Reflections of the Natural World

Travel with me as I explore the wild things and wild places of our planet. – Jim Gain

  • Rosy-Finch Rendezvous: Stop 2 – Virginia Lakes Resort

    Rosy-Finch Rendezvous: Stop 2 – Virginia Lakes Resort

    By Jim GainRosy-Finch Rendezvous Birding Adventure Series 6/13/2022 At a 10,000′ elevation, with a cool temperature of 38 degrees, 32 % humidity and brisk winds at 18-20 mph, the relative temperature of around 20 degrees made this stop a challenge. The folks that manage Virginia Lakes Resort are pretty good at keeping a seed feeder Read more

  • Rosy-Finch Rendezvous: Stop 1 – Donnell Overlook

    Rosy-Finch Rendezvous: Stop 1 – Donnell Overlook

    6/13/2022 By Jim GainRosy-Finch Rendezvous Birding Adventure Series After a gourmet breakfast stop for breakfast sandwiches and Starbucks coffee, we arrived at the Donnell Vista overlook eagerly looking for a couple of our Montane target birds. We had lofty goals of finding Sooty Grouse, Mountain Quail, Hermit Warbler and Evening Grosbeaks. After a very unusual Read more

  • Operation PhotoTrogon Stop #9 – Santa Rita Mountains

    Operation PhotoTrogon Stop #9 – Santa Rita Mountains

    By Jim Gain OPERATION PHOTOTROGON This blog series chronicles the adventures that Rich Brown and I experienced on our quest to find and photograph the amazing birds of Southeast Arizona in May of 2022. PATAGONIA LAKE SP After the Paton Center for Hummingbirds, we stopped briefly at the nearby Patagonia Lake Birding Trail. We had Read more

  • Operation PhotoTrogon – Finito

    Operation PhotoTrogon – Finito

    By Jim Gain The next morning as we pulled ourselves out of bed and slowly started to shake off the cobwebs, we both realized that at this point our trip had been a complete success. Undoubtedly, probably the best birding trip we had ever been on. Rich suggested that perhaps we consider checking out and Read more

  • Operation PhotoTrogon Stop #8 – Paton Center Redux

    Operation PhotoTrogon Stop #8 – Paton Center Redux

    OPERATION PHOTOTROGON This blog series chronicles the adventures that Rich Brown and I experienced on our quest to find and photograph the amazing birds of Southeast Arizona in May of 2022. Well, we opted not to swing by Tony and Julie’s Battiste Bed Breakfast & Birds to look for the Elf Owl last night as Read more

  • Operation PhotoTrogon Stop #7 – Ash Canyon Bird Sanctuary Redux

    Operation PhotoTrogon Stop #7 – Ash Canyon Bird Sanctuary Redux

    By Jim Gain OPERATION PHOTOTROGON This blog series chronicles the adventures that Rich Brown and I experienced on our quest to find and photograph the amazing birds of Southeast Arizona in May of 2022. Operation PhotoTrogon Stop #6 – Carr Canyon Operation PhotoTrogon Stop #5 – Miller Canyon–Beatty’s Guest Ranch Operation PhotoTrogon Stop #4 – Ash Canyon Read more