New Mexico

The Gila River in flood

Of Fire and Flood: Dynamics of the Upper Gila River Ecosystem

On my recent stop at the Gila River Bird Area (see Nighttime Visitors), I was reminded again what a dynamic, ever-changing place it was.  The Gila River was still receding from a significant flood just 2 weeks prior, in which up to 10 inches of rain dumped in the heart of the Gila Wilderness during […]

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Nightfall in the forest

Nighttime visitors

On the way home from a recent trip to western New Mexico and the White Mountains of Arizona, I stopped near the Gila River Bird area to spend the night.  I stayed in this same spot about a year and a half ago (see Things that go bump in the night).  At that time, the

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Golden-mantled ground squirrel

Squirrel Chatter

On my recent trip through the Great Basin, I spent a night in a lovely place called Bowers Flat, near the resort town of Duck Creek, Utah.  This grassy meadow surrounded by Ponderosa Pines should actually have been called squirrel meadow, as within a few minutes of arriving, I heard the calls of yellow-bellied marmots,

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By Sualkdd, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=50958577

The Search for Quiet

I just finished reading Gordon Hempton and John Grossman’s book, One Square Inch of Silence, about Hemptons’ attempt to preserve the quiet of the Hoh rainforest in Olympic National Park, Washington.  Hempton is an Emmy-winning nature recordist (yes, it’s possible!) who has traveled the world seeking not only natural sounds, but quiet landscapes.  Three trips

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Ash-throated flycatcher

The importance of bird song

A recent article in BBC News Magazine highlights some fascinating research being conducted on how tuned in we are to bird song. People find birdsong relaxing and reassuring because over thousands of years they have learnt when the birds sing they are safe, it’s when birds stop singing that people need to worry. Birdsong is

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Gila River Bat

Ultrasonic predators and prey

I’m having a lot of fun with my ultrasonic microphone (Ultramic 200k).  It’s opened up a parallel universe of flying mammals and calling insects and the evolutionary arms race between them. In early August of this year, I found myself camping in a gorgeous spot in the canyon country of Utah – Calf Creek.  I

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Smoke over the Gila Wilderness

Before the Whitewater-Baldy Fire

In mid May of this year, I headed over to the north end of the Gila Wilderness to do some camping and recording.  A small column of smoke was visible in the general direction of the center of the wilderness, but I had read on the USFS website that some controlled burns were planned for

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Gila River gravel bar

Things that go bump in the night

On a recent trip to New Mexico, to do some recording and get out of the southern Arizona heat, I stopped by the Gila River to camp.  I set up camp in a grove of large cottonwood trees, about 100 yards from the river.  My dog, Shadow, and I spent the afternoon playing in the

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Arizona grey squirrel

Grey squirrel love song

In late May, 2011, I headed out to Apache Creek, New Mexico, to see out some petroglyphs (a hobby of mine). With me was a one-year-old English Shepherd that I adopted from a rescue agency just 2 months before, and this was his first camping trip.  We arrived at the campground at Apache Creek in

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