Arizona Photography

 I try to visit this wildlife area each winter while the migrating Sandhill Cranes and various water fowl are present.  It's a long drive, around 100 miles round trip, and you never know exactly what you may find there.  I've had some very productive visits, but also a few disappointing ones.  That's why I had put off going this year until late in the season.  This trip proved to be moderately productive, with lots of cranes and snow geese, but not much in the way of ducks, shore birds or songbirds.  But, the cranes are the stars of the show, even though it seemed to me that some had already left for the long trip north.  Even so, there were thousands standing in the wetlands, and many returning from their morning foray to nearby fields where they scavenge for grain.   There were also thousands of Snow Geese, and maybe other types of geese.  They were mostly too far away to identify others.  One Snow Goose strayed from the main flock, al...

Still waiting for hummingbirds and others to return from their winter trip to Mexico and beyond.  At least we had a good variety of regulars today, along with a few out-of-state human visitors.  (They refused to be photographed,)   Yellow-rumped Warbler Acorn Woodpecker (M) Gila Woodpecker (M) White-winged Dove Pyrrhuloxia (F) Pyrrhuloxia (M) Coues Spotted Towhee (M) Canyon Towhee Curve-billed Thrasher Lincoln's Sparrow House Finch (F) Lesser Goldfinch (M) Lesser Goldfinch (F) Rock Squirrel This last one, a male Gila Woodpecker, was actual taken in my back yard, not in Ash Canyon.  He and his mate have been coming regularly to sip from my hummingbird feeder.  The pair of Anna's who stayed with me all winter have to perch off to the side and wait their turn.