Another Flying Tree from the Chiricahua Mountains

The recent hike on the Greenhouse trail in the high country of the Chiricahua Mountains provided another opportunity to look for more flying trees.  As previously described, the phenomena of flying trees seems to be confined to higher elevations in the Chiricahua Mountains and specific to several species of pines.  Over the winter, hiking was confined to lower elevations and the prospects for observing flying trees was minimal.  A previous trip on a workday with the Friends of Cave Creek Canyon on the Greenhouse trail resulted in an image of a flying tree so time was taken to explore the same area, at the wilderness boundary, to look for additional examples of flying trees.  After some searching, the image of another flying tree shown below was captured.  The repeatable observation of flying trees at a single location over time may suggest flying trees cluster in specific areas.  Since various species of pines cover the upper elevations of the Chiricahua mountain range it is unknown whether this is an indication of specific habitat requirements, or related to wind patterns on the lee side of the ridge, or simply a result of sampling error.  Additional observations are required to distinguish between these  alternatives.  Additional images of flying trees may be found through this link.

A flying pine tree along the Greenhouse trail