Sandhill Cranes

Every year our Sulphur Springs Valley hosts large flocks of Sandhill Cranes in the winter. This past winter there were more than 36,000 of them! During the day the cranes pick over the now harvested corn fields and then either spend their leisure or night time at the Willcox Playa, which is a large dry lake northeast of the WD Ranch, or at the Whitewater Draw, about an hour south of us.


The valley is very popular with birdwatchers because we have a lot of other overwintering birds as well, among them the various kinds of hawks, and in the Chiricahua Mountains (the eastern border of the valley) are some rare birds such as the Elegant Trogon that people travel far and wide for to see.


On this holiday weekend we took our visiting friends to Whitewater Draw to view the cranes, and have a picnic. The Thanksgiving storm is now completely gone and the weather was clear and warm. Some cranes, and Snow Geese among them, had already arrived although it is still early in the season, and we also saw a Black Phoebe and Vermilion Flycatcher.