Among the long list of interesting creatures that call southern Arizona home are a couple of species of nectar-feeding bats, the Mexican Long-tongued bat and the Lesser Long-nosed bat. Unlike most bats that feed on insects, nectar-feeding bats feed on the nectar of large flowers of cacti. They are well-known to most southern Arizonans that […]
Thunderstorms are the ultimate in chaotic systems, and this years monsoon has been a good example of that. Some parts of southern Arizona have received plenty of rain and are green and lush. Others have received too much rain too fast, resulting in flash floods. And other places, like my neighborhood, have been watching these
Spotty rain and lonely toads Read More »
In mid-June of this year (2014), I continued on my quest to record the howls of lobos (Mexican gray wolves). This time I headed for the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest in east-central Arizona, to the wild country along the west fork of the Black River. I met up with Jean Ossorio (who actually planned the trip)
El lobo, part 2: Greenfire’s Ghost Read More »
Close to the US-Mexico border, where New Mexico and Arizona meet Chihuahua and Sonora, lies one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots. More than a dozen small mountain ranges rise from the surrounding desert, and are often referred to as “Sky Islands”, as their forested slopes appear to be islands in a sea of grassland and
Summer has officially arrived in southern Arizona, even if the calendar says it’s still a couple of weeks off. Daytime temperatures in Tucson have exceeded 100 Fahrenheit for the last several days, and are expected to stay above 100 for the foreseeable future. One of the few things that makes this kind of heat tolerable
Swamp coolers and cicadas Read More »
As readers of my blog know, I like squirrels. I professed my love for them in a previous post. In this post, I want to go into greater depth on one of the most socially complex squirrels, the prairie dog. There are 5 species of prairie dogs in North America, although most detailed studies have
Listening to prairie dogs Read More »
Just east of Tucson, a collection of small creeks come together to form Pantano Wash, which winds its way through Tucson before eventually joining the Gila River, which flows across the state to the Colorado River. Most of these little creeks only flow during summer floods or occasionally during a wet winter. However, one of
Where the water ends Read More »
An interesting article came across my desk recently. Entitled, “Ecological homogenization of urban USA,” it presented some recent research on landscape structure within some of the major US cities, compared to their surrounding ecosystems. In general, there is a great similarity among neighborhood landscapes, whether they are in Phoenix, Baltimore, Miami, or Boston. The “idealized”
Urbanizing the soundscape Read More »
As winter fades to spring here in the Sonoran Desert, the evenings have been punctuated with the calls of Great Horned Owls. I’ve tried a couple of times to record them, but their voices are often drowned out by the barking dogs and vehicles. But a few nights ago, I heard a pair calling loudly
A couple of weeks ago, I took Shadow for a hike in the Huachuca Mountains, down near the Mexico border, see some fall color. It was a gorgeous fall day, warm and sunny with a light breeze. And the colors did not disappoint, with the maples and sycamores putting on a dazzling display of yellows,
Whispers of Autumn Read More »
The monsoon season in southeastern Arizona extends from early July to late September, and usually means hot and humid weather with frequent thunderstorms. The thunderstorms seem to be the definition of chaotic systems, so you never quite know where they will appear or how much rain they will produce. This rainy season, an extension of
Monsoon Rearrangements Read More »
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,
