We are home and ready for the spring migration
- Bruce Glick: Gone Birding
- March 18, 2019
- 1226
Sandhill cranes at Whitewater Draw in Arizona.
We are now home in Goshen, Indiana, having just returned on March 8. Our two-month sojourn lasted an extra week while we waited for favorable weather to head east.
As is often the case, the weather changed from quite cold (for Arizona) to warm and sunny just before we had to leave. We spent three days camped at Holy Trinity Monastery, located along the San Pedro River near the town of St. David. It was our first time there, and we really liked the quiet, friendly atmosphere as well as the excellent birding at their small lake and the riparian corridor along the San Pedro. There were no rare birds, but most of the expected winter birds were present including a great egret, sora and a green-tailed towhee.
Our last stop was Whitewater Draw, where we spent four delightful days. My brother Al and his wife Marcia showed up in their camper, so we did a lot of birding together and shared meals.
The big draw (pun intended) at Whitewater is the chance to see thousands of birds. Any place with water in Arizona is a magnet for water birds. Sandhill cranes come and go each day, arriving in huge numbers and landing very close to the observation areas along the birding trail. Estimates ranged from 5,000-10,000 cranes at this time of year. They will soon be heading north.
There also were around 135 snow geese and six to eight Ross’ geese, plus lots of ducks. It is an excellent place to get close-up looks at pintail, wigeon, shoveler, cinnamon teal, green-winged teal, gadwall, and a few mallards and Mexican ducks. Several thousand yellow-headed blackbirds put on a show when they arrive every evening and leave in the morning.
However, my favorite birds at Whitewater were the raptors. The first day we had nice looks at an adult golden eagle as well as lots of northern harriers and red-tailed hawks. The second morning I found a beautiful ferruginous hawk soaring overhead. Later a bald eagle made an appearance (not a common bird). A pair of kestrels were around daily, probably nesting in the area. The third day the raptor of the day was a prairie falcon that chased a bird briefly before flying off. We also saw another ferruginous that day.
On the last morning, I was thinking we hadn’t seen a Cooper’s hawk yet, and soon after that we saw an adult perched in a low tree close to the trail. It paid no attention to us as we made one last walk around the birding trail.
Lots of people showed up to see the cranes, geese and ducks at Whitewater. They also enjoyed seeing a female great horned owl on a nest under the old shed, which used to be used for farm implements when the area was farmland. The male owl also spent the day in the shed, perched up under the roof at the opposite end from the nest.
One morning I got up early, just as the male returned from hunting. After it landed, the two owls called softly several times. During the day people ate lunch at the picnic tables under the shed, very close to the owls. Amazing.
It’s good to be home, and I’m ready for spring migration. We saw a nice variety of ducks at the local ponds today with many more to come. I hope you get to see some of the waterfowl in the coming weeks.
Good birding.
Reach Bruce Glick at Bglick2@gmail.com or 330-317-7798.