One of my favorite places to visit and record in northern Nevada is Stillwater National Wildlife Refuge, near Fallon. It’s a collection of ponds, ditches, and marshes, where the Carson and a portion of the Truckee Rivers end. It is such a critical oasis in the arid Great Basin that it’s part of the Western […]
Seasons of Stillwater revisited Read More »
This year I decided to expand the acoustic monitoring that I’ve been conducting at the River Fork Ranch in northern Nevada. The Nature Conservancy has been supported of my efforts by graciously providing access to preserves, so I decided to try to monitor at other TNC preserves. In April of this year, I headed south
As I usually do in early July, this last summer the dog and I headed off to the hinterlands of northern Nevada. The trip is timed to allow us to get far from civilization to spare Shadow the horrors of fireworks. This years trip took us across central Nevada to Ruby Lakes Wildlife Refuge, then
That time when the dog got stoned Read More »
Following my amazing southwestern recording trip with Lang Elliott, I stopped at Bears Ears National Monument on the way home. I had my sights set on two areas to explore: Comb Ridge and Cedar Mesa. I whet my appetite for the place with a recently released book, Behind the Bears Ears, by R.E. Burrillo, which
Celebrating Bears Ears Read More »
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
Timings and transitions 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 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
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 »
Winter still has it’s cool and windy grip on northern Nevada, so I’m digging into the archives from last summer for some recordings to share. In July of last year, after visiting and recording in the Santa Rosa Mountains, I traveled to Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge in southeastern Oregon. I first visited Hart Mountain
Hart Mountain Summer 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 »
The snow is falling in the Sierras and northern Nevada has settled into its winter soundscapes. Insects have gone quiet and the birds are too busy looking for food to make much noise. It’s a good time to organize and sort out the huge number of sound files I collected last spring and summer. One
On a warm summer evening 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 »
