Wordless Wednesday

Photos by Peggy Thomas, 2016

Ban Barbed-Hook Fishing at Gilbert Water Ranch

An x-ray of a deceased bird from Gilbert Water
Ranch with a barbed fishing hook embedded
in its trachea.

Many of us are regular birders at Gilbert Water Ranch and have seen birds injured or killed by fishing line and fishing hooks.  It is an awful sight, and leaves us feeling sad, frustrated, and angered by our inability to help the birds.  This Thursday is your chance to be a voice for our feathered friends

The Gilbert Town Council will vote this week on a proposal to limit fishing at the Gilbert Water Ranch to catch-and-release in order to mitigate injuries to birds from barbed hooks. The Town expects a large group of opponents to attend the meeting, even though the proposed change will expand catch-for-keeps fishing to two other parks. We need birders/photographers/naturalists to come out in support of catch-and-release.   The proposal will be discussed at  the Town Council this Thursday May 15th at 7:00 pm.  The Council chambers are located at Municipal Building I, 50 E Civic Center Drive, Gilbert, Arizona 85296.

Please come out and help GWR Park Ranger Jennie Rambo inform the Council of the need for this change. You do NOT have to be a citizen of Gilbert to attend or to speak, just a frequenter of the Water Ranch. When you get to the council meeting be sure to fill out one of the comment cards where you can mark yes or no on the proposed change and also indicate whether you would like to get up and speak in front of the council.  Your vote and comments will be entered into the record.  Any photographic evidence you may have would help greatly in showing the Council the severity of injuries caused by barbed hooks.

If you can't make it to the town Council meeting this Thursday but would still like to voice your concerns or give first-hand accounts of birds injured by fishing hooks at Gilbert Water Ranch, please call or write to:

Rod Buchanan, Director of Parks and Recreation
Email: Rod.Buchanan@gilbertaz.gov 

Phone: 480-503-6280
 

Directions to Gilbert City Council Chambers :  Take Gilbert Rd. south past Warner Rd., turn left (east) on Civic Center Dr., look for Municipal Building I, at 50 E Civic Center Drive.

Wordless Wednesday

Photos by Peggy Thomas

Gilbert Water Ranch Bird Walk

A somewhat blurry quick shot of a Lazuli Bunting at Gilbert Water Ranch,
Oct. 12th, 2013.  Seen on Kathe Anderson's Bird Walk.

It was actually jacket-wearing weather on Saturday morning at Gilbert Water Ranch!  Some fellow-birders even donned gloves as we headed out on a Kathe Anderson bird walk (Kathe wore shorts!).  Kathe's bird walks are fun, fast-paced, and fact-filled.  I always learn something new, or see something I never would have on my own.  Sure enough, something out of the ordinary popped up high in the trees, a flash of blue.  Easily the most unusual sighting of the morning - it was a male Lazuli Bunting, shown above.

Our winter ducks are starting to arrive - Northern Pintails, Green-winged Teals, Northern Shovelers, and American Wigeons.

A Northern Pintail Duck in non-breeding plumage, at Gilbert Water Ranch,
Oct. 12th, 2013.

A pair of Northern Pintail Ducksw in non-breeding plumage,
Gilbert Water Ranch, Oct. 12th, 2013

Yellow-rumped Warbler, Gilbert Water Ranch,
Oct. 12th, 2013.

Our wintering Yellow-rumped Warblers are starting to appear, this one showing off his butter-butt!  The "warbler-butt" view is usually all I can capture of these twitchy jumpy birds.  The warbler below looks to be a juvenile, just barely showing hints of yellow.  A bit more subdued than his cohorts, he sat quietly for me, probably still missing his momma.

Juvenile Yellow-rumped Warbler

A very sleepy, nearly comatose, young Black-crowned Night Heron didn't budge as our group paraded by.  An hour and a half later I found him in the exact same spot!  He must have had a rough Friday night, out partying with the other teenage Night Herons.  (A possible kegger at Honey Bee Point!)

A sleepy juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron, Gilbert Water Ranch,
Oct. 12th, 2013

The greatest indicator of Fall was our FOS White-crowned Sparrows!

White-crowned Sparrow, Gilbert Water Ranch,
Oct. 12th, 2013

On a sad note, the storage shed at GWR had been vandalized overnight and all of the binoculars stolen. These binoculars are essential to the nature walks and bird walks held at the Gilbert Riparian Preserve. So, please, if you have any binocs you'd like to donate, contact Scott Anderson at scott.anderson@gilbertaz.gov .

Photos by Peggy Thomas (with the aid of
the very cooperative birds of Gilbert Water Ranch.)

Wordless Wednesday

Photos taken at Gilbert Water Ranch
by Arizona Wildlife Photographer Denny Green.

Arizona's Important Bird Area Program

From left to right, Stacy Burleigh, Kathe Anderson, GWR Ranger Jennie Works, and Joe Willy

Once a month a dedicated group of experienced birders, led by Stacy Burleigh, hit the trails at Gilbert Water Ranch (GWR) to count each and every waterfowl they see at all 7 ponds.  If you've ever been to GWR you realize that's a LOT of counting.  So, why bother counting all those ducks, geese, herons, egrets, cormorants, avocets, stilts, and other shorebirds?  Because GWR is one several Important Bird Areas in the state, so the population and migration patterns of waterfowl are carefully monitored.

Blue-winged Teal showing off his colors at Gilbert Water Ranch.  Photo by Denny Green

This Monday's count had a number of highlights - a Semipalmated Plover in pond 7, a pair of Blue-winged Teals in pond 2, a sudden flyover of 24 Ring-billed Gulls, one Long-billed Curlew in pond 2, two Western Sandpipers in pond 2, and three Wilson's Phalaropes in pond 3!

Mallard pair at Gilbert Water Ranch.  Photo by Denny Green

American Coot at GWR.  Photo by Denny Green

We counted 619 birds, down from 1939 last month.  A sign that summer is here and our wintering ducks have moved on.  The mallards and coots have their ponds back, until next fall.

Count #s April 2012:

160 long-billed dowitcher
75 mallard, 42 young
51 neo. cormorant
48 Amer. Coot
46 Canada Goose, 11 young, 4 domestic geese nannies
27 ring-billed gulls
25 northern shoveler
22 great egret
17 killdeer, 4 young
13 blk-necked stilt
13 great blue heron
11 least sandpiper
10 snowy egret
8 green heron
8 Amer. Avocet
5 blk-crowned night heron
4 spotted sandpiper
3 Wilson's phalarope (moved from pond 3 to 2)
3 ruddy duck
2 cinnamon teal
2 blue-winged teal
2 western sandpiper
1 semipalmated plover (moved from 7 to 2)
1 long-billed curlew (pond 2)
1 brown thrasher
1 eared grebe
1 green tailed towhee
1 ring-necked duck

The Arizona IBA Program has completely redesigned their website and it is better than ever! This new website features much more information about Arizona’s Important Bird Areas as well as highlighting how volunteers can get involved with the program. Each of Arizona’s 42 IBAs has its own profile page, complete with a description, data analysis, photos of habitat and birds along with 2 GIS maps of that IBA at the bottom. To help get potential volunteers excited there is also an IBA blog, a history of the IBA program in Arizona and a “Like” widget that links back to the official Arizona IBA Facebook page. There is also a great calendar of events that shows all of the volunteer survey opportunities as well as IBA events.

The new website still features the same resources for surveyors as the original. All data sheets and protocols are available and there is a portal to the AZ IBA database. Check it out for yourself at http://www.aziba.org/.

Bye-Bye Kitties of GWR

Maybe the last of the feral cats made their way to the island in "Lost"

Hip-Hip-Hooray!  The feral cat count at Gilbert Water Ranch has finally reached ZERO!  Here's the latest from Mike Evans, Conservation Director at Desert Rivers Audubon Society:

Late this afternoon I spoke with Scott Cleaves, the Park Ranger, @ GWR . In the last two weeks he has only seen one cat in the Riparian Preserve at Gilbert Water Ranch. He has repeatedly tried to catch it over the last two weeks, and today he was successful. To the best knowledge of GWR and Riparian Preserve staff, there are NO feral cats left at GWR! The most recent survey in mid-March reported only 13 cats left in the preserve. The staff trapped eight of those cats. Coyotes or natural causes are believed to have accounted for the other five. (Coyotes have been photographed this spring with one adult and two kittens in coyote mouths.) Last October's survey had 82 cats and two litters of hidden kittens living in the preserve.

Signs have been installed at the GWR prohibiting the dumping of any type of animal at the facility. An ordinance prohibiting the dumping of animals has been drafted and circulated for comments. It will come before the town council this summer for adoption. Town employees will continue to trap for cats should any more appear at GWR.

If you run into Scott Anderson, Riparian Preserve Executive Director, Education Director Lisa Hermann, Ranger Scott Cleaves, or Naturalist Jennie Rambo during a future visit to GWR, please thank them for their efforts to make the Riparian Preserve at Gilbert Water Ranch at feral cat-free facility. Thanks goes out as well to the members of Save the Cats Arizona for their cooperation in the removal of the cats.
Thank you to all those on the list serve that contacted Gilbert town staff and elected officials regarding this issue. The hard work of the birding community has been rewarded with a cat-free Important Birding Area here in Gilbert, AZ.

Bonus section written by this blogger's dog "Paco"-

Quiz for Cat Owners:

The above sign means:

1. No swinging cats by the hind legs allowed at GWR.
2. No "Kitty n' Me" Thai Chi permitted at GWR.
3. Cat-Juggling is not allowed, please keep your circus animals at home.
4. No dumping cats at GWR.

Answer:  TBD



More Great Birding at Gilbert Water Ranch



Black-crowned Night Heron



The Big Sit at Gilbert Water Ranch

Northern Shoveler unimpressed by Avocets in their breeding plumage.

Sunday morning was The Big Sit fundraiser for the Riparian Institute at GWR.  Led by Kathe Anderson,  our goal was to see as many species as possible while staying in one spot.  Kathe doesn't mess around when it comes to the rules of "Sitting", she actually marked out the area we were confined to, and we only included sightings from within that boundary.

Kathe Anderson marks out the boundaries of our Big Sit.

We had a great group of birders and an even greater group of birds!  A male Anna's perched nearby the whole time keeping an eye on the odd group of humans huddled together in the cold.  Lots of Northern rough-winged Swallows swooped overhead.  Most, but not all, American Avocets were showing off their breeding plumage.  Aerial highlights included an Osprey, a Cooper's Hawk, and an obviously molting Peregrine Falcon (sporting matching bare patches on the trailing edge of both wings).  Ann Givey, a great birder and DBG docent / volunteer, spotted the bird of the day - a beautiful Blue-gray Gnatcatcher!  My photo really doesn't do this bird justice.  His blue tones, black tail, and white eye-ring stood out dramatically on this cold gray morning.  I need to learn how to use a camera! 




Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (Polioptila carulea) look at that white eye-ring!

 All of us birders benefit greatly from just the mere existence of the Gilbert Riparian Preserve (a.k.a. Gilbert Water Ranch) so we really should do whatever we can to help support it.  The Institute is always in need of funds and volunteers, to make a donation or to check out volunteer opportunities go to  http://www.riparianinstitute.org/member.cfm - or - come on out to the Feathered Friends Festival this Saturday, March 26th from 9 am - 2 pm.

The Feathered Friends Festival - Over 40 booths will host wildlife exhibitors and educational activities including games and crafts about insects, plants, water, reptiles, birds, and more. There will be food, music, birding experiences, and tours of the preserve as well. All ages are welcome. Donations are requested - $2 per person or $8 for families of 4 or more. See pics of the 2010 Festival HERE.

Fine Dining With the Green Heron

The menu was somewhat limited...

but very fresh...

and quite filling...

overall it was...

a hair-raising experience!

Photo series taken at Gilbert Water Ranch.

White-faced Ibis at Gilbert Riparian

A single Grackle among the White-faced Ibis at Gilbert Riparian Preserve

I don't know about you but I don't see any white faces among these White-faced Ibis.  So when a fellow birder said she saw some White-faced Ibis today, I thought maybe she'd been out in the sun too long!  Turns out that I don't know an Ibis when I see one.  There were plenty of them out today at Gilbert Riparian Preserve, on Field Trip #1 of "More Birding with Cynthia Donald".  Its too late to sign up now for this great class, but watch for the Spring 2011 class listed at http://www.dbg.org/ .

Ducks now appearing at the Gilbert Riparian Preserve include - Green-winged Teal, American Wigeon, Northern Pintail, Northern Shoveler, Cinnamon Teal, and the not-a-duck Pied-billed Grebe.  Other birds of interest seen today were an American Kestrel, Osprey, Western Kingbird, Brown-headed Cowbird, House Wren, Lincoln's Sparrow, Orange-crowned Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Says Phoebe, and Black Phoebe.

Evening Tour at Gilbert Water Ranch

Friday night I went on an Evening Tour at Gilbert Water Ranch - the weather was perfect, warm and breezy, and no bugs- at least not the annoying head buzzing kind.  I didn't get many photos - still figuring out how to use the camera at night without blinding people and scaring away the wildlife.  Cliff Swallows were swooping around eating bugs over the ponds, Canada Geese and their goslings were feeding along the shorelines, and hundreds of ducks were huddled down for the night on the mid-pond islands.  The kids caught and released a young bullfrog, found a wolf spider with a load of baby spiders on her back, and encountered gobs of June-bugs around the lamposts.  The GWR Observatory was open, and we all got a great view of Saturn and 3 of its moons!  I lucked out again, the telescope was pointed high in the sky, and I could wheel right up to the scope.  Kudos to the East Valley Astronomy Club members/volunteers who are always so helpful and willing to share their knowledge.

Fun at Gilbert Water Ranch

Great Blue Heron fishing on the dock

Ready to strike!

A Canada Goose and her goslings.

Feathered Friends Festival

Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)

The Feathered Friends Festival at Gilbert Water Ranch had plenty of activities for kids, and adults. The Desert Rivers Audubon was there offering guided bird walks, and had a great selection of guide books for sale. Kids really had it made here - where else on earth could you go hunting for creepy crawly bugs, put paint all over your face, play with pinecones and peanut butter, dig in the dirt looking for dinosaur bones, and pick apart owl poop! Life doesn't get much better than that.

I told myself I wouldn't wander off and explore the many trails, but I couldn't resist - the weather was perfect, sunny, breezy, 75 degrees, and the wildflowers were in full bloom.  Before I knew it I had spent 3 hours wandering the riparian preserve watching hummingbirds, warblers, herons, ducks, shorebirds, flycatchers, and even a Loggerhead Shrike! 

Birding II Field Trip to Gilbert Water Ranch

GREEN HERON (Butorides virescens)

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.