The first thing that caught my attention, even above the din of my noisy diesel truck, was the sound. More often than not I have heard in the form of a duet or, sometimes, a solo. This morning it was a chorus of thousands - thousands of Sandhill Cranes.

I first learned of Whitewater Draw about 10 days ago while visiting a state wildlife area west of Phoenix, Robbins Butte, where I met the site's manager, Phil. We had been discussing my travels when I mentioned Bosque del Apache and he told me about Whitewater Draw and the fact it had more Sandhills than Bosque. In fact, this morning I learned (from some great folks with the Southeastern Arizona Bird Observatory) that this location had more of them than any other site in the country during the 2003 and 2004 Christmas Bird Counts with totals over 20,000(!).

This is the bird I was most concerned with during my visit this morning. This male Vermilion Flycatcher has taken it upon himself to be my next nemesis bird. No matter how "stealthy" I trie to be, this is a close as he would let me come (about 30 feet). I even went so far as to break out the camouflage setup for my camera and tripod - but he wasn't fooled. Will be going back Thursday - we will see who wins out.

If the adult male was less than cooperative, at least this 1st year male was a little more accommodating. Were it not for the Black Phoebe chasing him off from time to time, I probably could have spent the day shooting this bird as he really liked this particular perch.

Located about 25 miles southeast of Tombstone (yep, rode right past the O.K. Corral on the way thar', pardner), Whitewater Draw Wildlife Area is in an isolated spot surrounded by pastures and some groves (pecan?). In addition to the birds mentioned above I noted Eared Grebes, American Pipits, Red-tailed Hawks, Northern Harriers, Spotted Sandpipers, and more White-crowned Sparrows than I have ever seen in one place. I could list a few more (ducks, coots, Yellow-rumps) but, well, I think you probably get the picture. It is also one of the listed sites (#35) on the Southeast Arizona Birding Trail.