Among the many wonders to be found in southeastern Arizona is Aravaipa Canyon. The heart of this isolated canyon shadows Aravaipa Creek, with about 12 miles of it being included in the Aravaipa Canyon Wilderness. It’s a lush canyon, with permanent water, and home to a huge variety of wildlife. I’ve visited and written about […]
On our recording trip this last spring, Lang Elliott and I stopped by a beautiful area of Sonoran Desert, east of Roosevelt Lake, known as Cherry Creek. I’d never heard of it before but was instantly struck by its rugged beauty. Cherry Creek, and nearby Coon Creek, are lovely drainages with rich riparian areas lined
Timings and transitions Read More »
Part of my recording tour of the southwest with Lang Elliott this spring took us to Big Bend National Park. From a westerner’s perspective, this is the end of the earth. It’s a long, long ways from anywhere, even by Texas standards. But this remoteness, incredible topography, and habitat diversity make it a good spot
The beaver pond at the end of the road Read More »
As a follow-up to my last post about the tardiness of migration this last spring, I wanted to use our trip to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument as an example. Lang Elliott and I recorded recorded here in late March of 2017. The expected compliment of birds was there, behaving as I’d come to expect
Late winter soundscape in the Sonoran Desert Read More »
I recently returned from a 7-week sound recording expedition to the southwest U.S. From Carson City, to southern California, southern Arizona, southern Texas, western New Mexico, central and southern Arizona, a quick trip to Albuquerque to see friends, back to Arizona, and finally home through Utah and central Nevada. Almost 7,500 miles, and almost all
In far northeastern California lies a remote range of mountains known as the Warner Mountains. More than 90 miles long, they hug the California-Nevada border, and just cross into Oregon east of Lakeview. The peaks at the southern end approach 10,000 ft, while those in the north only rise to a little over 8,000 ft.
Exploring the Warner Mountains Read More »
In southern Nevada, a bit more than 100 miles north of Las Vegas, lies a mountain range known as the Quinn Canyon Range. I first became aware of it when I was pondering over some vegetation maps of Nevada and noticed that this range had an unusually high diversity of trees. Some, such as white
Although I stayed pretty close to home during the spring, avoiding Covid-19 and all, by June I couldn’t stand it anymore. So I June 1st, I packed up the car and headed into central Nevada to record the sounds of the wild. My first stop was Stillwater National Wildlife Refuge, near Fallon. Breeding activity was
Ok, it’s been a ridiculously long time since I’ve posted anything, much less some new content. But I’m finally getting caught up with various writing and recording projects so it’s time to get back in the blogging game. Like everyone else, my schedule was turned upside down by Covid-19. I work from home and I’m
Rolling like thunder Read More »
Well, it’s been quite a while since I posted here, as I’ve been recovering from knee replacement surgery. Recovery has been quite the ordeal, with hours and hours of physical therapy every day. But the strength and flexibility is coming back, just in time, as the trees and shrubs are starting to bud, the spring
Although I focused most of this summer exploring the Great Basin and its soundscapes, I also dabbled on it’s edges in northern California and southern Idaho. In early June, I detoured a bit from my search for Brewer’s sparrows to check out a small mountain range that borders the northern Great Basin. Waters on the
Spring in the Rockies Read More »
Wow, where did the summer go? It seems like just yesterday I was waking up to some lovely dawn choruses and now many of the birds have already migrated south. With breeding season over, even most of the resident birds have quieted down, so the steppe and woods surrounding my home are much quieter now.
