DOWN THE ROAD TO THE WHITEWATER DRAW WILDLIFE AREA

SPOTTED THIS FINE PAIR OF NORTHERN SHOVELER DUCKS TODAY
Our temperatures continue to climb with each passing day and we nearly hit the 80F mark today.  Such a welcome change from just a week ago.  Still down around the freezing mark every night but that’s the way it normally is for this time of year in this region of Arizona.

SAND HILL CRANES IN THEIR ROOSTING AREA
 
DON’T KNOW WHAT THESE BIRDS ARE SO I WILL JUST CALL THEM WATER WALKERS
Decided to do a short trip down the road a mile to the Whitewater Draw today. Knew we wouldn’t be too long and it was a test for Pheebs being left outside the Motorhome without us around for the first time. The completely fenced in 3.7 acres around the Ranch house is perfectly safe, but still, like a doubting parent I worry about ‘first time’ things. Pheebs has shown quite a talent for digging so I had visions of her speed tunneling under the fence to find us.

PLENTY OF SHELTERED COVER FOR BIRD LIFE
We were gone about an hour and everything was fine when we got back. Pheebs, Motor, Pearce and Gleeson were all sacked out in the Motorhome sleeping. We always leave our door wide open as a rule.

AMERICAN COOTS
 
MALE NORTHERN SHOVELER DUCK
It’s funny how ranch dogs Gleeson and Pearce love to hang around with us in the rig this year. They are almost like permanent furniture. Pheebs & Motor love having their Pals over. Well, maybe not Motor so much. For little Motor it’s kinda like dodging around in a big 4 and 2 legged Buffalo herd. Especially when we are all up and trundling around in the rig.

ONE OF SEVERAL VIEWING PLATFORMS AT THE DRAW
 
AVID BIRD WATCHERS INCLUDING BIRDER KELLY IN ORANGE

<<< I THINK SOMEBODY IS A LITTLE WEARY FROM SEEING ALL THOSE BIRDIES
Kelly was back on the phone again today with the hospital and insurance companies double checking things and sure enough, there is a problem!! We had been told on the phone by the insurance company that my upcoming test was approved. Today we find out that decision is still pending. It’s a classic case of the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing and confusion between all parties reigns supreme. So, as of right now, everything is up in the air again until we hear from our insurance company. Complicating all this is the time of year. People off for the holidays, offices closed, etc.

FEEDING NORTHERN SHOVELER DUCKS
 

WHITEWATER DRAW IS MADE UP OF PONDS AND CANALS
Yep, I got my medical exam procedure spelled wrong alright in Thursday’s post.  Thanks to Lynne from WINNIE VIEWS for pointing out my mistake.  It is a Renal (not Reno) Ultra Sound.  I have since corrected the mistake. 

OUR MOTORHOME IS VISIBLE IN THIS PHOTO JUST ABOVE CENTER ABOUT A MILE TO THE EAST OF THE DRAW
 
RANCH HOUSE IS VISIBLE IN PHOTO AT RIGHT
Larry from up around Tucson way reminded me it’s the University of Arizona and not the University Of Tucson we’re dealing with and it was bird feeders I moved closer to the Motorhome, not bird houses.  Larry, in his email said they are planning to stay at the Gadsden Hotel in Douglas soon.  Below is a photo of Kelly in the Gadsden’s Lobby a few years ago.  Rumor or legend has it that Pancho Villa rode his horse into that very lobby one time and right up those marble steps in the background, chipping the marble in the process.

 

And, JUDY corrected my Purple Finch identification.  Although they look like the Purple Finches we get at our feeders in Ontario, Judy says they are House Finches.  And, they are, because I looked in my AUDUBON SOCIETY FIELD GUIDE TO THE SOUTHWESTERN STATES today.  Good thing I have people keeping an eye on me out here.

 
A NORTHER HARRIER HAWK SKIMMING LOW OVER THE TALL GRASSES
This is our 4th year coming to the Sulphur Springs Valley in Arizona’s Cochise County.  Our memories here will last me forever.  Wrote a post one time called, A VALLEY OF LEGENDS.


THIS MALE SHOVELER’S MATE TOOK OFF SO FAST FROM LEFT TO RIGHT THAT I MISSED HER
Question again if I am professional photographer.  No, just a guy with an interest in photography who is fortunate enough to have some reasonably good camera equipment and the ability of SEEING WITH A PHOTOGRAPHER'S EYE. (click)

NOW YOU SEE HIM…..

NOW YOU DON’T…..
 
THE WILD WEST TOWN OF TOMBSTONE ARIZONA IS JUST OVER THE HORIZON IN THE LEFT PHOTO….ELFRIDA & SWISS HELM MOUNTAINS ON THE HORIZON IN THE RIGHT PHOTO

THE WHITEWATER DRAW IS HOME TO UPWARDS OF 20,000 SAND HILL CRANES DURING THE WINTER MONTHS
The Last Paragraph: Watching ‘THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA’ tonight.  I like movies that appeal to my boyhood imagination.  ‘The Hobbit’  ‘Lord Of the Rings’ ‘Peter Pan’ and the ‘Harry Potter’ movies all come to mind.  A fine escape for a young mind.  A fine escape for a few hours, and a fine escape from the realities of having to be an adult.
GROANER’S CORNER:((  The Fourth of July weekend was approaching, and Miss Pelham, the nursery school teacher, took the opportunity to tell her class about patriotism. 'We live in a great country,' she announced. 'One of the things we should be happy is that, in this country, we are all free.'
Trevor, who was a little boy in her class, came walking up to her from the back of the room. He stood with his hands on his hips and said loudly, 'I'm not free. I'm four.'
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-Tourists see the world, travelers  experience it.
- Home is where your pet is:))
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The only thing better than right now  will someday be the memories of
right  now...AL.