Field Notes
Setting Up FotoFauna Cameras along the Arizona Trail
May 3, 2021In April, I had the opportunity to head up Miller Peak with Chelsey Tellez, Wildlife Monitoring Coordinator at the Arizona Trail Association (ATA). We set out with a skip in our step and a few pounds of wildlife cameras in our backpacks. Chelsey was excited to collect data from wildlife cameras she had set out a few months ago as part of a…
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Notes from the Field: Spiders Abound at Trail Cameras near the Huachuca Mountains
April 30, 2021Checking the cameras in the Border Wildlife Study is always full of wildlife sightings and interesting plants. But when I checked a block of cameras in the Huachuca Mountain foothills last Monday, there was a particular emphasis on spiders! Spider #1: While hiking to one of the cameras in the native grasslands of the valley, I came across a…
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Spring Seeker Stories: Bear and Grapevine Spring in the Southern Rincon Mountains
April 28, 2021We’re back this month with another installment in our Spring Seeker Stories! This time, retired wildland firefighter and Spring Seeker volunteer Brit Rosso takes us on a visual journey through the Southern Rincon Mountains to find Bear Spring and Grapevine Spring. In his field notes, Brit muses about the creation of the Rincon Mountain Wilderness, a…
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¡Felicidades a Nuestros 2021 Asistentes por Graduarse con Honores!
April 27, 2021En 2020, Sky Island Alliance comenzó el programa binacional de pasantías, una oportunidad de aprendizaje práctico que nosotros esperábamos inspirar una generación nueva de conservacionistas en la región de las Islas del Cielos. Seis internos fueron alojados durante el transcurso del verano, cuatro de los cuales eligieron quedarse después del otoño y el invierno para…
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Friday Creature Feature: Black Bear
April 22, 2021What marks spring in the Sky Islands better than the sight of bear coming out of hibernation*? In honor of this species—a harbinger of warmer months and blooming flora—we’re dedicating today’s Friday Creature Feature to black bear. Name: Common — Black bear Scientific — Ursus americanus Spanish — Oso negro Description: Almost everyone knows what a black bear looks like. Just…
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Congratulations to Our 2021 Sky Island Fellows for Graduating with Honors
April 21, 2021In 2020, Sky Island Alliance launched the binational internship program, a hands-on learning opportunity that we hoped would inspire a new generation of conservationists in the Sky Island region. We hosted six interns over the course of the summer, four of which chose to stay on into the fall and winter months to continue their projects in spring seeking, data…
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Las Primeras Percepciones en FotoFauna de Sky Island sobre la Fauna Silvestre de la Región
April 15, 2021Nuestra primera visión sobre la distribución de la diversidad de mamíferos y aves en la región de la Isla de Cielo ¡Está aquí! Desde que inició el proyecto FotoFauna de Sky Island, en octubre del 2020, voluntarios y organizaciones de México y Estados Unidos han contribuido mensualmente con cerca de 450 listas de esta creciente…
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Two More Weeks to Join the 2021 Border BioBlitz!
April 13, 2021The borderlands of Southern Arizona and Northern Sonora contain a wealth of biodiversity. White-nosed coati, Arizona gray squirrel, raven, and mule deer live and mate alongside black bear, mountain lion, North American porcupine, and rattlesnake to create one of the most alive and diverse regions globally. The birds, mammals, reptiles, and insects that live here take shelter…
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A Month of Good News for Large Cats in the Sky Islands
April 7, 2021We at Sky Island Alliance love this region’s large cats. After all, how many places in the world can you find bobcat, mountain lion, ocelot, and jaguar all living together in mountain and grassland habitat? The answer, of course, is not very many. We are lucky to live in such an incredibly biodiverse region. Wild cats have…
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Embracing a New Era—with a New Secretary of the Interior
April 5, 2021April. It’s a fresh slate with desert blooms, Covid-19 vaccines, and Deb Haaland’s first full month as the Secretary of the Interior. There’s a lot to look forward to! Haaland’s election is a historic moment. She is a member of the Laguna Pueblo in New Mexico and is also the first Native American Cabinet secretary in U.S. history. But she’s not new to politics—in 2018 she was one of the first two Native American women…
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