The Horseshoe Fire still burns in the Chiricahua Wilderness, working its way northeast along the ridge leading toward Portal Peak. As of this morning, about 2900 acres had burned, and the fire still stands at 25% containment. Horseshoe Fire on June 13 This fire map … Continue readingQuick Horseshoe Fire Update
This morning’s fire map shows the northerly movement through yesterday of the Horseshoe Fire. Today’s moderately strong winds have been driving the fire further north than this map depicts, although not at a very fast rate. For reference, the blue box on the map is … Continue readingHorseshoe Fire Slowly Pushes Northeast
At tonight’s community meeting, the Type 1 fire team led by Dugger Hughes passed the torch to Roy Hall’s team, which specializes in the patient monitoring of longer-term fires. Dugger joined Buck Wickham, District Ranger Bill Edwards, and others in updating the community and in … Continue readingWind Coming to the Horseshoe Fire
Firefighters contending with the Horseshoe Fire achieved 25% containment when water drops were successful in stopping the fire’s advance across the upper South Fork drainage. Today’s huge plume of smoke (the biggest yet seen during this fire) resulted from the fire’s run upslope in the … Continue readingBig Smoke from the Horseshoe Fire
Yellow Grosbeak on Ocotillo north of Rodeo NM (Photo by Mel Moe) Our neighbor, Mel Moe, called this morning to report that a male Yellow Grosbeak, only rarely seen in the US, visited water in his yard early today. He sent these photos of the … Continue readingA Yellow Grosbeak––Yippee!
For those of you trying to put the location of the fire into the context of the larger region, here is another map!
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
Last night smoke from the Horseshoe Fire made sleep difficult. When the smoke eased, I slept in––until a phone call from Helen Snyder had me out of bed and out the door in 15 minutes! We met Jim Payne and Ron Kaczor, both public information … Continue readingSouth Fork Today: 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
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