As some of you know already, I was privileged to be part of the Third Guatemala International Birdwatching Encounter in late February, a marvelous event intended to spread the word about birds and birding in a country that has been unjustly neglected of late.
I knew, of course, that the birds in northern Central America would […]

Spring is in the air, and the birds are, too. A few morning hours at Catalina State Park found the roadsides lined with Western Bluebirds and White-crowned Sparrows, and the water flowing down Sutherland Wash was a source of obvious delight to many Lawrence’s Goldfinches and a Townsend’s Solitaire; just standing in the wash and […]

With more than 720 species, Guatemala should rank as one of the world’s major birding destinations. But for a variety of reasons, historical, political, and practical, this beautiful and welcoming country has not enjoyed the benefits that ornithotourism has so richly bestowed on some of its neighbors in central America.
An energetic series of special events […]

The more than 90 million feral housecats in this country wreak havoc on wildlife wherever they occur; the problem is becoming increasingly acute at Arizona sites such as the Gilbert Water Ranch, where the soft-hearted soft-headed dump kittens in horrific numbers.
Tucson Audubon has come up with some ingenious ways to raise public awareness of this […]

Another common desert bloomer, this time from Phoenix:

In years when the wildflower show is more spectacular, entire hillsides can be covered with desert marigolds and Gooding’s verbena, making them a patchwork of sunshine and purple.