Petey gets a Pleistocene moment in some man made wetlands near his home.
Sandhill Cranes have only been wintering over in the Sulphur Springs Valley for around 60 years, so we won’t be finding any million year old fossil remains as found in Nebraska near the Platte.
Ironically, the cranes winter over in the valley because of the intense agriculture giving them fields to glean during the day. Also, it helps to have the White Water Draw wetlands and the Willcox Playa giving them shallow water for loafing and roosting. Otherwise, they would certainly fly on by to another more exotic location.
The flat agricultural lands of the Sulphur Springs Valley hardly qualify as exotic, but those Sandhill cranes make them look quite beautiful.
The Coachwhip snake is found all over southern Arizona in one color phase or another. I do remember finding a black phase Coachwhip years...
I sure talk about a lot different flora and fauna. From three species of quail, to canyon wrens, to Yarrows spiny lizards, to bristlehead...
Autumn is the season of migration for many avian species and in the borderlands of southern Arizona hummingbirds are passing through, sparrows are arriving...
