On Thursday, July 29 there were 5 field trips to different areas in southern Arizona. Some were rather close while others covered considerable miles. Originally there were only four scheduled, each with a rented van limiting the number of participants. Due to an incredible demand, an impromptu car caravan field trip came together at the last minute. Click on the thumbnail photos below to see some of the habitat explored and the paticipants enjoying being in the field. Unfortuantely there are not photos from Art Evan's birding trip but those partipants reported seeing many invertebrates as well as birds at the Nature Conservancy's Patagonia/Sonoita Creek Preserve.

Joel Floyd and Karen Sondak of the Friends of the Santa Cruz river showed participants how they monitor water quality by sampling the invertebrates in the river. Since the Santa Cruz flows north out of Mexico where environmental regulations are minimal, the health of the river in the US is of concern. Besides learning about the invertebrates in the swollen river, particpants also learned that during the monsoon season, the signs warning against crossing when flooded should be heeded. The stuck vehicle (right) was not that of the field trip but of someone to whom the group chose to lend a helping hand.

Randy Morgan led a trip to Peña Blanca Lake about 10 miles from Rio Rico Resort and to Sycamore Canyon, a little further down the Ruby Road. In this diverse habitat, one can find a number of Mexican species which make their way into the US along this corridor. The vine snake and the Sonoran chub can still be found here while the Tarahumara frog is no longer present. They, like many of the amphibians around the world, have suffered severe losses in recent years.