Whitewater Draw with Luke Safford

Saturday, November 16: Whitewater Draw with Luke Safford, 8:30am – 1:30pm

$50/member, $100/non-member

Trip Difficulty: Easy to Moderate. Birding along the road along with about 1 mile walking loop around Whitewater Draw Area.

An oasis in the middle of the Chihuahuan desert grassland, Whitewater Draw is known for its amazing numbers of wintering Sandhill Cranes (10,000+). We won’t hit that high of number this early in the season, but we should still see plenty! This Important Bird Area is the winter home for many species of waterfowl (Snow Goose, Northern Pintail, possible Ross’s Goose) and raptors (Northern Harrier, Ferruginous Hawk, possible Bald Eagle) among the many other species found in this marsh/desert habitat. We’ll start with birding Coffman Road for Scaled Quail, raptors, thrashers, and sparrows before heading to main attraction. Carpooling to location will be arranged among participants and we’ll be leaving the Tucson area at 6:30am, and arriving at our birding location about 8:30am. Plan for cool weather and please bring a lunch which we’ll enjoy at the Draw. A folding chair would be good to bring too. Limited to 10 participants.

Leader: Luke Safford, (lsafford@tucsonaudubon.org)

Registration required

*Why does this event cost money? Your generous support helps us to continue to offer an exceptional array of field trips and programming for the community

Header image: Sandhill Cranes by Lois Manowitz