From Wet to Dry

This was the scene last Thursday in West Virginia, at Cranberry Glades. These high-elevation montane forests are the cloud forests of the great eastern deciduous forest, bathed nearly daily in misty fumaroles. All of this moisture makes these habitats rich and diverse, although the weather can be a bit challenging for the observer.

Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge, Texas.

Right now, I'm sitting at Port Columbus airport in Ohio, awaiting my flight to Houston, Texas, with a connector to Corpus Christi. I'll spend the next few days in sea level habitats about as different as the mountains of West Virginia as is possible, without leaving the country. I'm going to catch the tail end of the American Birding Association's annual conference, then shoot on down to the Rio Grande Valley along the Mexican border.

Should be lots of great birds, butterflies, dragonflies, plants, etc - and probably no rain whatsoever. I'll report back sooner or later.