Mike in the Wild

A sure sign that spring migration is underway was my sighting a pair of hooded orioles in my Phoenix neighborhood last weekend.  His flash of bright yellow swooping into a treetop identified the male, while only her presence accompanying the male initially pointed out the female.  They passed through quickly, pausing only long enough for me to get several lucky shots.   The couple joined a list of songbird migrations that started with a flock of cedar waxwings in my community two weeks earlier.  While the waxwings will travel to Canada for breeding, the orioles could actually stick around Phoenix to build their nests after wintering not too far away in Mexico.  I've not been fortunate in seeing one of the latter species' elaborate nests that appear like a hanging basket often descending from a tall palm tree. Eager to encounter additional migrating birds, I headed on Monday to the Rio Salado Restoration Area near downtown Phoenix.  Bordering the Salt River, which was flowing un

With temperatures forecasted close to 100 degrees Fahrenheit this week, there's no doubt that spring has arrived in the deserts of Arizona.  Another sure sign of the season's arrival are the palo verde trees' bright yellow blossoms speckling the clear blue skies.  And migrating birds are arriving from points south, with some just passing through the Grand Canyon State and others staying to breed. It's hard to say exactly when this annual ritual begins, but it might start when orioles show up in the southern half of the state like has been happening for almost a month now.  On Easter Sunday, I noticed a black-chinned hummingbird feeding off a fairy duster plant in my Phoenix neighborhood.  He's most likely on his way to the mountains and river valleys in northern Arizona and beyond.   In my own backyard the "who cooks for you" vocalizations of the just-arrived white-winged doves have replaced the softer trills of white-crowned sparrows that have just fl

Start in Potato Patch and make a left on Yankee Doodle Trail.  Those names sound more at home in a television satire on country living than they do in mountain hiking.  But they are actually the directions that promise one of the most idyllic escapes for both the avid hiker and the experienced birder in the Prescott area. Dandrea Trail starts high in the Bradshaws, its trailhead nestled at the end of Poacher's Row in the summer community of Potato Patch.  It's Trail No. 285, beginning near groves of aspen trees that were starting to burst in their autumn yellows on my late September outing.   It cuts through thick woods of fir, oak and pine trees, and its rocky slopes are dense with grasses and wildflowers.  The ascent up Mount Union in Prescott National Forest is not terribly steep, but the pathway was an old miners' road, and has since been covered in large, protective stones.  This makes for a rough hike, so it's best to leave the running shoes at home and to bring