Frosty morning at Bernardo (Photo by Narca) Bernardo Wildlife Management Area, north of Bosque del Apache in New Mexico, is attracting huge numbers of Sandhill Cranes, Snow Geese and Ross’s Geese this winter. Their corn crop is ample, and many thousands of cranes and geese … Continue readingPure Magic
Here’s another image of migrant birds in Costa Rica: just slip into this tropical scene! The sun and a sliver of new moon are setting in a golden haze over the tropical dry forest of Santa Rosa National Park. Parrots announce their comings and goings. … Continue readingThe Scissor-tails Are Staging
Here’s a migration tale from near my home in Portal, Arizona. Huge numbers of Rufous Hummingbirds cruise into southeastern Arizona during their fall migration, arriving after the summer monsoons have inspired a fall bloom, lush in good years. As the hummers arrive, the agaves which … Continue readingFlame in the Canyon
If we open our eyes and unstop our ears, earth presents us with such ordinary, everyyear wonders, like the routine migrations of animals. One ancient cycle––the great seasonal pulse of migrating birds––can strike a chord of deep awe in those of us who are … Continue readingAn Ordinary Marvel
Night deepens in this Costa Rican reserve, where our tour group has special permission to stay until after dark. Black are the shapes of roosting guans, the silhouette of a forest falcon. A sleepy quetzal stirs. Jupiter and its moons shine overhead. A tarantula hulks … Continue readingNightfall in Monteverde Cloud Forest
I’m thinking back to Australia today! Here’s another vignette from last summer’s trip. At the beginning of our trip, Jim bravely drove us out of the Sydney airport and headed for Glen Davis, en route to Bowra Station, using my 20-year-old map of New South … Continue readingSludgie-that’s-Mudgee
In Hawaii, wandering atop the dark lava flows (only recently colonized by ‘ohi’a shrubs), is a small goose, the Nene. I marvel that a waterbird, a goose, is at home on these rough lava beds. Nene on the Big Island (Photo by Narca) … Continue readingA Goose on the Lava Flows??
Ringtail (Pen and ink by Narca) While assembling art for my book, I was very struck by the fact that such diverse mammals have evolved the same arresting tail pattern. Check it out! Ring-tailed Lemurs (Pen and ink by Narca) These animals aren’t closely … Continue readingWhat’s in a Tail Pattern?
What is it about oceanic islands that exerts such a siren call? What comprises the allure of farflung bits of volcanic rock and mounds of sand ringed by coral reefs, where seabirds nest in clamorous multitudes? To name just one marvel, the flight of albatrosses … Continue readingThe Realm of Albatrosses
A year ago on the Atascosa Highlands Christmas Bird Count south of Tucson, Alan and I encountered a little Whiskered Screech-Owl at its day roost. The owlet perched at the entrance to its roost cavity, comfortably soaking up the sunshine on that wintry day. A … Continue readingWhiskered Screech-Owl