Of course when Dana and I got at before sun rise this morning we didn't really know what kind of day this would be. We had had made arrangements with a friend and fellow birder to go birding at the Tres Rios Wetlands, a riparian area on the west edge of the city of Phoenix. The wetlands are about 35 acres of ponds used to store water for irrigating the farmland in the area. Hard to grasp farming in the desert but farming is extensive and requires a significant amount water. Water is supplied to the farms through a network of canals and irrigation ditches.
The drive out to Tres Rios took about one hour. The traffic on the freeways and interstate was light and we made very good time. We birded for a solid 3 hours and covered maybe one half of the area. We identified 51 species for the day including 4 new species for our year to date list which now stands at 101 species. The new species are: Yellow-headed Blackbird, White-faced Ibis, Black-throated Gray Warbler and Prairie Falcon.
The Tres Rios Wetlands are quite amazing. The property is owned by the City of Phoenix. A permit is required to access the parking area and wetlands. We had applied to the City of Phoenix for a permit last February. We received the permit before we returned home but did not get an opportunity to use it. Tres Rios means 3 rivers. Tres Rios is at the confluence of the Gila, Agua Fria and Salt Rivers. It sounds like there is water every where but there isn't. I suppose at one time there was but those days are long gone. Drought and over use of water has drained these once major rivers. A local resident told me a couple of years ago that these rivers still exist and they are now underground rivers. Tough to go anywhere with that statement.
The birding excitement of the day was seeing and estimated 2,000 White-faced Ibis flying overhead and by Tres Rios. Ibis are Heron-like wading birds and have a wingspan of about 36". It is hard to describe the sighting. There were several flocks numbering in the hundreds and many strings of birds similar to what you might see in spring and fall with migrating waterfowl.
And now for the really, really exciting part of the day. Come on everyone. All together. "Seattle SeaHawks are going to the Super Bowl"!!!!!!! What a fantastic finish. Am I the only one who will admit to giving up on the SeaHawks when they were down 19-7 with 10 minutes to go in the game? In dramatic fashion the Seattle SeaHawks stormed back. It was only a last minute field goal by the Green Bay Packers that forced the game into overtime. Then, Seattle won the toss, got the ball and in 3 plays scored the winning touchdown and booked their ticket to Super Bowl 49 which is being played right here in the Valley of the Sun in 2 weeks. Wow! Is that great or what??!!
It has been a great day but it is time to shut it down and get some sleep. I leave you with two photos from our birding trip to Tres Rios. The first one is of an Osprey. There were two Osprey hunting for fish in the Tres Rios ponds. The second one is of a frisky pair of Muskrat that I leave to you to interpret.
Until next time... Ciao!
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