Field Notes
Friday Flora Feature: Arizona Fishhook Pincushion (Mammillaria grahamii)
October 14, 2021When hiking through southeastern Arizona in the desert or woodlands, it’s a real treat to see the Arizona Fishhook Pincushion cactus (Mammillaria grahamii) growing cryptically under palo verde trees, creosote shrubs, or even under other cacti. Over the course of the year, M. grahamii fluctuates between a state of full camouflage nestled among Sonoran Desert rocks or a state of being on full display with a shock of bright pink flowers or even brighter…
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Summer Intern Stories: How Fauna and Flora can be Used Sustainably on Sonoran Cattle Ranches
October 7, 2021Written by Mónica Montaño, a 2021 Sky Island Alliance Binational Internship Program participant. A rancher’s main concern is the production of either goat or bovine cattle, either for the sale of offspring, for meat production, or for the production of dairy foods. However, many ranchers also have the habit of practicing hunting, unfortunately sometimes in…
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Historias de pasantes de verano: Cómo la fauna y la flora se pueden utilizar de manera sostenible en los ranchos ganaderos de Sonora
Escrito por Mónica Montaño , participante del Programa Binacional de Pasantías de Sky Island Alliance. Las principales preocupaciones de un ganadero es la producción ya sea de ganado caprino o bovino ya sea para producción de crías para vente, producción de carne o aprovechamiento para la producción de alimentos lácteos. Sin embargo los ganaderos en…
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Community’s Choice: The Three Best FotoFauna Photos of Summer 2021
September 28, 2021With autumn’s cooler temperatures rolling into the Sky Island region, let’s pause and look back at the warmer months of 2021: the monsoon storms, the greening trees and shrubs, the flowers and butterflies, and the wildlife who were, after years of drought, able to enjoy an abundance of water and renewed habitat. Last month, we…
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Love Bats? This Fall, Help Us Monitor Their Activity
September 21, 2021At some point over the summer, did you wake up to discover that your hummingbird feeder had been drained and emptied seemingly overnight? If so, how exciting! You may have been visited by migratory bats. Photo credit: Four bats feeding from a hummingbird feeder after dusk. Taken by Emily Burns. For many years, community scientists…
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Summer FotoFauna Contest: Vote Here for the Winner!
September 20, 2021Behold, the 15 finalists for the summer 2021 Sky Island FotoFauna photo contest — this time starring some exciting new species (including Gila monster and a Sonoran desert toad). Help us decide the winner! Please review these photos by Saturday, September 25, then use the form at the bottom of the page to cast your…
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Acabamos de Tener Nuestro Primer Avistamiento de Serpientes en el Estudio de Vida Silvestre Fronteriza
September 16, 2021El 11 de julio, casi 16 meses después del inicio de nuestro Estudio de Vida Silvestre Fronteriza, nuestras cámaras trampa detectaron la primera serpiente del estudio: ¡una Culebra chirrionera de Sonora (Masticophis bilineatus)! Pie de foto: Una serpiente Chirrionera de Sonora deslizándose por un tronco caído (ve el lado izquierdo del tronco). La Culebra chirrionera de Sonora es una especie común que se ve en la región de las Islas del…
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Summer Intern Stories: Camera Traps, Experiences, and Sightings / Cámara Trampa, Experiencia y Avistamientos
September 9, 2021Escrito por Maybeth Yulissa Pinto Santana, participante del Programa Binacional de Pasantías de Sky Island Alliance 2021. / Written by Maybeth Yulissa Pinto Santana, a 2021 Sky Island Alliance Binational Internship Program participant. En toda la carrera mi encuentro más cercano a una cámara trampa fue una vez en un taller que tuvimos, donde nos…
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Concurso de fotografía: Celebre el verano con sus fotografías favoritas de FotoFauna
September 1, 2021A medida que el verano llega a su fin, ¡hagamos una pausa para celebrar las especies que hemos visto en nuestras cámaras de vida silvestre! Este año, el personal de Sky Island Alliance ha visto a los cachorros de oseznos seguir a sus madres a través de verdes paisajes, manadas de coyotes y jabalies bebiendo de las cuencas cercanas, zorros grises regresando victoriosos de una…
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Watch Six Weeks of Wildlife at the Border during Monsoon
August 26, 2021I remember how loud the crunchy sound of extremely dry grass underfoot was in the San Rafael Valley near the U.S.-Mexico border earlier this year. For months, we had watched the decline in vegetation across the region during the exceptional drought of the last few years. With fewer and fewer wildlife detections on our Border…
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