Spring has arrived full force in the western US, and with it the bird breeding season. Resident birds and newly arrived migrants are singing up a storm as they set up territories and attract mates, adding an incredible sonorous background to our daily lives. In early April, I headed over the Sierras to see and […]
Early spring in the Sierra Nevada foothills Read More »
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 »
Last October, the dog and I took a lovely hike down Summit City Canyon, near Carson Pass in the Sierras. I last hiked this canyon more than 40 years ago, and remembered it as one of my all-time favorites. The only problem with it is that there is no easy way to get there. Most
Voices in the forest Read More »
I recently returned from an 11-day road trip through central and southern Oregon. I traveled from Steen’s Mountain in the east, across to the central Cascades, to the coast and then south until I ran out of Oregon, back to the Cascades in southern Oregon, and home via Mts. Shasta and Lassen. It was more
Strange sounds in the night Read More »
It’s been an incredibly busy spring, with little time to get away and record nature sounds. But in late May, I took a break from house renovation and writing projects to escape to northern California. My goal was to try to capture sounds within the coastal redwoods. In the right conditions, these giant trees can
The northern terminus of my 2-week road trip in September 2016 was just south of the Canadian border, near Polebridge, Montana. I arrived with some unsettled fall weather, with a dusting of snow on the peaks, and more rain on the way. I was there to visit my friend, Cynthia Wolf, who was working as
Listening for owls in Montana Read More »
I made my annual summer migration from southeastern Arizona to northern Nevada a few weeks ago, stopping to record along the way. My first stop was in the Blue Range of east-central Arizona, a land of conifers and beautiful grassy meadows. Much of this area was impacted by the 2011 Wallow Fire, and the hillsides
When you travel alone, like I usually do, its important to know your own physical limits as well as the limits of your equipment. The latter became an issue for me when I attempted to go exploring in the Henry Mountains of Utah this last summer. I’ve had my eye on the Henry’s for awhile;
Knowing your limits Read More »
This last summer, I had the opportunity to attend the annual meeting of the Nature Sounds Society, which met near Yuba Pass, California. I was able to tie the meeting in with my annual summer visit to family in northern Nevada. Yuba Pass is north of Truckee, California, and is a beautiful area of towering
Learning from the pros Read More »
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
Of Fire and Flood: Dynamics of the Upper Gila River Ecosystem Read More »
I took a rather indirect route from Tucson to northern Nevada to help my dad celebrate his birthday this summer, starting in New Mexico, staying a couple of nights in northern Arizona, then southern Utah and finally central Nevada (see Mountain Melody) before driving the final stretch. My route home was almost as indirect (see
Evening Thunder and Morning Elk 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 »
