Mike in the Wild

There's no more enchanting sound in nature than the nighttime hooting of great horned owls.  And most of us living in North America are fortunate to hear them, as the birds dwell almost everywhere on the continent.  However I was recently surprised to discover that the shrieking skeeeets  I was hearing nightly this summer in Prescott were also the vocalizations of these beautiful birds.  In fact I met the two screamers early in the season, just as monsoon clouds started gathering for the first time on a humid evening shortly before sunset.  I had hiked to a neighborhood trailhead that leads into Prescott National Forest to get a better view of the menacing skies from a higher vantage point.   Intimidating flashes of lighting and bursts of thunder emanating from dark clouds eventually cut my walk short.  But just before I left the trail, two caterwauling birds drew my attention.   I quicky spotted them roosting atop adjacent juniper trees...

A visit to Watson Woods in Prescott usually brings an exciting surprise or two; on a very few rare occasions, it's a disappointing day.   I've had a lot of luck finding interesting birds in the park over the years, especially colorful migratory species like western tanagers and blue grosbeaks.  And last year I encountered some spectacular year-round residents: a nesting great horned owl with her owlets.  But every once in a while I "strike out," seeing only more commonplace birds - ones I see on EVERY visit - like American robins and violet-green swallows. So I was hopeful to find a tanager or two on Monday's visit, along with maybe some nesting owls.  While I'm happy to find any critter to photograph, I like to have an ambitious objective in mind when I set off for  this riparian preserve along Granite Creek just south of Watson Lake.   My digital pictures are a useful tool for my goals because of their automatic date stamps.  And my na...

Two weeks ago, "The New Yorker" featured a cartoon cover showing a cardinal father dotingly tending to his chicks in a nest secured in a normally improbable spot: atop a traffic signal in a crowded urban neighborhood.  Titled "Shelter in Place," the artwork shows a woman looking at the birds longingly from her open apartment window.   It might be ironic that in our current period of pandemic it feels like our quieter streets and landscapes are making us safer from other threats.  As a runner, I can attest firsthand that there are fewer cars whipping by on the normally busy roads and that the Phoenix air is much cleaner.  But is it possible that sports-minded humans are not the only species benefiting from the lockdown?   Most notable on my runs along the Arizona Canal are the mallard ducklings that have recently hatched.  I have seen broods as large as seven individual babies and as small as four.  But what's fascinating is that after two ...

Spring's arrival in the Arizona desert shows itself in many ways: temperatures flirting with the nineties, innumerable cactus flowers, blooming palo verde trees, and nesting birds.   The colors of the flora are a visual delight while the warm and dry climate is usually pleasant enough for lots of outdoor activities.  But sometimes our avian friends are an affront to our hearing, especially when it interrupts our sleep. Northern mockingbirds are one of the most common birds in Phoenix's neighborhoods.  Normally their endless varieties of calls are a beautiful and melodious soundtrack to the outdoor landscape.  But in the spring their tweets seem to take on a frantic, incessant rhythm as they try to attract mates.  At one point, their songs start to puncture the calm of night, seeming to invite doves and grackles to the sleep-depriving cacophony. Nevertheless the noisy season is a celebration of life as many birds breed throughout the area.  In time ...

A four and a half mile hike from the Desert Vista Trailhead provided some authentic Sonoran Desert excitement.  The Phoenix Sonoran Preserve is on the far north side of the city, close to twenty miles from downtown.  The park protects some pristine desert from the urban sprawl that's already encroaching Wildflower season having peaked, I was expecting to photograph mostly cactus blooms, desert birds and new vistas.  However when I arrived shortly after sunrise, I was surprised to see a number of hot air balloons floating above the park.  For almost an hour they appeared in various locations to the north and west of my route.  But even more exciting for me was finding a massive great-horned owl's nest in a saguaro cactus just some minutes into the excursion.  Perched inside was the mother with up to three nestlings.  While the light wasn't quite perfect when I spotted the birds, it was ideal a couple hours later when I returned to my car via the same...