Horseshoe Fire: Map of Larger Area
For those of you trying to put the location of the fire into the context of the larger region, here is another map!
Category: Chiricahua Mountains
Horseshoe Fire Enters Log Canyon
Yellow and yellow-orange areas show the spread of Horseshoe Fire during morning and afternoon of June 3, 2010. Most recently the Horseshoe Fire has been spreading north and east, touching the bottom of Log Canyon in a couple of spots. Log Canyon is a major … Continue readingHorseshoe Fire Enters Log Canyon
Fire Not Deterring Illegal Immigrants
I should also note that Helen and I were told by firefighters that they are continuing to see illegal immigrants, by day and by night (through night-vision binoculars), who are traversing the Chiricahua Mountains, even as they burn, even through the newly-burned region. If you … Continue readingFire Not Deterring Illegal Immigrants
Horseshoe Fire on Memorial Day
Here’s a very quick update for you: Alan and I headed up canyon again and, with Noel Snyder, evacuated much of the cabin of absent friends. We’ll return tomorrow to finish the job. A firefighter clearing brush at the cabin said that the fire is … Continue readingHorseshoe Fire on Memorial Day
The Horseshoe Fire
All of my fellow Portaleños, as well as the birding community, are following closely the development of the Horseshoe Fire, here in the Chiricahua Mountains of southeast Arizona. As of Saturday night, May 29, just over 1200 acres have burned in the heart of the … Continue readingThe Horseshoe Fire
Swainson’s Thrush, a Distinguished Visitor
As the main migration season winds down here in southern Arizona, the later migrants (some of them only infrequently encountered) can put in an appearance. White-rumped Sandpipers, Yellow-billed Cuckoos, Thick-billed Kingbirds, Blue Grosbeaks and Varied Buntings all tend to lag the other arrivals. Today Alan … Continue readingSwainson’s Thrush, a Distinguished Visitor
Short-tailed Hawks
Last month saw so few postings because I was deep in a manuscript on the first nest of Short-tailed Hawk found in the western US. In May 2007, Helen and Noel Snyder found the nest high in the Chiricahua Mountains, and several of us took … Continue readingShort-tailed Hawks
Bring on the Poppies!
The El Niño storms of winter soaked the desert southwest, and now we’re seeing the results: native Mexican Gold Poppies cloak the lower slopes of the Chiricahuas and Peloncillos, and flood the San Simon Valley in a golden tide. Mexican Gold Poppies I’m off … Continue readingBring on the Poppies!
The Diamond Path
This winter we’ve had plenty of occasions to celebrate rain in the Southwest. Yesterday another storm swept through the Chiricahua Mountains, and today the path I walked was diamond-strewn with ice crystals, glittering in the early sunlight. We used to get a similar effect at … Continue readingThe Diamond Path
Whiskered Screech-Owl
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