OFF TO THE WHITEWATER DRAW WITH THE TUMBLEWEED PHOTO GROUP

FLOCKS UPON FLOCKS OF SAND HILL CRANES

Instead of our photo group meeting today at 1 p.m. in the Elfrida Library it was determined a week ago to meet later in the afternoon around 4 at Cochise Counties WHITEWATER DRAW.  This is a short 20 minute drive from where we are & only a mile west of the Ranch where we have spent some time the past couple years ranch sitting.

I arrived at the Whitewater draw early & everyone was already there so we headed out along one of the berms to a viewing platform.   Had a stiff breeze blowing but at least it wasn’t a cold stiff breeze.  Some of the group moved to a second viewing area but fellow member Ray & I stayed put.  I just head to much equipment to pack up for a second move.

  

SOME FELLOW MEMBERS SETTING UP A SECOND POSITION

JIM SETS UP HIS NIKON SPOTTING SCOPE

RAY WAS ALL ‘CONCENTRATION’ THIS AFTERNOON

SOME FELLOW SNOW BIRD’S DROPPED BY FROM MONTANA & NEBRASKA

Nothing spectacular happening with the Sand Hill Cranes today so my photos kind of reflect that.  Had the thousands of birds suddenly lifted into the air all at once we might have had something but for the most part the gang was just hanging out & staying put.  The Cranes were about a quarter to half a mile away so even with telephoto lenses a good sharp Sand Hill Crane photo just didn’t happen today:((

It was just nice being out with some folks with similar nature photography interests for change & I enjoyed that.  No doubt I should get off my duff & do more things along those lines.

LANDING GEAR IS DOWN

  

Finished my, ‘When All Roads Led To Tombstone’ book today.  Another in a series of great reads about the history here in Arizona’s Cochise County & surrounding areas.  I feel somewhat enlightened & for sure better educated about life in these parts back in the late 1800’s. 

  

The last few chapters in this book are dedicated to what really happened in Tombstone on October 26th 1881.  It is the eyewitness accounts & trial testimonies of first hand witnesses to the shooting that occurred at Tombstone’s OK Corral.  The gunfight was witnessed by townsfolk & their accounts, word for word, are recorded.  The testimonies of Wyatt & Virgil Earp were also recorded at a Magistrates hearing between Oct. 31rst & October 29th.  On December 1rst Magistrate Wells Spicer handed down his verdict about the shooting deaths of Tom & Frank McLowry & Billy Clanton.   The 4 people charged in that shooting were brothers Morgan, Virgil & Wyatt Earp, along with John ‘Doc’ Holliday.  The final words of the last paragraph in the Judge’s verdict reads….”There being no sufficient cause to believe the within named,” Wyatt S. Earp & John H. Holliday, guilty of the offense mentioned within,” I order them to be released.”  Wells Spicer…Magistrate.

  

For anyone interested in the bullet by bullet account of what really happened that day I suggest they read the final chapters of this book & the eye witness accounts of the people who were there & testified to what they saw.  And, here’s a little known fact…William F. Clairborne testified at this hearing for the prosecution.  He had been in a group talking with the Clantons & McLowrys just moments before the shooting started but had slipped away just before the bullets started flying.  And who was William F. Clairborne??  He was better known by his nickname….’Billy The Kid.’

GROANER’S CORNER:((  And, did you know a cigarette can be accurately defined as a pinch of tobacco rolled in paper with fire at one end and a fool on the other.  Divorce of course is sometimes thought of as the future tense of marriage and a lecture is often the art of transferring information from the notes of the Lecturer to the notes of the students without passing through "the minds of either."  Oh, & should a conference be convened it could be said that it is the confusion of one man multiplied by the number present.

--------------------------------------------------------------
EMAIL THE BAYFIELD BUNCH:))
stargeezerguy@gmail.com
 
Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.  Tourists don’t know where they’ve been, travelers don’t know where they’re going:))

BLOGGER WEBSITE http://thebayfieldbunch.com/
OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/
 
The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...... AL.

SPEED WOBBLE ALONG THE BANKS OF THE SAN PEDRO

SMALL CABIN MADE OF RAILWAY TIES SITS NEXT TO ONE OF THE LARGEST COTTONWOOD TREES IN ALL OF ARIZONA

A touch of wind & a smattering of clouds added a slight chill to the morning air but we headed off to the San Pedro Valley anyway.  A quick hot dog stop at Jimmy’s Hot Dog Company in southwest Bisbee primed us for a pedal to the metal hike along the banks of the San Pedro river in Hereford.

We had decided earlier to pick a flat trail for a change & pick up the pace a bit.  The Mammoth Kill trail was flat alright so we headed straight out across the fields close to the San Pedro river for about a mile & then turned & headed back to the parking lot.  Not a lot to see so we just concentrated on a faster walk.  In fact we were walking so fast I got myself into a nasty speed wobble, almost lost control of my feet & crashed into the San Pedro:))

From there we drove about 8 miles north towards Sierra Vista & then east back to the San Pedro River & the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area alongside highway 90.  The building here is commonly known as the San Pedro House.  This area was the first officially designated Global Important Bird Area in the United States Of America.  350 species of birds can be found here, but not at this time of year.  There is a 2 mile loop trail which we will do at a later date & there is also one of the largest Fremont Cottonwood trees in Arizona.  Definitely the biggest Cottonwood I had ever seen.

 

 

ONE OF THE LARGEST FREMONT COTTONWOOD TREES IN ARIZONA

We were back home by 2 & I was bushed.  I’m just not a fast walking hiker type of person.  I like to doddle, look at things, take photos & soak up the nature around me. 

ALONG THE BANKS OF THE SAN PEDRO RIVER THIS MORNING

Kelly recently read about the health benefits of honey & cinnamon.  I have been eating honey for years with my peanut butter sandwich's & also using it in my coffee.  I have now added cinnamon to my daily soy shakes, peanut butter sandwich’s &  morning coffee plus a dash in my vanilla flavored Almond milk.  Life is just a series of marvelous discoveries sometimes isn’t it:))

 

BACK TO SOME BISBEE PHOTOS FROM FRIDAY

Below is a photo taken this morning by a remote web cam in Grand Bend Ontario.  You can see what winter looks like in our neck of the woods back home.  Grand Bend is a 20 minute drive south of Bayfield.  Camera is pointed out towards Lake Huron & if you look to the bottom right of the photo you can see a lighthouse shadow cast upon the river by an early morning sun.  The web cam refreshing the pictures every minute is located in a window atop that lighthouse.

I get a big kick out of hearing little feet pitter pattering around on our Motor Home roof every morning.  A bird alights on the Motor Home just after sunrise & seems to revel in running up & down our roof pausing here for this & skittering over there for that.  Kind of a silly thing but I look forward to that little guys arrival every morning.

    

I happily noticed we have 5 new blog Followers.  First let me welcome Teri on board followed by Deborah from AND THE SIGN SAID:))  Another welcome to Margaret who is next on board.  Barry & Denise are our next Followers & bringing up the rear a couple of old friends I think I might recognize from Quartzsite, Arizona.  A big hello & welcome to Patty & Peter.  Peter once tracked us down on his ATV a few years ago while we were boondocking south of the Q:))  If I have missed anyone’s blogsite just let me know.  Thanks to all you folks for your interest in, The Bayfield Bunch:)) 

  

In yesterday’s post I mentioned about finding what we thought may have been a homeless persons place.  A commenter sent in a far more logical explanation of what we saw.  This is the comment by Anonymous…."You are in the region where there are many, many lay-ups. These are not for homeless persons. They are spots that the coyotes take their border-crosses to hide until the cover of night when they can be picked up to be taken into a big city where they will not be conspicuous. If you have run into these before, you will likely see discarded plastic jugs, old clothing,maybe some old backpacks, some cheaply made cotton or wool blankets used for sleeping and the like. If you see fresh opened cans or stuff not dusted over, it's probably an active lay-up site. As I said, there are lots of them along the AZ border area.”

BISBEE’S TOMBSTONE CANYON DRIVE HEADING DOWNTOWN

     

I always appreciate comments & emails from readers pointing out any errors I may have made in my blog or as in the Anonymous comment, a more logical explanation to something I was ‘assuming.’

I NEVER HAVE HAD, NOR WILL I EVER HAVE, AN EINSTEIN BRAIN!!   BUT,  I THINK MAYBE I AM WELL ON MY WAY TO AN EINSTEIN HAIR-DO:))

GROANERS CORNER:((  Here’s a sign seen at the Budapest Zoo….'Please do not feed the animals. If you have any suitable food, give it to the guard on duty.’

--------------------------------------------------------------
EMAIL THE BAYFIELD BUNCH:))
stargeezerguy@gmail.com
Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.

BLOGGER WEBSITE http://thebayfieldbunch.com/
OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/
The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...... AL.