Portal, Arizona
Portal is an unincorporated community in Cochise County, Arizona, United States. It lies south-southeast of San Simon and at the mouth of Cave Creek Canyon on the east side of the Chiricahua Mountains. Often called the Yosemite of Arizona, the rock walled canyon is composed of fused volcanic tuff. The community is a popular location for birding in southeastern Arizona. It is also home to the American Museum of Natural History's Southwest Research Station. The ranch of Sally and Walter R. Spofford was a popular birdwatching destination before closing in 2002. Other notable residents include the writer Nancy Farmer and her husband. The Arizona Sky Village astronomy community is located in Portal because the skies in the area are free of light pollution. Climate Typical of upland Arizona, Portal has a semi-arid climate (Köppen ''BSk'') with warm to hot days followed generally by quite cool nights. Frequent frost Frost is a thin layer of ice on a solid surface, which ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Unincorporated Area
An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as the military). There are many unincorporated communities and areas in the United States and Canada, but many countries do not use the concept of an unincorporated area. By country Argentina In Argentina, the provinces of Chubut Province, Chubut, Córdoba Province (Argentina), Córdoba, Entre Ríos Province, Entre Ríos, Formosa Province, Formosa, Neuquén Province, Neuquén, Río Negro Province, Río Negro, San Luis Province, San Luis, Santa Cruz Province, Argentina, Santa Cruz, Santiago del Estero Province, Santiago del Estero, Tierra del Fuego Province, Argentina, Tierra del Fuego, and Tucumán Province, Tucumán have areas that are outside any municipality or commune. Australia Unlike many other countries, Australia has only local go ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Birdwatching
Birdwatching, or birding, is the observing of birds, either as a recreational activity or as a form of citizen science. A birdwatcher may observe by using their naked eye, by using a visual enhancement device such as binoculars or a telescope, by listening for bird sounds, watching public webcams, or by viewing smart bird feeder cameras. Most birdwatchers pursue this activity for recreational or social reasons, unlike ornithologists, who engage in the study of birds using formal scientific methods. Birding, birdwatching, and twitching The first recorded use of the term ''birdwatcher'' was in 1712 by William Oldsworth. The term ''birding'' was also used for the practice of ''fowling'' or hunting with firearms as in Shakespeare's '' The Merry Wives of Windsor'' (1602): "She laments sir... her husband goes this morning a-birding." The terms ''birding'' and ''birdwatching'' are today used by some interchangeably, although some participants prefer ''birding'', partly because ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Köppen Climate Classification
The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (temperate), ''D'' (continental), and ''E'' (polar). Each group and subgroup is represented by a letter. All climates are assigned a main group (the first letter). All climates except for those in the ''E'' group are assigned a seasonal precipitation subgroup (the second letter). For example, ''Af'' indicates a tropical rainforest climate. The system assigns a temperature subgroup for all groups other than those in the ''A'' group, indicated by the third letter for climates in ''B'', ''C'', ''D'', and the second letter for climates in ''E''. Other examples include: ''Cfb'' indicating an oceanic climate with warm summers as indicated by the ending ''b.'', while ''Dwb'' indicates a semi-Monsoon continental climate, monsoonal continental climate ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Semi-arid Climate
A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi-arid climates, depending on variables such as temperature, and they give rise to different biomes. Defining attributes of semi-arid climates A more precise definition is given by the Köppen climate classification, which treats steppe climates (''BSh'' and ''BSk'') as intermediates between desert climates (BW) and humid climates (A, C, D) in ecological characteristics and agricultural potential. Semi-arid climates tend to support short, thorny or scrubby vegetation and are usually dominated by either grasses or shrubs as they usually cannot support forests. To determine if a location has a semi-arid climate, the precipitation threshold must first be determined. The method used to find the precipitation threshold (in millimeters): * ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Portal Peak In The Chiricahua Mountains
Portal may refer to: Arts and entertainment Gaming * ''Portal'' (series), a series of video games developed by Valve ** ''Portal'' (video game), a 2007 video game, the first in the series ** ''Portal 2'', the 2011 sequel ** '' Portal Stories: Mel'', a mod for ''Portal 2'' ** ''Portal Revolution'', a mod for ''Portal 2'' ** ''Portal Reloaded'', a mod for ''Portal 2'' ** ''Aperture Tag'', a mod for ''Portal 2'' * ''Portal'' (1986 video game), a 1986 computer game by Activision * Portal (''Magic: The Gathering''), a set in the ''Magic: The Gathering'' card game * Portal (video game element), an element in video game design Music * Portal (band), an Australian extreme metal band * ''Portal'' (album), a 1994 album by Wendy & Carl * "Portal", a 2014 song by Lights ''Little Machines'' * ''Portals'' (Arsonists Get All the Girls album), 2009 * ''Portals'' (Sub Focus and Wilkinson album), 2020 * "Portals", by Alan Silvestri, from the soundtrack for the film '' Avengers: Endgam ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Nancy Farmer
Nancy Farmer (born 1941) is an American writer of children's literature, children's and young adult books and science fiction. She has written three Newbery Medal, Newbery Honor books and won the U.S. National Book Award for Young People's Literature for ''The House of the Scorpion'', published by Atheneum Books for Young Readers in 2002. Early life Farmer was born in Phoenix, Arizona. She earned her B.A. at Reed College (1963) and later studied chemistry and entomology at the University of California, Berkeley. She enlisted in the Peace Corps (1963–1965), and subsequently worked in Mozambique and Rhodesia (present-day Zimbabwe), where she studied biological methods of controlling the tsetse fly between 1975 and 1978. Career Farmer began writing in the 1980s, at the age of 40, while still living in Zimbabwe. She began writing stories in Africa. It was for one of those stories that she won the Writers and Illustrators of the Future, Writers of the Future contest, which ena ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Sally Hoyt Spofford
Sally Hoyt Spofford ( Sarah Elizabeth Foresman; April 11, 1914 – October 26, 2002) was an American ornithologist who was long associated with the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology. In retirement, she was involved in conservation and birding in Arizona, known as the "doyenne of southern Arizona's birding community". She authored some 50 articles on bird behavior and co-authored the books ''Enjoying Birds in Upstate New York'' (1963) with O. S. Pettingill Jr. and ''Enjoying Birds Around New York City'' (1966) with Pettingill and R.S. Arbib Jr. She was a member of the American Ornithologists' Union from 1940 onward. Born Sarah Elizabeth Foresman in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, she received a BA degree from Wilson College in 1935 and her MS degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1936. In 1948, she received her PhD in ornithology from Cornell University, where she met and married fellow ornithologist John Southgate Hoyt. Her husband died in 1951, and, from 1955 to 1969, Ho ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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American Museum Of Natural History
The American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. Located in Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 21 interconnected buildings housing 45 permanent exhibition halls, in addition to a planetarium and a library. The museum collections contain about 32 million specimens of plants, animals, fungi, fossils, minerals, rocks, meteorites, human remains, and human cultural artifacts, as well as specialized collections for frozen tissue and genomic and astrophysical data, of which only a small fraction can be displayed at any given time. The museum occupies more than . AMNH has a full-time scientific staff of 225, sponsors over 120 special field expeditions each year, and averages about five million visits annually. The AMNH is a private 501(c)(3) organization. The naturalist Albert S. Bickmore devised the idea for the American Museum of Natural History in 1 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Chiricahua Mountains
The Chiricahua Mountains massif is a large mountain range in southeastern Arizona which is part of the Basin and Range province of the west and southwestern United States and northwest Mexico; the range is part of the Coronado National Forest. The highest point, Chiricahua Peak, rises above sea level, approximately above the surrounding valleys. The range takes its name from the Chiricahua, Chiricahua Apaches native to the region. The Chiricahua Mountains and other associated ranges, along with Sulphur Springs Valley on the west and the San Simon Valley on the east, form the eastern half of Cochise County, Arizona, Cochise County in southeast Arizona. The Pedregosa Mountains are found at the southern end of the Chiricahua Mountains, while the Swisshelm Mountains are located to the southwest. The northwest end of the Chiricahua mountains continues as the Dos Cabezas Mountains beyond Apache Pass and the Fort Bowie National Historic Site. Access to the Chiricahua Mountains and Co ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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List Of Sovereign States
The following is a list providing an overview of sovereign states around the world with information on their status and recognition of their sovereignty. The 205 listed states can be divided into three categories based on membership within the United Nations System: 193 member states of the United Nations, UN member states, two United Nations General Assembly observers#Current non-member observers, UN General Assembly non-member observer states, and ten other states. The ''sovereignty dispute'' column indicates states having undisputed sovereignty (188 states, of which there are 187 UN member states and one UN General Assembly non-member observer state), states having disputed sovereignty (15 states, of which there are six UN member states, one UN General Assembly non-member observer state, and eight de facto states), and states having a political status of the Cook Islands and Niue, special political status (two states, both in associated state, free association with New ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Cave Creek Canyon
Caves or caverns are natural voids under the Earth's surface. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. Exogene caves are smaller openings that extend a relatively short distance underground (such as rock shelters). Caves which extend further underground than the opening is wide are called endogene caves. Speleology is the science of exploration and study of all aspects of caves and the cave environment. Visiting or exploring caves for recreation may be called ''caving'', ''potholing'', or ''spelunking''. Formation types The formation and development of caves is known as ''speleogenesis''; it can occur over the course of millions of years. Caves can range widely in size, and are formed by various geological processes. These may involve a combination of chemical processes, erosion by water, tectonic forces, microorganisms, pressure, and atmospheric influences. Isotopic dating techniques can be applied to cave sediments, to determine the time ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |