Fort Huachuca: Garden Canyon

Tuesday, Christine and I went for a hike in Garden Canyon, which is on the Fort Huachuca military base. (ID and Car registration required for entrance). It is a wonderful drive, although the last three miles require a four wheel drive vehicle. You should be able to get to the first hike, Sheelite Canyon without a four by four. Sheelite is a narrow, relatively steep canyon with water typically running through it. One claim to fame is the pair of nesting Spotted Owls that live in the canyon. Further up Garden Canyon are two petroglyph sites, and finally Sawmill Canyon and trail. You can continue past Sawmill Canyon but the road becomes Jeep "trail rated" only.  

But, lets go back to Sawmill Canyon where we hiked, and the PRIZE of the day. Whenever I go on a photo trip or hike, I go over in my mind what I expect to see and what I hope to see. For Garden Canyon I expect to see White Tailed Deer -- which I did.  For Sawmill Canyon I expect to see (at this time of the year) lots of butterflies. Well, I wasn't disappointed there either. I'll show you those tomorrow. I also hope to see a Black Bear or a Skunk, or an Owl. I wasn't expecting to see what I saw: a family of Montezuma Quail.

The Montezuma Quail is a rare and secretive ground bird that lives in parts of Mexico and the extreme southeastern part of Arizona. There have been rare sightings in the extreme southwestern part of New Mexico and west Texas. In all cases never more than 50 miles from the Mexican border. We did not see the male, but saw the female with six to eight chicks. All went scurrying in every direction. I was fortunate to get a few photos of the female and one chick:

Montezuma Quail

Montezuma Quail

Young Montezuma Quail 

More from Garden Canyon, Huachucas

The first is actually a moth, a Hummingbird Moth. When first observed you might think it is a hummingbird -- hence the name. But it is a moth, and really quite beautiful. The second photo is of a Two Tailed Swallowtail, also on a thistle. The third is a Red Spotted Purple. There are so many Pipevine Swallowtails (fourth photo) that initially I thought the third photo was also a Pipevine Swallowtail or a Black Swallowtail. However, upon close examination -- no tail! Also the blue spots on the hindwing are quite distinctive. The Huachucas would be about the westernmost range of the Red Spotted Purple. The RSP, like the Viceroy (yesterday), and the California Sister (last photo) are large butterflies in the Admiral Family. The California Sister is abundant in the Huachucas.

Butterflies of Garden Canyon

Thistles, both New Mexico and Arizona varieties abound in Garden Canyon. They are a favorite of butterflies. And, because they have such bright wonderful color, make great photographs. Here are some of the butterflies I have photographed in Garden Canyon: First, sulphurs, maybe Southern Dogface (the darker one) and Cloudless or Clouded, can't really tell. Second, a Giant Swallowtail. Third, Viceroy. And, fourth Dull Firetip. Between butterflies and wildflowers, there always seems to be something to photograph if I am not finding large mammals or rare birds.

Wildflowers of Garden Canyon

Of course there are hundreds of varieties of wildflowers in Garden Canyon, but I took four photos the other day that I particularly liked. The first is the Western Salsify, who's puffball was a good six or seven inches in diameter.  I had to look that up, because I thought it was a dandelion on steroids. But, no it is a Western Salsify, also called Goat's Beard, Wild Oysterplant, or Yellow Salsify.  The second photo is Butterflyweed, aptly named since Garden Canyon is noted for its amazing butterflies. The third photo is Columbine, which I have showed you before but love its delicacy. And the fourth is Prickly Poppy with what appears to be a California Carpenter Bee. Tomorrow the butterflies.