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Alex Harper

@alexkharper

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Las Vegas 🌵
Birding led me to conservation.
Helping people see the natural world differently.
Founder @natureinmindco | Naturalist @lindbladexp

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I have to tell you a secret. My confession is that I think about things other than birds. I think about snakes too. I even have other hobbies, and most are healthy.Spring is just around the corner and that means snakes will be out of brumation and soaking up that Mojave sunlight in the morning. by @alexkharper

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3 years ago

We walked 112 miles from Mt Charleston down to the Colorado RiverThe Great Depletion Las Vegas (Official Trailer)Last year @alexkharper and I set out to see how the water crisis in the West is changing life for the birds, the animals, and the people who can’t live without it. If you live anywhere in the Southwest US, you’ve heard the terms water crisis, drought, and deadpool, but I struggle to understand what those words truly mean for the wildlife around us. So we backpacked through mountains, desert, and our modern cities to see for ourselves.Our film drops on YouTube next Tuesday, June 30th at 8:00 am. Follow along so you don’t miss it! We’ll also be doing live theater screenings at @springspreserve and @winchesterdonderoculturalcntr more info coming soon!#theotherlasvegas #lasvegas #thegreatdepletion #coloradoriver #documentary by @alexkharper

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a month ago

The Western Coachwhip (Masticophis flagellum), sometimes known as the Red Racer. The behavior of raising the head and neck is called periscoping, and this is something that other fast and diurnal snakes like racers and whipsnakes also do.Exclusively a diurnal animal, I love seeing them in the Spring when they are on the move amongst the pollinators and flowering plants.This individual can be found at the Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve jn Southern Nevada, and I’m happy to say that people give this one a respectful and inquisitive distance.#snake#herping#redracer#coachwhip#hendersonnv by @alexkharper

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3 months ago

During the summer months, most Gray Whales spend most of their time above the Arctic Circle, feeding on amphipods and other small animals that live on the ocean floor. In autumn, they straddle the continental shelf and swim to their wintering grounds in southern Baja California. Almost every Gray Whale in the eastern Pacific can be found here during winter in the northern hemisphere.People have figured this out, and we come to see these whales surf in swells, congregate, play, be inquisitive, give birth, raise calves, and have sex. Whale sex looks awkward; without arms and in open water, sometimes they reposition at the surface. And that’s one of the few occasions that I can point and yell “penis!” in front of people that I just met and it be fine.It’s not just Gray Whales that have sex in Baja California. Frigatebirds and barnacles do too. Gray Whales are covered with barnacles, and barnacles can’t move from the surface that they’ve established themselves on. To get around this, barnacles have become hermaphroditic. Along with having both sexual organs, barnacles have the largest penises relative to body size of any organism. @jeff_litton captured barnacle sex on the snout of a Gray Whale while in the Gray Whale mating lagoons. Zoom in and be amazed.Anyway, Happy Valentine’s Day. by @alexkharper

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2 years ago

Two nights of camping and two nights spent in Baker, Nevada.Baker is the small town gateway to Great Basin National Park.The Great Basin region takes up much of the interior of North America. Most of the water entering the system comes from snow. As that snow melts, it may run down creeks and into wetlands in the valley, percolate underground, or a combination of both. This past winter came and went with low snowfall across the Great Basin. As a result, the streams ran lower and soil had less moisture. Stressed by heat, devoid of moisture, and assisted by nonnative grasses, a few aggressive fires swept through similar mountains to the east and south of us. While we took in the sights and sounds of aspen, pine, spruce, juniper, and white fir woodlands, we watched similar ecosystems incinerate. On social media, those closer to these sites shared footage of violent crown fires and properties lost. On our way home, we saw fire crews standing by. And fortunately today, monsoons arrived, drenching parts of the Mojave, Great Basin, and Colorado Plateau. The crews, communities, wildlife, forests, and shrub lands can get a chance to breathe.Traipsing through these deserts, a few rivers are just a few rivers, and they’re all running lower. Even though water is essential to life, it’s not a sexy topic. Barely making the news, grave-toned reports on snowpack, higher temperatures, and the implications of low flow suggest change is coming.This summer monsoon season may turn out to be more active than average, and I really hope that turns out to be right.Nonetheless, life went on. It’s the time of year when Coyote pups explore and birds tend to their young. And I go through the ups of wonder and gratitude, and down with moments of loss, despair, and even a senesce of doom. I feel the ecological wounds strongly sometimes, yet restored still.#water#monsoon#utahfires#greatbasin#greatbasinnationalpark by @alexkharper

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a month ago

The film “The Great Depletion” is out there in the world now (link in bio).Join my friend Austin and me as we hike from a snow-covered mountain top to the shore of the Colorado River, passing through the full width of Las Vegas in the process. We covered 112 miles in 6.5 days, and we ran into all these amazing plants, animals, and the desert scenery.Along the way, we kept turning our attention towards water and how it sustains everything around us.I play interpretive naturalist along the way. Austin filmed, and then he, Saint Sam, and a talented human named Ian worked to make it a film.I hope that my neighbors in the Colorado River Basin states watch, enjoy, and feel better about acting on behalf of the life force that sustains life and shapes sandstone.If you watch the film, I’d love to know what you think here in the comments. 📸 @trent.wheels, Southern Utah, 2018#lasvegas #nevada #utah #arizona #hendersonnv by @alexkharper

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25 days ago

May 14 - Birds of Prey of the Southwestern US!I’m hosting a free webinar over zoom. This is a class for birders of all skill levels, avian field biologists, and anyone wanting to get to know their local birds of prey better. I won’t include owls here, but we will work through hawks, eagles, and falcons!To sign up, DM me a 🦅 for the zoom registration. Be sure to share this with someone who might enjoy!#birds#birding#birdsofpreyferruginoushawk by @alexkharper

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3 months ago

Bald Eagle against the blues of South Sawyer Glacier.What is not in frame is a young eagle coming in to try to steal this one’s meal. Any guesses on what the eagles were fighting over?Alaska • 2024#baldeagle#birdsofinstagram #your_best_birds#nature_obsession#wildlifephotography by @alexkharper

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6 months ago

Swainson’s Hawk - New MexicoIt’s still mindbending to me that I saw groups of these birds leaving Argentina at the end of February. Now they are in North America again, setting up territories in the grasslands of the West. Welcome back.#hawk#birding#migration#birdsofprey#bosquedelapache by @alexkharper

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3 months ago

Steller’s Sea Lions, Sea Otters, Mountain Goats, kittiwakes, flycatching sapsuckers, Arctic Terns and Southeast Alaska scenery with @lindbladexp by @alexkharper

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2 years ago

Southeast Alaska in August starter pack, vol. 1 by @alexkharper

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3 years ago

I’m definitely going to make a journal entry about this by @alexkharper

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3 years ago