As promised, here are a few more photographs of the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area. Our thanks to Francie Hills for sharing. I did prepare a slideshow of nine of Fancie’s images on our SouthernArizonaGuide.com. If you would like to view them, please click HERE.

San Pedro River Riparian Conservation Area a few miles east of Sierra Vista.

When Ms. Karen and I were here two Sundays ago, it was cold and all the vegetation looked dead. I assume the photo above was taken in the spring or summer given that everything is green.

Turtles or Tortoises?

I assume that these critters are turtles because they are in the water. I associate tortoises with dry land. Do any of you know what these are?

When we return in the spring, we intend to visit both the Murray Springs Clovis Site and the Lehner Mammoth Kill Site. Today, this narrow riparian area is surrounded by desert. But in the olden days, 11,000 years ago, this whole area was a large marsh. It doesn’t take a lot of imagination to envision stone age people killing and butchering mammoths and bisons here while trying not to become dinner for a sabre-tooth cat.

If you go, stop at San Pedro House, the visitors center for this 57,000 acre preserve. If it wasn’t for the Friends of the San Pedro River, this desert waterway would be as dry as the Santa Cruz that used to flow year-round through Tucson. You might even consider becoming a member. One thing we learned while there is this is a major stopover for migratory birds. Consequently, I have amended our 9 Best Birding Hotspots in Southern Arizona to ten.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 16th, 2013 at 6:03 am and is filed under Day/Weekend Adventures, Environment and Ecology, Hiking, Southern Arizona Wildlife, Things To Do In Cochise County, Things To Do With The Kidz. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.