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WELCOME TO NATUREWIDE IMAGES

My partner Karen and I live at the interface of the Chihuahuan Desert and the lowest Emory and Blue oaks at an elevation of just over 5,000 feet. We are located in Ash Canyon south of Sierra Vista, Arizona in one of the country's premier butterflying and birding areas. Since early November of 2003 when we moved to SE Arizona, we have observed nearly 200 species of birds in our yard. Yard Birds.

Many of the 127 species of butterflies as well as a few of the moths that have visited us may be viewed at Butterflies and Plants I, Butterflies and Plants IIButterflies and Plants III, and Moths & References. Our small wildlife pond (now simplified to a pondless waterfall) and the many plants we've added attract a diversity of bees, birds, butterflies, dragonflies, and various mammals. Photos of some of these, as well as suggested websites for the enthusiast are at Attract Pollinators I and Attract Pollinators 2. The pages linked in this paragraph should be useful to gardeners interested in xeriscaping (low water gardening), pollinators, and creating habitat for birds and butterflies. 

In 2015, Karen started the non-profit Pollinator Corridors Southwest. The goal of PoCo is to enhance native plant habitat and increase understanding of the importance of pollinators and the plants they (and we) depend on. More than 250 people who visited our yard made donations that provided seed money for PoCo. Karen has given presentations at several venues, distributed hundreds of packages of seeds, and currently, a raised-bed pollinator demonstration garden is being installed in the Sierra Vista Community Garden. During the summer and fall of 2016, the PoCo website and Southwest Wings Birding Festival hosted a live streaming hummingbird cam that allowed hundreds of people all over the world to view our yard's hummingbirds by day and endangered nectar-feeding bats by night. 

Those with an entomological bias may enjoy seeing photos of the nearly 50 species of grasshoppers recorded in the yard. Tapping this link will take you to another set of my web pages that include insect photos from Costa Rica, Cambodia, Borneo, Madagascar, and Thailand.

Traveler Grasshopper (Rhammatocerus viatorius) San Pedro River at Hwy 92, Palominas, AZ (2 November 2007)

Several years ago I added grasshoppers to the ongoing exploration of our yard. My interest in them sprang from two fronts. On the one hand, they are a familiar group of colorful and large insects that can produce sounds with their legs and wings. On the other hand, their thousands of tiny jaws were aggressively consuming our garden...." Read more

A few words about how Naturewide Images came about: I was raised in the northern suburbs of Chicago, where I developed an early interest in tropical fishes, reptiles, and amphibians. I began observing and photographing birds during my sophomore year of college. After graduating from the University of Wisconsin, I moved to Arcata, California to pursue a Master's Degree in Fisheries Biology at Humboldt State University. I stayed at Humboldt for 10 years, teaching several Fisheries classes, labs for others, curating the University's fish museum, and doing a lot of bird watching.

Male Widow Skimmer: Montgomery Co., TX

In 1980, I moved from Northern California to Houston, Texas to become a founding partner in Peregrine Tours, a small birding tour company. Six years later, I began a 12-year stint leading birding tours for Wings, Inc., working primarily in Texas and Latin America. Later, I worked with Fermata, Inc. performing site assessments and helping to design birding trails, including five of the Great Texas Coastal Birding Trails and Great Texas Wildlife Trails, and the Coastal portion of the Virginia Birding and Wildlife Trail, as well as projects in Maryland, Kansas, and West Texas.

Brilliant Metalmark: Monterrey, Mexico

While living in Houston, I formed Naturewide Images as a sales outlet for my photography. My favorite birds to photograph were night birds (owls and nightjars), but I also aimed my lenses at other kinds of birds as well as plants, reptiles, amphibians, mammals, and other subjects. Subsequently, I've concentrated on photographing insects, especially Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies), butterflies, and grasshoppers.

Bob at Fern Canyon, Humboldt Co., CA (Photo © Karen LeMay)

Elk: Fern Canyon, Humboldt Co., CA

In order to document my observations, provide additional venues for photo sales, and because I enjoy writing, I have authored or co-authored approximately 65 publications. These include two books on birds and birding trails in East Texas, a beginner's guide to Southwestern dragonflies, and articles in both technical literature and popular newspapers and magazines. Writing Credits.  

Acquiring images of a diversity of natural history topics allows me to make both slide and PowerPoint presentations to various clubs and several nature festivals. These events include the Texas Butterfly FestivalDragonfly Days, and the Southwest Wings Birding Festival where I have concentrated on insect topics. See Nature Talks.

Banana Slug: Del Norte Co., CA

Naturewide Images has enjoyed steady publishing success, providing a variety of photographs for advertising, packaging, and many publications including: World Wildlife Fund and Audubon calendars, Nature Conservancy News, Audubon, Smithsonian, Handbook of Birds of the World, Texas Highways, Texas Parks and Wildlife, Arizona Daily Star, Houston Chronicle, Dragonflies of North America, and various field guides to birds, plants, and insects. Photo Credits.

Primroses: Tucson, AZ (PhotoShop filter)

Yaqui Dancer (Argia carlcooki) is a damselfly that was recently documented in northern Sonora, Mexico and Arizona. Pictures not presented in the original publication may be viewed at Yaqui Dancer.

Black-tailed Rattlesnake: Sierra Vista, AZ (22 July 2006)

After leading bird tours for Peregrine Tours, WINGS, and Naturalist Journeys for 39 years, I've pretty much retired, but may still be found leading at nature festivals such as the Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival in S Texas, or the Texas Butterfly Festival. 

Contact Naturewide Images

Email: naturewideimages@cox.net

Cell: (520) 732-4784

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During August 2012, this counter rolled past 10,000 hits.

On 29 July 2017, this counter rolled past 20,000 hits.

Then the visitor counter I was using was discontinued.

Thank you for visiting my site; you are in good company.

Please consider supporting these organizations.

Pollinator Corridors Southwest

Sky Island Alliance

The Xerces Society

The Nature Conservancy

Center for Biological Diversity

World Wildlife Fund

Conservation International

       

 

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      The Trade Name Naturewide Images is registered with The State of Arizona

©  Robert A. Behrstock 2021
Images may not be reproduced without the Photographer's permission.

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