Whitewater Draw - November 3, 2023

 Whitewater Draw is a wetland managed by the Arizona Fish and Game Commission as a winter home for migrating Sandhill Cranes, Snow Geese and a variety of water fowl.  During peak season, more than 20,000 cranes and a similar number of geese can be seen from trails that circle some of the ponds in the preserve.  Cranes stay in the water overnight for protection from predators, fly out early each morning to nearby fields to forage on grain, then return after getting their fill.  It is truly a spectacle to see hundreds, even thousands of these birds flying in or out of the wetland.

I decided to visit the preserve once again after seeing a report that cranes and geese were already arriving in great numbers.  However, following my fifty mile drive, I saw that there really weren't that many birds yet, it was simply too early in the season.  Cranes and geese numbered in the hundreds or low thousands, allowing them to huddle far from the trails.  Most of them were basically out of camera range, even for an 800 mm lens.  Groups returning after feeding flew closer, thus providing some photo ops.  While my photos from this visit weren't great, I'm sharing them to give an idea of what it may be like over the next few months.  Waterfowl and smaller birds were also in short supply compared to my previous visits.

A few Northern Shovelers were present, but they too were able to stay out of range for good photos.  There was one gull, I'm not certain of the species, but definitely a new one for me.  One Black Phoebe landed near me, and a Loggerhead Shrike posed on a power line as I left.  On the trip back to Sierra Vista, seven Red-tailed Hawks had their normal positions atop power poles.