greenroads: Whitewater Draw

After leaving Bisbee we drove north on remote roads to the Whitewater Draw Wildlife Area near Wilcox in Cochise County. After a bit of guess work we turned on a "primitive" road heading in the right direction. This is a large area of marsh land in the middle of a desert valley! The cranes feed in the surrounding grain fields and come back to roost.
The water is very low right now but thousands of birds roost here including sandhill cranes which we had grown so fond of in Florida. We were a little disappointed that the cranes here were smaller. Apparently they are "Lesser" sandhill cranes. Still it was an impressive sight to see them and to hear their prehistoric call!

We had learned that thousands of cranes were in this area and that it was a spectacular sight especially if you caught them flying in or out.

Although they were roosting and doing little flying while we were there it was still a great experience to see this large of a flock! As the sun lowered in the late afternoon some cranes began circling in small groups but we did not witness the spectacular arrival or take off of all of them. Maybe another time. Here is a youtube video of the event however that is worth watching. If it won't open here copy and paste it in your browser or google sandhill crane youtube in southeast arizona.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vt6tnFqg53M

There were two wily coyotes pouncing in a nearby field maybe catching mice or other rodents? We also saw many types of ducks, moor hens and hawks. I couldn't help being reminded of Florida...minus the gators however!

Wally has his cousin with him these days to share the adventures. The views were spectacular from this vantage point. Sandhills as far as the eye could see and the ear could hear!