Birding II Field Trip to Gilbert Water Ranch

GREEN HERON

Its Super Bowl Sunday and, appropriately so, we are at the Super Bowl of birding spots in Arizona - Gilbert Water Ranch (a.k.a. Gilbert Riparian Preserve). I'm taking More Birding with Cynthia Donald offered by Desert Botanical Gardens. Cynthia runs a great class and wonderful field trips!

I'll write more soon, I'm beat! Here's a slide show of our field trip. As you'll see, I coudn't get enough of the Green Heron spotted at the very end of the field trip, within a few feet of the sidewalk! Double-click on the image below to see an enlarged version.

New Tour at Wings Over Willcox a Success!

Thanks to the efforts of Darlene Smyth, the new accessible tour at W.O.W. was a success. Darlene reports - "It was a small group, but the people seemed to really enjoy the experience. I did not have any birders using a wheelchair although the vehicle we used was accessible and had a lift. WOW wants to keep offering this type of trip and hopefully, word will get out, and birders with physical limitations will participate in the WOW Festival in the future. We had great looks at birds ranging from Sandhill Cranes, to Ferruginous Hawks, to Bendire's Thrashers, to Sage Thrashers, and many, many more. We even had scope looks at most of these birds!"

So mark your calendars for next year's Wings Over Willcox birding festival and be sure to sign up for the "Easy Birding Sampler" tour. Registration starts on Sept. 1, 2010 for the January 2011 W.O.W. festival.

Smyth is currently the field trip coordinator for Tucson Audubon, and has birded extensively over North America, as well as in several countries in Central and South America. Her wonderful website - Comfortable Birding For All - lists accessible birding locations all around the globe!

Birding on the Desert Belle

On a recent unplanned trip to Saguaro Lake, I happened upon the Desert Belle tour boat and decided to hop on for a ride. The boat was very accessible, I just rolled right on. Most passengers opted to go upstairs, so we had the lower deck and cabin mostly to ourselves. I told the tour guides we were interested in seeing birds, so they were sure to point them out along the way, even slowing down and angling the boat for the best views! We saw American Coots, a few Western Grebes, Vultures, a Great Blue Heron, and groups of Cormorants fishing along the shore. We even saw a Bald Eagle perched on a cliff above the lake(they are known to nest on the surrounding cliffs). After the boat tour we dined at the Lakeshore Restaurant on their outdoor patio overlooking the lake. We managed to see even more birds as we dined - Mallards, Great-tailed Grackles, Cactus Wren, Hummmingbirds, Verdin, and Gila Woodpeckers. Also known to be seen in the area are Belted Kingfisher, Green Heron, and Osprey. For details about the Desert Belle Paddleboat Tours, click HERE. Call to reserve tickets at 1-877-749-2848. To see the great menu at the Marina's Lakeshore Restaurant, click HERE.

Desert Rivers Audubon Society Bird Walk at Tempe Marketplace

Even better than a cup of Joe in the morning is a Bird Walk, especially when its led by expert birder Kathe Anderson from Desert Rivers Audubon. It was a cool foggy morning along the path at Tempe Marketplace overlooking a lush riparian zone of the Salt River (Rio Salado). Water levels are still high, but not at flood stage, so the usual cast of characters has returned; Killdeer, Least Sandpipers, various Sparrows, Great Egrets, Snowy Egrets, Blue Herons, Osprey, Red-tailed Hawk, Cormorants, Coots, Mallards, Green-winged Teal, Northern Shoveler, Pied-billed Grebe, Wilsons Snipe, Grackles, Hummingbirds, and Warblers. Kudos to Desert Rivers Audubon for organizing the walk, and to Kathe Anderson for leading the walk (and for being endlessly patient with those of us who can't tell one sparrow from another.)