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 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 »
Spring is taking its good old time arriving in northern Nevada, and everything seems a bit behind schedule. I recently headed over to Stillwater National Wildlife Refuge to see how things were progressing. The birds at the refuge were not waiting – they were in full breeding mode, which means making a lot of racket.
Spring arrives at Stillwater Read More »
I was perusing the internet recently (a bad habit), when I ran across something someone posted about fireflies. I don’t remember the gist of the article, but it did remind me of a magical experience I had with fireflies last summer in the mountains of eastern Arizona. I was actually there to try to record
Starry skies and fireflies Read More »
The dawn chorus is a wonderful, natural phenomenon in which many birds do most of their singing at or before the first light of day. It is most obvious during the spring, as birds set up territories and go about attracting mates. In southern Arizona, the resident birds begin singing in February, and many are
Chasing the dawn chorus Read More »
Day 7 of my border to border road trip. I left Kalispell under light clouds, but as I drove further south the clouds became heavier and heavier, and by the time I stopped in Dillon to refuel, it was raining. It rained intermittently until I arrived at my destination, Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge,
Soggy night at Red Rock Lakes Wildlife Refuge Read More »
In late June, 2016, I travelled through southern and eastern Utah, looking for good places to record wildlife and good places to hike. So after I left wolf country, I headed north. It was still hotter than blazes, so rather than seeking colorful sandstone, I was looking for cool, shady forests. I had recently re-read
Travels in southern Utah Read More »
In June of this year, I headed back to lobo (Mexican wolf) country in northern Arizona. I drove up to a remote camping area near Escudilla Mountain, arriving on a cloudy and windy afternoon. On the way up to the camp site, I passed several elk cows with small calves at their heels. I set up
El Lobo, part 3: surrounded by ghosts Read More »
I need quiet the way an alcoholic needs a drink. By “quiet” I don’t mean absolute silence, the kind that can only be found in an anechoic chamber. My version of quiet is free from man-made noise, anthropophony, in Bernie Krause’s terms. No machines, no screaming and yelling, no loud music. Sometimes I really crave
Seeking a little quiet 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 »
