Nature Blog Network

As the bleak specter of winter hovers over most of the northern hemisphere, threatening to chill nature and nature lover alike right down to the bone, perhaps it’s nice to travel to place that’s always hot and dry, at least in my mind (which I fully appreciate isn’t always based in reality, but just go with me here). The southwestern US, tucked neatly along the border with Mexico with which it shares as much culturally as any other part of the nation is a unique place, with as much history and nature as you could ever ask for in any wilderness.

The desert undoubtedly gets a bad rap when it comes to nature, lacking as it does in a few necessities for ease of human exploration, namely the most important, water. Seems we tend to hold a grudge against landscapes inversely proportional to the sense of our own mortality they engender. But the species that have evolved to take advantage of the harsh environs, plants, bugs, birds, and the rest, do so in fascinatingly original ways. It seems the harsher the landscape, the more amazing the life forms. And the NBN is lucky to have appropriately unique bloggers to keep us apprised of the situation.

: Sonoran Desert in AZ, photo from wikipedia

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- A denizen of the high plains is Desert Nutmeg, who writes about the edge of the desert from her home in New Mexico.

- If the southwest is defined by the species that can be found there, it can stretch all the way into Texas. Which is why I’m including Xenogere in this group. Also because he asked me to, and it’s a really nice blog, and southwest is somewhat relative when you live in North Carolina.

-Richard Fray’s Arizona Wildlife Photography is a great site full of beautiful photos from his home in southeast Arizona and beyond. Great stuff here.

- I’ve mentioned it here before, but if you’re talking about deserts and the southwest, you simply cannot forget Chris Clarke’s Coyote Crossing. It’s the place for comment and information on policies that effect deserts, and prose so good you should feel lucky you’re getting for free.

- Another blog I’ve mentioned before, Desert Survivor deserves a second plug for her stories of life in the desert with her family.

- And speaking of kids, Growing with Science focuses mainly on teaching science to kids, but since it’s based in Arizona, many of the examples have a decidedly southwestern bent.

- The Curious Naturalist hails from deep in the Chihuahuan Desert of Arizona, where she writes about the nature she finds, with really nice photos to go along.

- Rick Wright is a bird tour guide for WINGS, but his home in Arizona places him right in the backyard of one of the finest birding locales in North America, which he writes about for our benefit at Aimophila Adventures.

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We made it! Now go get yourself a drink, you’ve earned it.

For next week? Lets look at those blogs that self-describe as primarily about prose, the Writing category. If you’d like to be included, change your tag to Writing and I’ll be sure to see it or email me at naswick AT gmail DOT com.

Til next week.