I recently had the opportunity to view some of the population of Whooping Cranes wintering in Texas. As of February, 2010, an estimated 263 birds are on the central Texas coast, most of them at Aransas NWR. The individuals above were photographed on the Lamar Peninsula, Aransas County on January 30, 2010. At 5 feet tall, they are Impressive birds even from a distance of 1/4 mile.

In Arizona, the handsome and charismatic Sage Sparrow breeds in the north central and north east parts of the state. In winter, they can be found in rather open scrubby habitat from the Phoenix area south to southeast Arizona. Winter populations are spotty becoming much less common in the extreme south. This spiffy individual was photographed at Willcox Pond, AZ on December 19, 2006.