Bald Eagle
Haliaeetus leucocephalus
Observed soaring above the Verde River not far from Fountain Hills, Maricopa Co., Arizona. May 2012.
If it weren't for the Endangered Species Act and the Desert-Nesting Bald Eagle the last free-flowing stretch of river in the Sonoran Desert - the Lower Verde River - would have been damned and converted into reservoir. The Maricopa Audubon Society was a key player in defeating the dam proposal.