Have been in southeast Arizona for about two weeks. Have never really explored the area south of the I-10 freeway. It has either been too hot or I was in a hurry to get to New Mexico or Texas. Boondocked a few days at the Escapee rv park in Benson (they were full). The top picture is of a cow pasture next to the park. It was watered late in the afternoon and it got to freezing during the night. The weather has been in the 70-80′s during the day, with intermittent freezing at night.
The second picture is a rock wren that lives in a wood pile in the park. It flies out 5 or 6 feet from the pile to search the ground for food, then quickly scoots back into the wood pile. At times it looks like it is doing deep knee bends on top of a piece of wood.
About 40 miles south of Benson, or 20 miles from Sierra Vista, Arizona, there is the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area. This is the first spot in North America to be designated a Globally Important Bird Area. The first time I visited it there was hardly any one else there and there were birds everywhere. On a beautiful trail that goes along the river, I saw the above two birds. The first one is a white-breasted nuthatch. It was circling around the trunks of trees to get insects. The second bird is a cactus wren.
Found some wintering sandhill cranes at Whitwater Draw Wildlife Area, about 20 miles southeast of Tombstone, Arizona. They are starting to head north and are usually gone by March 15th. This is an unusual place, as it allows rv’s to camp (boondock) up to three days! There is room for maybe 7 or 8 rv’s. You can bet, if I travel through this area between October and February, I am going to try to stay here.
