About Me

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I am a birder, naturalist, wildlife biologist, and now an interpretive ranger currently working for Maricopa County Parks and Recreation Department at the Hassayampa River Preserve near Wickenburg, Arizona. I spent the past several years following a career as a wildlife biologist and was a teaching assistant for a biology lab during grad school, with my education background consisting of an MS in Biology and BS in Forestry. I am an Arizona native and my past travels have taken me around most of the lower 48 United States, plus the state of Sonora in northwest Mexico. Before my current job I spent 1.5 years working as an environmental consultant in the Midwest based out of Kansas City (KS/MO), which gave me the opportunity to see a good portion of the Great Plains and Midwest region. My current travels are decidedly local, but I am hoping to travel abroad in the future when finances and work schedule allow. I am very content with my current career and happy to be doing a mix of environmental education and natural resource management at a wonderful desert oasis. I am looking forward to where this path takes me!

Friday, December 2, 2011

Thanksgiving break wildlife (s. Navajo Co.)

November 2011
These photos are from the Thanksgiving break I spent over in southern Navajo County, birding at Holbrook, Zeniff Rd., and the Show Low area while staying with my family in Heber. Recently while birding at Holbrook, I captured images of a coyote itching itself on the ground much like my parents' dog Eva does. Also some bird images at Holbrook and Zeniff Rd. northeast of Heber. While at home, we had a cliff chipmunk that we've named "Tweak" (after the South Park character), an Abert's squirrel, and birds visiting our feeders. Here are various photos:

coyote:



Wilson's Snipe at Golf Course Rd. wastewater ponds in Holbrook:

Red-tailed Hawk (a rufous morph, although you can't see the chest in these pics) at Zeniff Rd.:


American Kestrel at Zeniff Rd.:

"Tweak", the cliff chipmunk (Tamias dorsalis):








Abert's squirrel:




A female 'Slate-colored' Dark-eyed Junco (with 'Pink-sided' junco and male House Finch):



Pygmy Nuthatch:

Lewis's Woodpeckers at Woodland Lake Park in Pinetop-Lakeside:


Woodland Lake, which had a severely reduced water level (the lowest I've ever seen it):


The drainage below the dam at Woodland Lake:


Eva demanding a belly rub:

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