Photo by Vince Pinto Among the entire fauna of planet Earth that crawl, swim, fly, and pounce, a mere handful of species have inspired true fear among Homo sapiens. Large cats, bears, sharks, crocodiles, venomous snakes, spiders…and, yes, Gila monsters. You might look no further than the fact that few of its fear-mongering cohorts have […]
Vince Pinto
Posted inColumns
Nature Journeys: February’s Far-Flung Fruits
A coatimundi feasts on the fruits of the netleaf hackberry. Photo by Vince Pinto February can be a rather bleak month, dietarily speaking, for our native wildlife. While most prudent invertebrates, reptiles, and amphibians give it a miss altogether, our broad array of birds and mammals must somehow tough it out and find sufficient food. […]
Posted inColumns
Nature Journeys: Mysterious Madrean Mistletoes
The larvae of the great purple hairstreak butterfly are one of the many animals that feed on mistletoes. Photo by Vince Pinto If ever there was a plant that embodies humanity’s emotional duality, then it surely must be a mistletoe. Here are species that we variously revile as unwanted parasites, yet see fit to kiss under […]
Posted inColumns
Nature Journeys: Fresh Water – Elixir of Life
Our planet, it turns out, is woefully misnamed – Earth harbors very little terra firma. Instead we are afloat in water. Approximately 71% of the surface of our rather diminutive orb is covered in the stuff. Hence, more fitting epithets for our home would be liquid, fluid, moist, aqueous or hydrous. As with all convincing […]
Posted inColumns
Nature Journeys: Imperiled Islands
Real islands are framed by an imposing barrier of water, hemming in various species in a natural menagerie. Sky islands of the world – isolated mountains with forests separated from each other by bordering, non-wooded habitats – are virtual islands. Both real and sky islands share much in common, including their vulnerability to ecological damage. […]
Posted inColumns
Nature Journeys: I’ll Take a Rain Check!
Autumnal flooding at Raven’s Nest Nature Sanctuary near Lake Patagonia. Photo by Vince Pinto Though autumn is normally a time that witnesses increasingly drier weather, a sort of rain lottery exists for southern Arizona. With the monsoon losing steam as temperatures and humidity levels fall, the chances of an errant Pacific hurricane remnant increase dramatically. […]
Posted inColumns
Monsoonal Matings
Mating bordered patch butterflies. Photo by Vince Pinto This year’s local monsoon moisture has been fickle in its arrival – the sixth-driest start ever in our locale. The wetter the winter, the more drought prone is the summer, it seems. As I pen these words in mid-July, only a few fortunate areas have received substantial […]
Posted inColumns
Biodiversity
Biodiversity. This is a term much in vogue these days, but what, precisely, does it mean? In its most common usage, biodiversity is the number of different species found in a specific region. The organisms can encompass all of life – from bacterium to vertebrates and everything in between – or narrowly focus in on […]
Posted inColumns
Chasing Sky Islands Bird Rarities
The rose-throated becard is one of the rare birds that can be found in the Sky Islands. Photo by Vince Pinto Every year a cavalcade of birders from all over the world flock with great excitement to our little corner of paradise to “chase rarities.” Amidst our unique Sky Islands and its legendary myriad of […]
Posted inColumns
Nature Journeys: April’s Aerial Armada
The Costas hummingbird is one of our smallest hummingbirds in the Sky Islands. Photo by Vince Pinto As a wildlife biologist and professional bird guide, I look forward with great anticipation to the month of April. This is one of the best months of the year to seek a broad diversity of bird species in an […]