This summer has been unbelievable in the amount of smoke, even in areas distant from the wildfires in California, Nevada, and the Pacific Northwest. In northern Nevada, rather than the rare smoky day, a day better than “moderate” air quality was something to celebrate. During much of July and August, the air quality never got […]
Escaping the smoke Read More »
It’s been a hot and very smoky summer in western Nevada. I almost hate to complain, given the horrific blazes that have occurred just on the other side of the Sierras in California. Much of the smoke from those fires moves east, over the Sierras to linger in the valleys beyond. Day after day of
It’s been a horrible year for fires out west. I’ve spent much of the summer dodging smoke and trying to find areas to record that are not on fire. Southeastern Arizona is a naturally fire-prone area, with much of the flora and fauna adapted to wildfires from dry lightning storms at the start of the
Like many nature recordists, I’m a bit obsessed with recording the spring dawn chorus. It’s dynamic variety, changing by the minute, the day, the season, the habitat, is like candy for the ears. However, I’m almost as fascinated by the night sounds – the singing insects and amphibians, the owls, the night jars, and the
Night sounds in a desert canyon Read More »
The final days of my fall 2016 border-to-border journey I awoke to a beautiful, calm and sunny morning along Disappointment Creek in Colorado; the silence only broken by a light whisper through the sage brush and a car on the distant highway. After breakfast, I packed up the car and headed south. I made a
Changes in latitude Read More »
Day 8 of my border-to-border road trip. After leaving Red Rocks National Wildlife Refuge, I headed east to Yellowstone. With all the wet weather and cooler temperatures, I thought some of the crowds might have stayed away but boy, was I wrong. In spite of the weather and being in the middle of the week,
Osprey on the Grey’s River Read More »
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 »
Day 2 of my big road trip from western Nevada to northern Montana then to southern Arizona began with a lovely hike in Lamoille Canyon, eastern Nevada. I then drove north through rolling hills toward Idaho, and without even realizing it, left the Great Basin and entered the Columbia River watershed. No longer in the
Listening to big water Read More »
In September, 2016, I set out on a long road trip, from Carson City to northern Montana, and back to southeastern Arizona. The trip took almost 2 weeks and covered more than 3,600 miles. It was a good test for both my little CR-V camper and my recording equipment, as I ran into a wide
Exploring Nevada’s alps: Lamoille Canyon Read More »
In early September, 2016, it was time to head back to my home in Arizona, after visiting my dad in northern Nevada for most of the summer. A friend working in Glacier National Park invited me to visit her, so I decided to make a big road trip out of it, traveling to eastern Nevada, eastern
There are a lot of interesting sounds that are seldom heard except at night. Not just bats and owls, but also a variety of insects: crickets, bush crickets, and beetles, to name a few. The insects like warm nights, and so that’s also when you have more insect predators, like the bats. It’s been really
Chasing night sounds Read More »
Threading its way north from the mountains of northern Mexico, the San Pedro River meanders to the Gila River, then westward to join the Colorado River on its way back to Mexico. It is one of the few remaining undammed rivers (in the desert, they call any flowing water a “river”) in the US. It
San Pedro River–the thin fragile line Read More »
