a log splits to reveal a new world, I either explore right at the moment or set them aside to look at later. Joy sometimes looks at me when something special comes into view as she knows that may be it for log splitting for a time. Recently we were splitting a log when a nest of Mason Bees just popped into view. Mason Bees are often housed as pets in yards ware folks are looking to increase pollinators and save our native bees. They don’t dig a nest in wood but look for appropriate size abandoned burrows or cracks in the tree where they can raise their young. |
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The nest was made in an old burrow that the female cleaned out and then packed with pollen and nectar where she layed her eggs. She does this over and over until the tunnel is full. She carefully separated the larva from each other with a cell cap that is made from mulched leaves. |
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Female Osmia ribifloris, getting ready to leave the system. Interesting to note that the last constructed cells emerge first. If the oldest emerged first they would have to dig through their younger siblings. A neat trick this. I thank my friend Ron McGinley for identifying the bee.
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The larva spin lovely silk pupal cocoons where they overwinter. Notice the green vegetative material separating the chambers and little brown pellets. Many social insect larva will not defecate as they grow but hold the feces in their intestinal system. This keeps the nest clean and fee of bacteria. As they get ready to pupate they eject the accumulated feces and so make an immaculate, clean cocoon. Nice house keeping trick. |
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Female sitting on the edge of a leaf. The circular cut was probably made by a leaf-cutter bee, another common and lovely visitor to our backyard. |
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The male quickly ran up the branch and sat at its tip. Males have long antenna and the face is full of long white hairs that they probably use to sniff out the females who may be emitting pheromones to attract them. May be the other way around but they do get to meet for mating and that is what counts. |
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The Bucket Biologist
By Charles Smith, Ph.D.
Wofford College, Spartanburg, SC
The emergence and subsequent worldwide spread of COVID-19 has ushered in immense change for many, if not most, people in everything we do each day. From home life to how we work, it’s a new unfamiliar world that finds us continually making adjustments and, unfortunately, it is likely to remain the state of our lives for the near future. As a college professor, the changes brought on by COVID-19 have been profound. No longer am I in a crowded classroom interacting with my students, rather, like numerous other educators, my new daily routine involves Zoom class sessions and remote assignments. It has been a learning experience for myself, and certainly for my students as well.
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Not all is dark, however. Moving to remote learning has opened opportunities to explore how we as educators teach in a meaningful way. I’m a field biologist and ecologist by training, and I instruct advanced students on the fundamental concepts of ecology, hopefully guiding them to think with an ecologist’s mind, and to, as a close colleague of mine so eloquently states “[help students] look at the world through eyes of wonder.” With that in mind, there are few more wonderous places that I know of than the Sky Islands of Arizona, and the Chiricahua Mountains.
As the change loomed from in-person instruction to remote-learning, I made the decision to temporarily relocate to Rodeo, New Mexico, and have the Chiricahua Desert Museum—with whom I’ve had a close association for a number of years—as my base. In the surrounding mountains, ecology is on full display, and I quickly redirected my teaching to take full advantage of it. For example, to encourage my students to better appreciate biological diversity, I created a series of short videos that I affectionately called “The Bucket Biologist,” named so because I sat on a small plastic bucket while being recorded.
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Each video featured a particular plant or animal inhabiting the Sky Island region, and I asked students to ponder the various ways that organisms have adapted to the differing environments, from the desert floor to the high elevation peaks of the Chiricahuas. I then challenged my students back home, over 2,000 miles away, to create their own Bucket Biologist videos. To then illustrate plant adaptations to desert conditions, I, now newly minted in hosting my own biology reality show, created a second set of videos, leading the students on virtual hikes, describing for them the feel of the desert wind, the sight of waves heat rising off the desert floor, and the glare of intense sun. Along the way, on each virtual hike, I snipped leaves off here and there, gently saving them in small baggies and labeling each with plant names and locations. After accumulating a sizeable collection of leaves, and having recorded all of the necessary video, I shipped everything to colleagues in my college department back home. From there we developed a virtual lab module that we’ve come to be quite proud of—students examining microscope photos of plant leaf surfaces, taken from samples that I collected for them in my videos, and looking for hints of adaptations to the environments I had led them through virtually. Both of these exercises have proven quite popular with our students, and come the eventual relaxation of pressures from COVID, however long that may take, and the eventual return to a “normal” classroom, my colleagues and I still plan to use the materials developed out here. In one of the most wonderous places I know. |
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How to use your Amazon Smile Shopping to Benefit Friends of Cave Creek Canyon |
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This is the most painless way to support, FOCCC and other non-profits you want to help. Just go to Smile.amazon.com , log in using your regular username & password. Then select Friends of Cave Creek Canyon as your beneficiary. Amazon will send FOCCC a percentage of your purchase prices. During the time of Covid-19, many of us are relying on Amazon for essential items that we don't wan to risk leaving our homes for. Give it a try!
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Facebook offers a super easy way to do a fundraiser |
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Keep in mind that you'll be asked to provide the following information when creating a birthday fundraiser:
- The nonprofit you want to raise money for.
- The amount of money you want to raise.
- The date you want your fundraiser to end.
- A title and description for your fundraiser.
Note: This feature is only available in some areas. Only nonprofits that have been approved for fundraisers on Facebook can be selected to receive donations for these fundraisers.
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Cave Creek Canyon: Revealing the Heart of Arizona's Chiricahua Mountains 2nd Edition $19.95
Two ways to order online
Available in person at :
Visitor Information Center of Cave Creek Canyon
Portal Store & Café
Sky Islands Grill & Grocery
Chiricahua Desert Museum
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A Special Thank You to our Generous Members ! |
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Lifetime Members ~ One Time $1500 Donation
Mike Leuthold
Delia Scholes
Pat Parran
Denise Ward
Mike and Cecil Williams
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Sustainer's Circle Members
Kirby Alguire
Tom Arny
Bob and Bettina Arrigoni
Charles and Mary George
Bill and Sally Hague
Paul Hirt and Linda Jakse
Fritz and Gayle Jandry
Don Hollister
Claudia Kirscher
Rae and Jim Ludke
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Patrick McNamara
John and Karin McQuillan
Barbara and Pete Miller
Cecilia Raak
Tom Roseman and Paula Baldwin
Lee Simpson and Howard Szczech
Andrew & Ellen Stepniewski
John and Linda Sumner
Jeff and Alice Wakefield
Bob and Sherry Zoellick.
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Help us thank our Business Members who have given generously to Friends of Cave Creek Canyon.
Without their assistance, we would be hard pressed to accomplish our goals.
Click on their names to check out their websites.
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A.S.K. Pest Control
Ed Newbold Wildlife Artist
Painted Pony
Sky Island Grill & Grocery
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Daussin & Associates
Migration Taco
OL' Morani Ranch
Sky Island Rolfing
Terry Miller
Umphres Propane
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Would you or a friend like to submit and article for the FOCCC Newsletter? Our goal is to share information about the going's on in the Canyon.
Always include: your email, pictures w/credits and text. We can't guarantee your article will be used but all submissions will be reviewed and considered. Remember to keep it relevant, timely, and brief.
Send your plain text article with photos attached via email to
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