Dean & Linda Stock
Well-known member
November 12, 2011 Day 53 Willcox, AZ
We got a knock at our door shortly after we opened up our drapes. The manager of the RV park, John, said his wife made a mistake when calculating our rate, and he had come to return $1 to us. I was impressed that he would make the effort for such a small amount. I really like him a lot. We have seen all the RV parks here in Willcox, and they are not ?resorts?, but they all look well-tended, and I would definitely stay here again.
We hit a homerun today! I worked about 3 hours last night trying to wade through websites and pamphlets, only finding vague directions on to birding sites in the area. I had only a very gross map of Cochise County as an aid. If anyone is interested, I will send you my much more complete directions, which still need work. Anyway, hard work does pay off!
We went to the Apache Station Wildlife Area, which I had successfully mapped. This area, also called Sulphur Valley, is the #1 crane wintering area in the US. We learned from the signboard that there are 3 subspecies who come here, and they range from 6 lbs. to 14 pounds and stand from 2.5? to 3.5? high, but they all have wingspans from 6? to 7?.
As we approached the birding area, we heard loud continuous bird calls. We saw little black blotches way way up in the sky, but when I got to the top of the observation deck I expected to see a sea of birds on the ground making all the noise. Imagine my surprise when there was nary a one. All that noise was from those little guys up so high. There were two wonderful telescopes on the deck. After about 30 minutes of winding their way down from the sky, zigzagging just like we do when we come down a mountain, the sandhill cranes started landing. Wave after wave came in, until there were over a thousand on the valley floor. (Picture 1) Two Ross?s snow geese (the white birds) joined one flock and landed with them. I couldn?t understand why they always landed in the interior of the flock, never on the perimeter. I guess those already there saw someone new coming in and just moved out of the way. There were still more flocks in the approach pattern when a golden eagle appeared, and they all took off. (Picture 2) The sky was black with birds. We were told by the local birders that the cranes have several predators, and they have seen them killed by eagles, bobcats, and coyotes. We watched them fly, sometimes directly over our heads (Picture 3). Eventually, we lost sight of the eagle, so we think all the cranes survived.
We apologize for our pictures. They don?t do the cranes? beauty justice. We had two problems?we haven?t been able to justify buying a long enough lens (several thousand dollars), and we had majorly thick clouds as a background. I had to brighten the pictures considerably so the birds weren?t just black blobs. But, we have great pictures and memories in our minds!
We came back along Kansas Settlement Road, which I had worked hard mapping, but I?m not sure we did it right. I think we may have gone the wrong direction on the road. We were supposed to see the cranes feeding on the fields where the farmers have picked their corn crop. Apparently there is a lot of waste corn left, and that?s what the cranes eat. We only passed two corn farms, and they didn?t have any cranes. We got lucky and ended up in Historic Willcox at the ?train? where we had barbecued ribs.
Next, we went to ?the viewing area by the golf course?, which I also successfully mapped. There were hundreds of ducks, but most were pretty inactive or huddled together (Picture 4). We could see the rain coming, and we could feel the cold wind. I wanted to see ducks, and we saw several varieties, but not my hoped-for wood ducks.
I had mapped another site 50 miles away, probably the one with the biggest variety of birds, and wanted to do it tomorrow. However, rain and cold are projected, and we have to be home a few days before Thanksgiving, so it will have to go on my ?Next Time List,? as are several other places.
At the back of our RV park there is always a group of quail (Picture 5). I think the manager here may be putting out some seed for them.
Staying at Fort Wilcox RV Park?50 amps, FHU, cable, WiFi in the office (I think), $36.40/2 nights with Passport America, no maximum number of nights, quail running around at the back of the property. John, the manager, gave me a ton of literature about places to go here, as well as specific oral directions.
We got a knock at our door shortly after we opened up our drapes. The manager of the RV park, John, said his wife made a mistake when calculating our rate, and he had come to return $1 to us. I was impressed that he would make the effort for such a small amount. I really like him a lot. We have seen all the RV parks here in Willcox, and they are not ?resorts?, but they all look well-tended, and I would definitely stay here again.
We hit a homerun today! I worked about 3 hours last night trying to wade through websites and pamphlets, only finding vague directions on to birding sites in the area. I had only a very gross map of Cochise County as an aid. If anyone is interested, I will send you my much more complete directions, which still need work. Anyway, hard work does pay off!
We went to the Apache Station Wildlife Area, which I had successfully mapped. This area, also called Sulphur Valley, is the #1 crane wintering area in the US. We learned from the signboard that there are 3 subspecies who come here, and they range from 6 lbs. to 14 pounds and stand from 2.5? to 3.5? high, but they all have wingspans from 6? to 7?.
As we approached the birding area, we heard loud continuous bird calls. We saw little black blotches way way up in the sky, but when I got to the top of the observation deck I expected to see a sea of birds on the ground making all the noise. Imagine my surprise when there was nary a one. All that noise was from those little guys up so high. There were two wonderful telescopes on the deck. After about 30 minutes of winding their way down from the sky, zigzagging just like we do when we come down a mountain, the sandhill cranes started landing. Wave after wave came in, until there were over a thousand on the valley floor. (Picture 1) Two Ross?s snow geese (the white birds) joined one flock and landed with them. I couldn?t understand why they always landed in the interior of the flock, never on the perimeter. I guess those already there saw someone new coming in and just moved out of the way. There were still more flocks in the approach pattern when a golden eagle appeared, and they all took off. (Picture 2) The sky was black with birds. We were told by the local birders that the cranes have several predators, and they have seen them killed by eagles, bobcats, and coyotes. We watched them fly, sometimes directly over our heads (Picture 3). Eventually, we lost sight of the eagle, so we think all the cranes survived.
We apologize for our pictures. They don?t do the cranes? beauty justice. We had two problems?we haven?t been able to justify buying a long enough lens (several thousand dollars), and we had majorly thick clouds as a background. I had to brighten the pictures considerably so the birds weren?t just black blobs. But, we have great pictures and memories in our minds!
We came back along Kansas Settlement Road, which I had worked hard mapping, but I?m not sure we did it right. I think we may have gone the wrong direction on the road. We were supposed to see the cranes feeding on the fields where the farmers have picked their corn crop. Apparently there is a lot of waste corn left, and that?s what the cranes eat. We only passed two corn farms, and they didn?t have any cranes. We got lucky and ended up in Historic Willcox at the ?train? where we had barbecued ribs.
Next, we went to ?the viewing area by the golf course?, which I also successfully mapped. There were hundreds of ducks, but most were pretty inactive or huddled together (Picture 4). We could see the rain coming, and we could feel the cold wind. I wanted to see ducks, and we saw several varieties, but not my hoped-for wood ducks.
I had mapped another site 50 miles away, probably the one with the biggest variety of birds, and wanted to do it tomorrow. However, rain and cold are projected, and we have to be home a few days before Thanksgiving, so it will have to go on my ?Next Time List,? as are several other places.
At the back of our RV park there is always a group of quail (Picture 5). I think the manager here may be putting out some seed for them.
Staying at Fort Wilcox RV Park?50 amps, FHU, cable, WiFi in the office (I think), $36.40/2 nights with Passport America, no maximum number of nights, quail running around at the back of the property. John, the manager, gave me a ton of literature about places to go here, as well as specific oral directions.