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The first of the four natural history workshops we are documenting for our Natural Histories Project was held outside the little town of Sasabe on the Arizona-Mexico border. So close to the border, in fact, that you could see the rusty metal fence marching east from the rancho. And though we spent most of our time inside and engrossed in our work, the rancho was a beautiful, and brightly painted space full of rustic southwestern charm and fantastic food. Apparently Sundance had shot their summer catalog there the week before. Without doubt, it was a beautiful location in late January.

However it was difficult to ignore the impact of the border. A dozen miles from the line, we were stopped at a Border Patrol checkpoint, where our rental Kia packed to the ceiling with large black bags was apparently not suspicious. Border Patrol trucks comprised about two-thirds of the traffic on the road, and when we went birding outside the rancho our binoculars would often find other lenses looking back at us. It was impossible to ignore the cultural artifacts that littered the high Sonoran Desert. Walking in any direction from the ranch revealed water bottles, gloves and children’s shoes. The modern migration and predator-prey relationship that goes on here is dramatic and disturbing. We left feeling that spending a week along that wall is an experience more Americans should have.