San Pedro House

The photo of the cottonwood and cabin on Mark's journey down memory lane was taken at the San Pedro House east of Sierra Vista. Have visited the San Pedro House many times over past winters to watch bird and hummingbird banding. Sometimes it was a visit just to hike along the San Pedro.

Over the past month, I've hiked several times along the San Pedro. One of those was at the San Pedro House. Mark's photo was taken after the cottonwood leaves had fallen. On my visit in October, the leaves of that cottonwood were still quite green.

Shorter days and colder nights will cause those green leaves to turn yellow and soon they will fall to reveal the branching of the tree seen in Mark's photo.

Seemed to be an infestation of grasshoppers as I walked the dusty trails. Got a closeup of the rainbow grasshopper dining on a cholla "fruit".

It was a peaceful walk along the San Pedro. A few birds were sighted. My enjoyment is the bird -- not so much the identification. No doubt with winter plumage, there were several of this duck species swimming on this brown pond. Blood sucking gnats and mosquitoes caused me to quicken my pace and get away from the water.

Soon I was on my way back to the distant San Pedro House under those cottonwoods.

There are (human) snowbirds and there are birds of the avian species who also head south to take advantage of warmer temperatures. This concentration of bird life makes the Mexico - United States border a great location for birders with binoculars and cameras to add species to their "life list". That is the draw for many visitors at the San Pedro House.

Scattered around the center and under the trees are bird seed and hummingbird feeders. Didn't see any hummers. Not too many seed eaters were visiting the feeders. So I settled for a single photo of a rosy finch.

Great day to be out enjoying a warm day in southern Arizona. Life is great!