Mike in the Wild

Prescott National Forest is a wonderland of activities for outdoor lovers, encompassing a vast range of mountains and grasslands in north central Arizona.   The Bradshaw and Black Hill Mountains may be the two most prominent ranges in the federally-managed lands, but Granite Mountain is probably the most distinct.  Close to the town of Prescott, the range is named after a sheer granite face in its southwest corner.   The higher elevations of the range are protected as a wilderness area, a place where peregrine falcons regularly nest.  But lower in the forest, a man-made lake is the center piece of Granite Basin Lake Recreation area.  Even though it's a small body of water, people still manage to boat on it and fish in it.  As for me, the wooded areas of both deciduous and conifer trees create an irresistible habitat for birds. There are the normal assortment of pine and oak tree-loving birds, like scrub jays, titmice, bushtits, nuthatches and ...

North Americans love their birds, and two of the most popular might be the northern cardinal and the blue jay.  While Arizonans enjoying seeing the cardinal on occasional visits to their backyard feeders, it's not nearly as common here as it is east of the Mississippi.  However, we never see the noisy but colorful blue jay that populates only central and eastern regions of the continent.   Or don't we? It turns out we've got several blue-colored jay species that call the state home, but none of them are the generically named blue jay from the east.   Our Steller's jay is similarly shaped as the blue jay, also with a long crest and some striped wings and tail feathers.  But it's colored in shades of blue, black and gray, with almost no white.  Nevertheless it's a close cousin, in the same genus cyanocitta .  Other blue-colored jays in the state include the Woodhouse's scrub jay, the pinyon jay and the Mexican jay, all similarly shaped, without c...

Visiting northern Arizona is always a treat, especially when you add Flagstaff to the itinerary.  Not only does the area have a cooler climate, but it's a convenient gateway to an endless list of parks and attractions like the Grand Canyon and the Painted Desert. And the state's highest mountain is just a few miles away.   At 12,633 feet, Mount Humphreys soars as a distinctive landmark from many distant points in the northern half of the state.  Its own unique destination, it offers alpine skiing in the winter along with camping and hiking in the warmer months. At almost 7,000 feet itself, Flagstaff is situated within the highest contiguous forest of ponderosa pine trees in the world.  Throughout the area there are also numerous groves of aspen trees bordering wide, grassy meadows.  Coupled with the mild summers, an escape to the region promises an exciting birding opportunity that contrasts sharply with desert bird watching. Maybe it's the dense forests, ...