Cibola National Wildlife Refuge

My apologies for the break in the blog. On the spur of the moment a trip to Palm Springs, Joshua Tree National Park, and Cibola National Wildlife Refuge became possible. Our son, Matt and his wife Rung, made a last minute change in their vacation plans: a time share in Palm Springs, only six hours from Tucson. It was such a delight to see them - an early Christmas Present for sure. So, for the next couple of days we will have some photos of that trip. One such photo, this Great Egret, was captured at Cibola National Wildlife Refuge. Cibola is unique in that the refuge is in Arizona, but there is no way to get to it from Arizona. Whether approaching from Yuma (Interstate 8) or Blythe (Interstate 10) it is at least two hours from Imperial National Wildlife Refuge (also Arizona) to which it shares a common border. (Although, obviously no road between them). We saw several hundred Sandhill Cranes and Canada Geese that winter on the refuge along with this egret. Also a hundred or more yellow headed blackbirds persistent in eating something that was all along the dirt road. For Christine, the short hike through the Cottonwood forest was the highlight. The combination of cottonwoods, honey and screwbean mesquite trees, willow trees, and the turning from fall to winter made for a colorful fairyland. Bobcat tracks and scat all along the trail -- but, I guess if I want to see a bobcat the best place is still our backyard. More tomorrow.