Whitewater Draw - March, 2023

 Believe it or not, there are wetlands in the middle of the desert.  For example, Whitewater Draw is a huge marshland managed by the Arizona Game and Fish Department to provide habitat for a variety of wildlife.  It has become famous among birders as the winter home for thousands of sandhill cranes and snow geese, more than 20,000 of each species.  Other ducks, geese, mammals and reptiles also make homes here, at least seasonally.  It is truly a spectacle when hundreds, perhaps thousands, of cranes take flight simultaneously, heading for nearby fields to feed on grain left behind following the fall harvest.

Sandhill Cranes

Sandhill Cranes

Sandhill Cranes

Snow Geese

Snow Geese

Sandhill Crane

Sandhill Crane

Killdeer

Greater Roadrunner

Black Phoebe

Northern Pintail (M)

Sandhill Cranes

Sandhill Cranes

American Kestrel

American Coot
Green-winged Teal

Loggerhead Shrike

Northern Shoveler (M)

Northern Shoveler (F)

Wilson's Snipe

American Wigeon (M)

Vermilion Flycatcher


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