The Prairie Owl

Burrowing owls are summer residents of the Western U.S., from the High Plains through the Intermountain West; they are also permanent reside...

Water, Deserts & the Wealthy

In American society, the wealthy enjoy an increasing number of social perks, based on their ability and willingness to pay for them; close-i...

Southwest Monsoon in January

The Southwest Monsoon, bringing welcome rains to the Desert Southwest, occurs in summer each year, though its intensity and extent often var...

The Gila River

Covering more than 58,000 square miles, the watershed of the Gila River includes most of Arizona south of the Mogollon Rim.  The river itsel...

Africa's Aquatic Dinosaur

Last evening, NOVA , on PBS, focused on the discovery and evaluation of Spinosaurus fossils, the largest carnivorous dinosaur yet unearthed ...

The Miner's Cat

Slender omnivores of the Desert Southwest, Mexico and Central America, ringtails are members of the raccoon family.  Though fairly common on...

The Gobi Desert

The Gobi Desert, covering more than 500,000 square miles, is the largest desert in Asia.  This vast and varied ecosystem stretches across so...

Southwest Flooding

Tropical moisture, swept into the Desert Southwest by Tropical Depression Ivo (now off the Baja Peninsula), has been caught in the Southwest...

New Mexico's Bootheel

While avid American travelers are familiar with many regions of our country, few have likely been to the Bootheel of New Mexico.  Part of a ...

Water & the Southwest

Faced with a persistent drought and a below-average snowpack, superimposed on our arid climate, those of us who live in the American Southwe...

The Desert Hawk

Zone-tailed hawks inhabit the Desert Southwest, from Southern California to southwest Texas, and range southward through Mexico, Central Ame...

The Sea of Cortez

During the Miocene Period, some 25 million years ago, rift volcanism began to develop in the region now occupied by extreme southeastern Cal...

Australia's Great Basin

The Lake Eyre Basin of east-central Australia is a vast topographic bowl within which streams drain toward the lowest part of the basin, nev...

High Deserts

To most of us, deserts are landscapes of dryness, sparse vegetation and perpetual heat. But, in high deserts, the interplay of elevation an...

Musk Hogs

Collared peccaries, otherwise known as javelinas or by their more colorful title of musk hogs, are native pig-like residents of the Sonoran ...

The Desert Raccoon

Natives of Central and South America, coatimundis have spread into the Sonoran and Chihuahuan Deserts of the southwestern U.S. Formally kno...

Kofa NWR

If you enjoy an escape to the Desert Southwest during the winter months but hope to avoid the congestion of large cities and National Parks,...

The Elusive Ringtail

The ringtail, named for its bushy, banded tail, is a small, nocturnal omnivore of the western U.S. and northern Mexico. Extremely agile, th...

The Nature of Haboobs

Haboobs are dense, atmospheric walls of dust or sand that are encountered in arid regions across the globe. Ironically, they usually develo...

The Desert Owl

Elf owls, the smallest owls in North America, are summer residents of the Sonoran Desert in southern Arizona; some inhabit the Chihuahuan De...