Mesquite Wash
Tonto National Forest, Arizona

Introduction

Mesquite Wash is a rare desert riparian habitat located approximately 20 miles northeast of Fountain Hills, Arizona. Follow the Bee Line Highway, SR 87, a few miles past the Four Peaks turn off, watching for the Mesquite Wash sign. The main wet areas are on the west side of the highway where there is a large dirt parking area. A spring and a 1/2 km long stretch of permanent water lie a short distance down the sandy 4x4 roads leading from the parking area. Tremendous biodiversity in terms of plants, birds, butterflies and aquatic life is easily observed here.

Although these roads are somewhat passable, I recommend walking in. Environmental damage in this area is severe ... the large shade trees and broad sandy washes attract many recreationists many of whom behave irresponsibly. Rubbish, human waste, spent ammunition, spilled motor fuels and lubricants, and numerous eroded ORV trails ... but don't let these hazards and eyesores stop your visit. There are so many fascinating natural observations that can be made here. And when your visit is complete, please write a note to the Forest Service:



Tonto National Forest
2324 E. McDowell Road
Phoenix, Arizona 85006

View a Slide Show of Mesquite Wash at Flickr.

© Mike Plagens

A view to the west at Mesquite Wash.
The road cut is the Bee Line Hwy., SR 87.

Thank you! The forest service and off road vehicle users groups have responded by erecting signs and barriers to keep vehicles out of the most sensitive area. Some sensitive areas are left out, however, and a few riders view the signs and barriers as an affront to their imagined rights and ride around them straight into the spring area. More policing might be necessary.

In addition there are two watersheds, Rock Creek and Mesquite Wash, that extend well up into the foothills of Four Peaks on the east side of the road. These are reachable via high-clearance vehicle road -- or better yet hike up the dry wash beds. They are easy to hike for the first few kilometers and offer many interesting things to see. The lower portion of Rock Creek includes a dense mesquite bosque that includes a variety of other trees such as Texas Mulberry. The creek and bosque are vital stopping points for migrating neotropical birds. The Mesquite Wash area also includes deep sandy washes, wash banks, rocky hillsides/bajadas and tallus slopes each with different sets of plants and animals.


View Mesquite Wash in a larger map. The shaded area represent the area designated as Mesquite Wash in this guide.
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Sept 15, 2002: Desert Warfare

Despite three years of drought and food scarcity, the twelve-year-old Native Fire Ant (NFAs) colony still had thousands of nest members and a significant class of new recruits nearing maturity. Ant recruits are larvae (grubs) and are white, legless and helpless. These larvae are kept in deep underground chambers where cooler temperatures and higher humidity prevail. Chewed up food from the adult ants foraging is regurgitated constantly for the larvae to feed. During recent hard times the scarcity of food meant the grubs were growing very slowly ... too slow to replace the foraging adults who were aging and dying. And with food in short supply, the numbers of maturing majors (larger size workers with larger jaws and more powerful stings) was also way down from optimum.

Just a week ago a deluge of much needed rain soaked the ground and brought forth numerous plant seedlings and hatching insects ... i.e. food resources desperately needed by the colony. The NFAs had been very busy the past few days foraging ... sending out many workers to search far and wide for food items to return into the nest.

Then this evening, soon after dark, while many foragers were still away, guests arrived at the colony doors. They weren't invited and came so quickly and in such numbers that they quickly dispatched the NFA majors that had been holding sentinel. The guests were blind Arizona Army Ants (AAAs) bearing long sharp mandibles and powerful stings. Long-legged and agile the invaders quickly killed or evaded all defenders on their way down into the chambers holding the young grubs.

The order to abandon the NFA colony came soon there after. Every able-bodied NFA worker and major grabbed one or more of the young grubs and departed the colony nest by an auxiliary exit. Carrying their precious young out and up a nearby cactus, they sought refuge from the marauders at the tips of the highest cactus spines. Any grubs left behind were quickly gathered up by the AAAs and hauled out and back to their own bivouac-colony. Other AAAs pursued the defenders up the cactus where they engaged them in a lethal fight. Usually the AAA succeeded in snatching the grubs away. Some ants leapt from the cactus only to fall into a widow spider's web below. Others dropped their grub-cargo during battle ... on the ground, other AAAs waited for the falling spoils. What's more, there were also several scorpions moving with the invaders and they also preyed upon fallen grubs.

Once the AAAs had a full bounty of booty they broke off the invasion and departed as quickly as they arrived. As dead and dying NFAs littered the ground everywhere, the survivors returned to the colony chambers each carrying a rescued young grub.

Deep in the colony a NFA queen was nonetheless spared as countless majors and workers defended her against all odds ... the AAAs were getting what they came for ... the tender young grubs ... and so spared the queen. For this the NFAs were quite lucky, since the AAAs often spend the following day bivouacked in the defeated colony's chambers. Left outside in the withering desert sunshine, such colonies are doomed. In the coming days and weeks the NFA queen will lead her colony to rebuild and regroup. That she must for the Arizona Army Ants could well return for the coup d'etat.




Solenopsis xyloni major and minor workers © Michael Plagens

The ants with the big heads and mandibles are the fire ant soldiers, Solenopsis. Even with potent stings the fire ants were unable to thwart the attack of army ants.


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Birds

This is a long list because Mesquite Wash is a riparian habitat. Birds likely to be seen with more common birds at top:

  1. Mourning Dove -- S,F,W,Sp
  2. Bell's Vireo -- Sp,S
  3. Cliff Swallow -- Sp,S
  4. Northern Rough-winged Swallow -- Sp,F
  5. Violet-Green Swallow -- F,Sp
  6. Song Sparrow -- S,F,W,Sp
  7. Verdin -- S,F,W,Sp Tiny birds, barely larger than a hummingbird. Gray/brown with a majestic yellow head.
  8. Lesser Goldfinch -- S,F,W,Sp
  9. House Finch -- S,F,W,Sp Males have conspicuous red on head and upper chest
  10. Black Phoebe -- S,F,W,Sp
  11. Turkey Vulture -- S,F,Sp
  12. Red-tailed Hawk -- S,F,W,Sp
  13. Wilson's Warbler -- Sp,F
  14. Orange-crowned Warbler -- Sp,F
  15. Yellow Warbler -- Sp,S,F
  16. McGillavry's Warbler -- Sp,F
  17. Lucy's Warbler -- Sp,S
  18. Yellow-rumped Warbler -- W,F,Sp
  19. White-winged Dove -- Sp,S
  20. Gila Woodpecker -- S,F,W,Sp
  21. Gilded Flicker -- S,F,W,Sp
  22. Ladder-backed Woodpecker -- S,F,W,Sp
  23. Northern Flicker -- S,F,W,Sp
  24. Rock Wren -- S,F,W,Sp
  25. Black-chinned Hummingbird -- S
  26. Anna's Hummingbird -- S,F,W,Sp Common. Green back; forehead and throat of males magenta.
  27. Yellow-breasted Chat -- Sp,S
  28. Black-tailed Gnatcatcher -- S,F,W,Sp so tiny and so animated!
  29. Black-throated Sparrow -- S,F,W,Sp
  30. Northern Cardinal -- S,F,W,Sp
  31. Black-headed Grosbeak -- Sp,S
  32. Blue Grosbeak -- Sp,S
  33. Brown-crested Flycatcher -- S
  34. Summer Tanager -- Sp,S,F
  35. Western Tanager -- Sp
  36. Western Wood Pewee -- S,F,Sp
  37. Gambel's Quail -- S,F,W,Sp
  38. White-crowned Sparrow -- W,Sp
  39. Brewer's Sparrow -- W,Sp
  40. Lark Sparrow -- W,Sp
  41. White-throated Swift -- S,F,Sp
  42. Northern Mockingbird --S,F,W,Sp
  43. Greater Roadrunner -- S,F,W,Sp
  44. Say's Phoebe -- W,Sp
  45. Brown-headed Cowbird -- S,F,W,Sp lays its eggs in other birds nests.
  46. Warbling Vireo -- Sp,F,S
  47. Bronzed Cowbird -- S also parasitizes other birds' nests
  48. Lesser Nighthawk -- Sp,S flies at dusk catching insects mid air.
  49. Cassin's Kingbird -- Sp,S
  50. Western Kingbird -- Sp,S
  51. Ash-throated Flycatcher -- Sp,S
  52. Cactus Wren -- S,F,W,Sp
  53. Curve-billed Thrasher -- S,F,W,Sp
  54. Phainopepla -- S,F,W,Sp
  55. Abert's Towhee -- S,F,W,Sp
  56. Canyon Towhee -- S,F,W,Sp
  57. Green-tailed Towhee -- W,Sp
  58. Common Raven -- S,F,W,Sp
  59. Hooded Oriole -- Sp,S
  60. Bullock's Oriole -- F,Sp
  61. Hermit Thrush -- F,Sp
  62. Black-throated Gray Warbler -- Sp,S,F
  63. Townsend's Warbler -- Sp,F
  64. Cordilleran Flycatcher & Pacific -- Sp,F
  65. Chipping Sparrow -- W,Sp
  66. Zone-tailed Hawk -- Sp,S
  67. Harris's Hawk -- S,F,W,Sp
  68. Common Black Hawk -- Sp,S
  69. Lincoln's Sparrow -- W
  70. Lazuli Bunting -- Sp
  71. Canyon Wren -- S,F,W,Sp
  72. Olive-sided Flycatcher -- Sp,F
  73. Bewick's Wren -- S,F,W,Sp
  74. Purple Martin -- Sp,S,F
  75. Swainson's Thrush -- Sp
  76. Cassin's Finch -- W,Sp
Solenopsis xyloni major and minor workers © Michael Plagens

A female Lesser Goldfinch, Carduelis psaltria.

© M Plagens

Brewer's Sparrow, Spizella breweri.


Mammals

  1. Coyote --
  2. Mule Deer --
  3. Striped Skunk --
  4. Bobcat --
Coyote, Canis latrans, photo © by Mike Plagens

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Plant List

Upper Sonoran Desert Scrub interspersed with chaparral and well developed riparian habitats and moist springs results in a very diverse mosaic of plant species.

Flora List as Print-Friendly Word Document

Desert Honeysuckle

Desert Honeysuckle

Milkweed Vine

Milkweed Vine

Canyon Ragweed

Canyon Ragweed

New Mexico Thistle

New Mexico Thistle

Camphor Weed

Camphor Weed

Trixis

Trixis

Desert Straw;Wire Lettuce

Wire Lettuce

Arizona Alder

Arizona Alder

Orange Fiddleneck

Orange Fiddleneck

Wright's Thelypody

Wright's Thelypody

Clammy Weed

Clammy Weed

Centaury

Centaury

Texas Betony

Texas Betony

Arizona Walnut

Arizona Walnut

Devil's Claw

Devil's Claw

Catclaw Acacia

Catclaw Acacia

Velvet Mesquite

Velvet Mesquite

False Indigo

False Indigo

Scarlet Spiderling

Scarlet Spiderling

Creamcups

Creamcups

California Poppy

California Poppy

Rabbitfoot Grass

Rabbitfoot Grass

Golden Linanthus

Golden Linanthus

Caniegre

Caniegre

Scarlet Pimpernel

Scarlet Pimpernel

Lesser Indian Paintbrush

Lesser Indian Paintbrush

Snapdragon Bush;Bush Penstemon

Snapdragon Bush

Downy Monkeyflower

Downy Monkeyflower

Nightshade

Nightshade

Seaside Petunia

Seaside Petunia

Desert Tobacco

Desert Tobacco

Desert Hackberry

Desert Hackberry

Creosote Bush

Creosote Bush

Skunkbush

Skunkbush

Cocklebur

Cocklebur

Triangle-leaf Bursage

Triangle-leaf Bursage

Seep Baccharis

Seep Baccharis

Brittlebush

Brittlebush

Turpentine Bush

Turpentine Bush

Paper Flower

Paper Flower

Desert Willow

Desert Willow

Wingnut Cryptantha

Wingnut Cryptantha

Desert Senna

Desert Senna

Foothills Palo Verde; Yellow Palo Verde

Foothills Palo Verde

Dwarf Morning-glory

Dwarf Morning-glory

White Ratany

White Ratany

Horehound

Horehound

Fairy Duster

Fairy Duster

Chia

Chia

Wait-a-minute Bush

Wait-a-minute Bush

Trailing Four O'Clock

Trailing Four O'Clock

Bigelow's Four O'Clock;Desert Wishbone Bush

Bigelow's Four O'Clock

Hooker's Evening Primrose

Hooker's Evening Primrose

Devil's Claw

Devil's Claw

Prickly Poppy

Prickly Poppy

Arizona Sycamore

Arizona Sycamore

Yellowthroat Gilia

Yellowthroat Gilia

Flat-topped Buckwheat

Flat-topped Buckwheat

Yellow Columbine

Yellow Columbine

Graythorn

Graythorn

Buttonbush

Buttonbush

Cardinal Monkey Flower

Cardinal Monkey Flower

Seep Monkey Flower

Seep Monkey Flower

Water Speedwell

Water Speedwell

Southern Cattail

Southern Cattail

Desert Mistletoe

Desert Mistletoe


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Copyright Michael J. Plagens, page created 15 Sept. 2002,
updated 4 May 2019.