(Photo by Mwanner - CC BY 3.0)

A sandhill crane.

They’re a little late this year, but large numbers of sandhill cranes are finally returning to southeastern Arizona.

The cranes, which congregate in the Sulphur Springs Valley south of Willcox, generally arrive en-mass in October and November.

This year, however, there have been only intermittent sightings until the last few days. Alan Baker of the Willcox Chamber of Commerce, an avid observer of the birds, said he saw thousands of them near the Apache Generating Station near Cochise, Arizona, Wednesday night.

The Arizona Daily Star reports one possible reason for the late arrival of the birds is warmer-than-usual weather in their summer habitats to the north.

State wildlife officials say crane sightings have also been intermittent in the popular Whitewater Draw viewing area southeast of Tombstone.