Sandhill Crane Viewing

 19 December 2020

Darin came down today for the purpose of going with us to the Whitewater Draw near Bisbee,AZ to view the Sandhill Cranes. John and I went last week, but there were only around 100. Fortunately today there were thousands flying in and nesting in the wetland. Most of the photos I have posted were taken by Darin and his zoom lens. Our iPhone cameras cannot capture the closeups. Thank you Darin for sharing some 100 photos. Wish I could publish them all, but chose the best of the best.

The best time for viewing is early morning when  they leave to feed in the surrounding fields, returning around noon and again in the late afternoon when they once again go for feeding. 

Had it not been for our fellow campers at Fort Huachuca, we would not have known about this. Thank you Steve and Gloria. 

Adults are gray with red foreheads, white cheeks and long,dark pointed bills. The male weighs around 10 lbs and the female 9lbs..They give a loud trumpeting call. The female makes two calls for every one from the male. They fly south for the winter forming flocks of over 10,000. Females lay from 1-3 eggs and both parents incubate the eggs for 30 days brooding them for up to 3 weeks after hatching. They reach independence at 9-10 months.

The Whitewater Draw is a major roost site with as many as 20,000 sandhill cranes during the winter. They spend their time during the night standing in the shallow waters to evading predators.. This is considered the best viewing site in Arizona. 

It was a fun afternoon with Darin and so glad we could share in this experience.

Tomorrow we depart for Davis Monthan AFB in Tucson and more visits with Darin and Kerry.