a week of traveling

Saguaro in Saguaro Nat'l Park

San Pedro River - SE AZ  - Gray Hawk habitat

Sandhill Cranes on the Platte River in Nebraska

Ramsey Canyon - TNC - Southeast AZ

Arizona Sycamore - Ramsey Canyon

Broad-billed Hummingbird - AZ

Ocotillo in Saguaro National Park

My week-long trip was mixed; very glad to spend a week with my brother going through Nebraska, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona...saw a lot of wonderful natural areas, birding was good in some areas, very poor in others, lots of species I just could not find, no matter how hard I tried - maybe was too early - confusing & puzzling  --- VERY glad some places have been protected and so incredibly sad to see what is happening with unrestrained development  in many areas of the west... I predict that some day people who live there will experience great regrets, but for right now many only seem to care about making money...

Best places; Platte River and 30,000 cranes I saw in one evening...Bosque del Apache NWR in NM...Ramsey Canyon and 5 spp of hummingbirds in AZ plus Mexican Jay and Painted Redstart (my favorite place by far; Arizona sycamores are spectacular).

Most puzzling: Saguaro National Park: wonderful flora, but found almost no desert-dwelling birds except 1 Gilded Flicker and 2 Cactus Wrens...how come?