Sandhill cranes at Whitewater Draw
— ten thousand wings, one cold morning.
Not only on a wall.
“A shallow wetland in the Sulphur Springs Valley where sandhill cranes overwinter from late October through February. By dawn the flooded fields hold twenty thousand birds; the call carries half a mile. Most visitors stand quiet on the boardwalk and listen. The cranes lift in waves once the sun is up.
Sandhill cranes at Whitewater Draw, on ceramic.
Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.
Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.
The place, in three passes.
Whitewater Draw Wildlife Area covers roughly 1,500 acres in Cochise County, about seventy miles southeast of Tucson and twenty miles south of the small town of Willcox. Arizona Game and Fish Department acquired the property in 1997 and manages the shallow impoundments that draw migratory waterfowl. The site sits at the bottom of the Sulphur Springs Valley between the Mule and Chiricahua mountains. It is recognized by Audubon as a globally Important Bird Area and is the most reliable winter roost for sandhill cranes in the American Southwest.
Sandhill cranes (Antigone canadensis) arrive at Whitewater Draw in late October and stay through mid-February, with peak counts in December and January often exceeding twenty thousand birds. The cranes roost overnight in the shallow water for protection from predators, then lift at first light to feed in the surrounding grain fields. By late morning the draw is quiet again. The birds return at sunset in long ragged lines. Outside the crane window, the wetland still holds avocets, black-necked stilts, several duck species, and the occasional vermilion flycatcher.
Whitewater Draw is open daily from dawn to dusk, free of charge. The access road is graded dirt and passable for low-clearance vehicles in dry weather. A short boardwalk extends over the shallows and a covered viewing shelter sits at the main impoundment. Spotting scopes help; a long lens helps more. The closest community with food and lodging is McNeal; Bisbee is about thirty minutes south. Arizona Game and Fish asks visitors to stay on the boardwalk during peak season so the cranes are not flushed from their roost.