The birds around my house are really getting fired up. A week or two of seventy-degree weather (albeit interspersed with snow squalls) seems to have sent them into overdrive. They start chirping at first light, and by 6:30 am the dawn chorus is in full swing. Unfortunately, that is also when my little community on […]
Early Spring in the Sonoran Desert Read More »
Many years ago I took a road trip to Alaska with a friend. On our last day in the state, before crossing back into Canada, we camped east of Fairbanks in an extensive aspen grove in it’s full autumn glory. As we took his dog for a walk through the glowing trees, a strange, primordial
The Primeval Grace of Sandhill Cranes Read More »
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
Ultrasonic predators and prey Read More »
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
Before the Whitewater-Baldy Fire Read More »
I found out recently that mice sing. Not just little squeaks that we can hear, but little notes that occur at the edge of our hearing – ultrasonic for those of us over 30. Slowed down they sound like whale songs. The common deer mice do it, so I set out to find out if
Singing mice and the packrat band Read More »
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
Grey squirrel love song Read More »
