Micro$oft would like you to think there are no options in the computing world. Thankfully Macintosh and Linux are rising stars due to the failures and poor products from Microsoft... especially with the horrible Windows Vista OS.

I use Mac as my primary OS, but there is a huge array of other, fully functional and great OS's out there. My second computer has several of them which I use regularly. There are many great OS's that are completely free and that are being tested and improved continuously by 1000's of volunteers. Read more »

See a Powerpoint I made years ago then forgot about till recently. It details what I learned visiting the Rodeo-Chedeski fire one year after the burn. Far from the destruction I was expecting, it looked like it was a healthy burn for most areas... another lesson learned about believing what you hear from media reports about wildfires! See it here

Eurasian Collared Dove: Image from WikipediaBuffelgrass has become well known as an invasive exotic species, but many other dangerous exotics threaten parts of the southwest and have garnered much less attention. One in particular comes to mind from my experiences: Sahara mustard (Brassica tournefortii). This mustard has an affinity for sandy or bottomland soil in the middle and especially lower elevation Sonoran Desert. It has spread rapidly across large areas of southwestern Arizona and southeastern California. I've recently seen it in several disturbing places including the Pinacate Biosphere Reserve, in Bear Canyon in the Catalinas, and Saguaro National Park (east and west!). The Arizona/Sonora Desert Museum has a good webpage on this mustard it which you can see here.

Vermilion Flycatcher Spring 2010One of my Pygmy-owl photos was printed on the cover of the Tucson Audubon Magazine, The Vermilion Flycatcher. Also inside is an article by Pygmy-owl guru Aaron Flesch as well as a couple more photos.

See many more Pygmy-owl photos in this gallery.

Sky Island Alliance has begun a multi-year project to inventory wildlife and plants in several Sky Islands of Northern Sonora. There is a dearth of information on species distributions and other natural history about the region. Read more »

Sierra Pinito PinesIn June I trekked with a friend to the top of the Sierra El Pinito, a good-sized range just Southeast of Nogales. The Sierra El Pinito nudge their way into the pine forest community at 2230 meters, high enough to compete for serious Sky Island status in Sonora. They are just South of the border from the Santa Ritas and Patagonias on the US side, but because of the the political boundary they are a world away when it comes to fire suppression and natural fire regimes.

To drive the point home the Sierra Azul, just to the south, was actively burning. The fire had burned a significant percentage of the range by the time we laid eyes on it. By the time we left the area it had burned itself out naturally. Little is done to combat wildfires and indeed, in contrast to U.S. fire policy, people don't treat every wildfire as an utterly dire situation.