Sandhill cranes - Willcox AZ

I've been putting pics on Facebook and neglecting this blog, oops!  I've got a lot of catching up but to start off 2015...

January 17 through 18, we went to Willcox, AZ to see the sandhill cranes that winter there.  I'd been there back in 2003 for a short half day.  This time, we decided to stay in Benson (very relaxing Comfort Inn with a full breakfast) and drive to see the cranes.

We drove down from Phoenix Friday and stopped at the Singing Winds Bookstore outside of Benson. What a find!  I could have stayed all day.  Fantastic selection of books on all topics southwestern and more.  The owner has an eclectic range of topics and will provide an orientation and then you can browse to your hearts content.

We had dinner in Sierra Vista at the Mesquite Tree.  Note to self: when going to a local restaurant, stick with the specialties, not the specials.  We liked the "Texas Twigs", batter dipped fried jalapeno strips.  The fish and fettuccine were not so good.

The "Wings over Willcox" promo has become a lot of pricey tours that are unnecessary.  The advertisements are not very forthcoming on where to see the cranes but with a little checking on old Trip Advisor reviews and talking with a couple locals, we found the areas to explore.  There are places where they stay at night (usually by water) and places where they feed during the day (corn fields, mostly).

We got up 5am Saturday to head over to the AEPCO wildlife area.  There's parking here and a ramp with a railing.  This was NOT a nesting area this year (they move from year to year) but we could see thousands of them coming across from the mountains to the fields just before dawn.  I don't have a telescopic lens so these aren't up close and personal.  The site of waves of birds across the sky was spectacular..if it hadn't been 27 degrees!

 We drove to Wilcox Playa Wildlife area but weren't sure of the trails so we didn't get out and check for birds feeding.  We drove along Kansas Settlement Road on the way and spotted a few birds in the fields but they do blend in and can disappear if the leftover stalks are high.

After grabbing a lunch, we headed over to Whitewater Draw, near McNeil.  This was a great spot.  Some folks had been there all day. We got in about 3:30 and stayed till just after sun down.  I got the best pictures here.

There were several hundred birds within range of the camera and many hundreds more on the far side of these wetlands.  There were also ducks and many birds that had the aficionados snapping pics and ogling with binoculars.

A nice start to the New Year and with gas being at a low price, it wasn't to pricey either!

The cranes are in Willcox area until late February.  There are other outdoor activities in the area too that we'll explore another time.