Tweets,



Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument is indeed a wonderful place. The giant
cactus displays are, arguably, the best in the United States and some of the
flora and some reptiles are present nowhere else in the U.S. The birds there
are not a whole lot different than other areas of Southeast Arizona. We
found that the campground area, Quitobaquito and the Ajo Mountain area to
have the most avian species diversity and abundance. Some of my best outdoor
memories come from this park; the shrub holding seven elf owls; the warbler
"fallout" near the top of Ajo Mountain.



Quitobaquito springs is one of the few wet areas in this dry landscape and
consequently has more water-loving birds than anywhere else in the area.
However, the springs sit right on the Mexican border and cars and trucks
roar by a couple hundred yards away on a major Mexican highway (the border
here is a barbwire fence). Park Service signs warn you to not leave your
vehicle unattended and there is a whole lot of broken window glass in the
parking lot.



Sadly, this park has become a major thoroughfare for drug smugglers and
folks heading north to find a better life. Some of these people are pretty
desperate and it pays to be careful in the more remote areas. Check with the
park visitor center before you walk or drive into the backcountry.



Having said all this, would I go again? Definitely!



Dave Parent, Freeland, WA dpdvm at whidbey.com