Mike in the Wild

I've seen a bald eagle in Glendale before.  In fact the last time I visited the city's recharge ponds in the spring, it was easy to spot one perched on a utility pole shortly after I started walking along the complex's eastern border.  But during last week's visit, I amazingly encountered one of the raptors before I had even parked my car.  Lying a mile east of the gigantic football stadium that the Arizona Cardinals call home, the Glendale recharge ponds are formally called the New River - Agua Fria Underground Water Storage Project (NAUSP).  Within a grid of six basins, water is collected for seepage and storage into a natural underground aquifer.  This precious resource arrives via canals from the Salt and Verde Rivers, and also from the Colorado River via the Central Arizona Project.  Additionally, sewer water arrives from the cities of Glendale and Peoria after being treated.  The Salt River Project utility manages this vast engineering endeavor. ...

The mourning dove noisily took off, flying across my Phoenix yard moments before a hawk appeared close behind in deadly pursuit.  Both birds disappeared behind my house without leaving any trace of commotion or hunt, feathers or feasts. I'm sure it was a Cooper's hawk chasing the dove as this raptor is known to feed on birds and makes frequent appearances on my property.  (The hawk has learned that I reliably feed some of the neighborhood birds like cardinals and towhees.)  However several hours later and soaring high overhead, a group of three birds of prey, all red-tailed hawks, reminded me that these raptors are actually the most common hawks throughout the state and even the entire continent.  The red-tailed hawk also hunts other birds, but it mostly pursues mammals like voles and mice that it spots from its perch on a power pole or a tall tree.  This raptor may also identify prey while flying but the hawks I saw above my home were most likely engaged in som...

The last time I had snorkeled in the Sea of Cortez was almost three years ago.  That memorable event stood out for several reasons including that it was my very first time ever venturing into the underwater world off of Baja California.  It was also a morning tour off of a Princess cruise ship, the Emerald, which sold a two-stop snorkel trip on a fast-moving Zodiac out of the port of Cabo San Lucas.  Besides the beauty of the reefs and marine life, one more thing stood out from the excursion: encountering some humpback whales on the return to the port's pier. Alas even though last week I was visiting the area off of another Princess cruise ship, the Grand, there were no whale encounters.  When I had seen them three years ago it was at the very end of November, at least a full month later than this past visit, so I shouldn't have been surprised.  While migration is currently underway, the giant mammals are only now beginning to arrive in the warm waters for the w...