Looking Around and Finding Things

This is the view from our kitchen table watching the morning sunrise. There are, obviously, no RV sites to the west of us. We are parked along the fence line of the property. Coyotes will roam the area and various bird species flit about.

We went over to Whitewater Draw one day. It is about 48 miles east of where we are staying and is a fabulous birding area. It is located in the Sulphur Springs Valley, is an Important Bird Area, and often has a lot of Sandhill Crane there in the winter.

Here are two Least Sandpipers that were foraging along the shore. We were surprised to see the small shorebirds there.

Also at Whitewater Draw we saw this Eared Grebe another surprising bird for us. The water is rather shallow and they are diving birds whom often eat fish but also aquatic insects and other small water creatures.

On a different excursion we went to La Cienegas which is a large grassland area north of Sonoita. It is a working cattle ranch and access is allowed

There is a road that runs essentially north and south through the area. Often times we will see Pronghorn Antelope along the road.

At one point there is a pond adjacent to the road. Frequently, on our visits, we will see a wide variety of sparrow species and other birds but this time the only birds were a pair of Killdeer. You can find this species almost anywhere.

In Patagonia Arizona, which is a short distance west of La Cienegas, we ate lunch and then wandered around a large central park open area. This colorfully painted building is towards the west end of the open space and it is a public restroom.

Here is the entrance to the men’s room, a brightly painted image of a Montezuma Quail, Hummingbird and other Arizona scenery items.

As we walked around Patagonia we found this little gentleman hiding in the bushes in front of a small church. He is a most interesting individual.

Looking further around in this neat little town, there is a restaurant named Velvet Elvis. Despite the name it is a great place to eat, excellent food and courteous, efficient service(more on Velvet Elvis in a later post). At the door going into the restaurant lives this brightly painted frog. It is a fascinating representation of a frog and very well done.

On one of our trips we went to Wilcox and had lunch at “Big Tex Barbecue”. In both men's and women's restrooms they have these sinks formed into the state of Texas. It is a cleverly implemented sink.

This image shows detail of a Long Billed Curlew. They are the largest sandpiper regularly occurring in North America being about 20–26 inches long and 24-35 inches across the wings. We had taken this image in the past but wanted to use it for reference to the following image.

There is a waste water treatment pond near Wilcox and we stopped by there after lunch at Big Tex. There was a flock of Long Billed Curlew, about 26 total birds but we could not get them to all get in the picture at once. They sure have long bills. They make a single note call that is fascinating to hear especially when there is a large group of them calling. We normally do not see large flocks of curlew, this was a fun sighting.

Picacho Peak State Park is along I-10 between Phoenix and Tucson and there are many hiking trails and large spaces for the RV. Here we see one trail leading off past the Saguaro and heading towards the peak. It is a great place to camp and very convenient during our travels.

This is a close up of the spines on the Saguaro. One needs to be careful and not get skewered by these. The close up gives us a greater appreciation for their capability to inflict pain.

Some friends, whom travel full time, Don and Sharyl, sent us this picture of a sign they drove past. Sure hope the road was not as rough as the sign indicates.

We hope you enjoyed this brief look around at some different sights and places and birds. We are enjoying our travels and hope you like seeing some of what we have seen.

As you travel on with your life try and stay off some of the rough roads though they often can lead to fascinating places, avoid the cactus as much as possible and look around at the beauty and wonder that surrounds you. Most of all have fun.

Please let us know if you have any questions or comments.

All the best – George & Deanna