SADDLEBROOKE PHOTOGRAPHY CLUB Field Trip to Whitewater Draw Wildlife Area 12/9/2025

Whitewater Draw, located near McNeal, Arizona is managed by Arizona Game and Fish Department primarily as a wintering area for both Greater and Lesser Sandhill Cranes.  Huge numbers of cranes join Snow and Ross’s Geese, other winter migrants, and resident SE Arizona birds in a mixed native grasslands and riparian habitat.

The Whitewater Draw Wildlife Area is about a two-and-a-half-hour drive from Saddlebrooke. We will meet there around 3PM on the 9th to photograph cranes returning from local grain fields.  Some photographers may want to be back at Whitewater at dawn on the 10th to capture the birds lifting off, while a perhaps saner option is to return mid-morning to photograph other birds before the Sandhills start arriving back around 11AM. There are several photography and “birding” options for the afternoon trip back to Saddlebrooke.

Arrange travel and lodging in Bisbee or Douglas the evening of Dec 9th on your own. Both about 25 minutes from the Draw. The Gadsden Hotel in Douglas is a good choice as is The Bisbee Grand Hotel in Bisbee. Both historic old hotels. thegadsdenhotel.com bisbeegrandhotel.com. 

Questions: Jim Smith  jmslopez99@yahoo.com