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.
I learned that there are twenty-six species of milkweed longhorn beetles (Tetraopes spp.) and up to fifteen of those are in the US. I...
Between the Mesquitey chickens finally laying some eggs and the point leaf manzanita blooming in the hills, there is much excitement around the ol’...
Road trips with a truck load of native plants are a lot of work, but are especially satisfying when you head home with very...
