Mismanagement by Phoenix Parks Dept. Causing Destruction of Habitat at Rio Salado

Letter to the Phoenix Parks Dept. -

I frequently visit the Rio Salado habitat at Central avenue, to enjoy the wheelchair accessible trails and abundant wildlife. But recently I've seen that maintenance workers are destroying valuable bird habitat areas - they are clearing away underbrush! Rio Salado isn't a city park that needs to be mowed and trimmed, its a wildlife habitat. Someone needs to instruct the workers to leave the underbrush alone. Their time would be better spent tearing out the invasive plants - like the bufflegrass. I saw a number of places along the trails where workers had cleared away the native plants and left the invasive plants!!! Who is in charge of maintaining the plants at Rio Salado? Aren't there any set guidelines about preserving habitat areas? I also saw some previously full and lush trees that have now been PRUNED! This has got to stop. Please forward this to the necessary division of the Phoenix Parks Dept..

Thank you,

Peggy Thomas

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Ms. Thomas,

Thank you for your email regarding the pruning of bushes and trees at the Rio Salado Habitat. I wanted to let you know that our staff attend regular training on habitat maintenance in reference to the particular types of species that live and migrate through Rio Salado. We also have put together a Master Calendar to help remind staff of these different species, their needs, and the maintenance limitations that accompany them. We do however, have to balance the needs of many different species as well as safety issues for our patrons and city code requirements. Sometimes there are conflicts, and we have to make difficult decisions. That said, it is certainly also possible that staff may make mistakes in their dedication to their positions, so please know that I will follow up on your concerns, review the areas that you have mentioned, and then follow up with staff as needed.

I want to again thank you for sharing your concerns with us. It is always helpful to have people who care enough about our mission to take the time to let us know when there are potential issues, and who share in our commitment to the success of the project. Below is my information, and please do not hesitate to contact me in the future if you have any additional questions.

Sincerely,

Chris Parks, MC
Special Operations Supervisor
Phoenix Parks & Recreation Department
Office: 602-534-8222
chris.parks@phoenix.gov

Cold Weather Birding



Red-tailed Hawk eating its kill in a recently plowed ag field.

 This is the coldest weather I have ever experienced in the Valley - morning temps in Mesa were 24 degrees.  My bird bath was frozen solid!  So today and yesterday I birded from within the comfy confines of my home and my car.  I've discovered that cold birds are hungry birds, so I went out looking for raptors.  Right off the bat, I saw my first ever adult Bald Eagle soaring by while on the 202 freeway.  We cruised around through the ag fields southeast of Scottsdale Community College and within minutes spotted a Red-tailed Hawk tearing apart its prey in a recently plowed field.  An American Kestrel swooped down and whizzed by our heads, possibly ticked off that we were annoying his hunting partner.  Later we came upon a large (approx. 24" tall) mostly grey and white hawk perched mid-level in a cottonwood tree.  Someone help me out here - I'm guessing a female Northern Harrier or a Ferruginous Hawk?  I'm probably way off, so feel free to correct me. Unfortunately I didn't get a good view of the tail or rump patch.

Birds at the Phoenix Zoo

I think its the birds that really run this place...

 Click on images to ENLARGE

The peacocks seem to roam freely and are just gorgeous!



Happy wading in his "pea soup" pond.

Gotta love that face!



White Pelican, one of 6 at the zoo that were rescued from the Gulf oil spill.



Lined up and waiting to make their escape.

ASU Research Park

A great group of gals showed up for this Desert Rivers Audubon field trip with Kathe Anderson.  We met at the south end of ASU Research Park (Warner Rd. and S. River Parkway, just west of the 101 freeway). It was a c-c-c-cold morning and my b-b-b-batteries were near dead, but I managed to get a shot of the Cooper's Hawk we encountered at the start of our walk, still holding her recent kill.  Later we had beautiful views of an Osprey flying low right over us.  We didn't see much in the way of ducks - a few Mallards/domestic, Ring-necked Ducks, and Lesser Scaup.  One Pied-billed Grebe was mixed in with alot of Coots.  A lone Green Heron crouched by the chilly shoreline.  My favorite were the Belted Kingfishers swooping down and around and then diving into the water.  We followed the sidewalks that surround all three ponds at ASU Research Park.  Some parts are steep, so anyone using a manual wheelchair will need a good set of muscles and an even better set of brakes!

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.

Phoenix Area Aquatic Bird Survey

On Saturday, Jan.15th, Tammy Baker, Jesse Cuilty, and I headed out to count waterfowl at Tempe Town Lake for the Phoenix Area Aquatic Bird Survey, organized by Troy Corman at Arizona Game and Fish.  Jesse has done bird counts before, and has taken Birding I and More Birding with Cynthia Donald at DBG more times than I can count.  Tammy Baker is an avid outdoorswoman and has a great eye for sighting birds of prey, no matter how high they are soaring.  Its as if she has raptor-radar!  I was the one with the fancy scope for seeing all the tiny Ruddy Ducks clear across the lake. 

Our assigned area included Tempe Town Lake, the downstream ponds, and the small marsh area at Curry and Miller roads.  It did not include the east dam where lately 3 Brown Pelicans have been hanging out, but we still had fun watching 2 of them fly low across the lake, just inches above the water! The east dam was counted by the team that was assigned to Tempe Marsh.

Lower ponds downstream from west dam of Tempe Town Lake



Aerial view of marsh area at Curry and Miller.



We scouted out the marsh, lake, and downstream ponds on the Tuesday and Friday before the count.  We made contact with some friendly City of Tempe workers to let them know we would be surveying the ponds behind their workyards.  While scouting the marsh area at Curry and Miller we encountered a naked homeless man camped out in the southern-most reeds, so we asked a patroling Tempe police officer to relocate him for the day of our count. 



So on Saturday we had our game plan set.  We met at Tempe Center for the Arts, birded the west dam and its downstream ponds to Priest.  There wasn't much there but a few Double-crested Cormorants, American Coots, over 30 Green-winged Teals, and 1 Great Blue Heron.  Then we headed to the marshes to bird while it was still early in the morning.  We had more Coots, a few Mallards, Gadwall, Pied-billed Grebes, and a beautiful pair of Cinnamon Teal.  Taking the cement path down to the lake, we saw a few Spotted Sandpipers and Black-necked Stilts in the shallow waters north of the bridge, and many Ruddy Ducks under the bridge and at the east dam area.  Aside from a few Eared Grebes, Northern Pintails, and Northern Shovelers, it was mainly Ruddy Ducks and Coots scattered over the lake.  A pair of Osprey put on a good show diving for fish, dropping, and re-catching them. 

Here's our tally -

17 Gadwalls

15 Mallards

2 Cinnamon Teals (in the marsh)

4 Northern Shovelers

3 Northern Pintails

32 Green-winged Teal (downstream ponds)

69 Ruddy Ducks

3 Pied-billed Grebes

3 Eared Grebes

41 Double-crested Cormorants (mostly by west dam)

3 Great Blue Heron

1 Green Heron

111 American Coots

6 Black-necked Stilts

2 Spotted Sandpipers

3 Osprey

If you are interested in volunteering to help with a bird count, contact your local Audubon chapter for information.  In Arizona, contact Arizona Field Ornithologists at http://www.azfo.org/ , or Arizona Dept. of Fish and Game at http://www.azgfd.gov/ .  Each December there are Christmas Bird Counts that need volunteers, in January there's the Phoenix Area Aquatic Bird Count, and the Peach-faced Lovebird Count this Saturday, 7:30am to 10::00am.  In February, everyone can join in and do the Great Backyard Bird Count, from the 18th to the 21st.

Hawks in da Hood!

Small hawk lurking over a bougainvillea full of terrified House Sparrows, Jan. 11, 2011, Mesa, AZ.

I'm not that great at identifying hawks, but I've certainly seen alot of them this winter, stalking the sparrows and even dive bombing our Rock Squirrels.  So far, I'm fairly certain we've had a Cooper's Hawk, a Peregrine Falcon, an American Kestrel, and now the above Sharp-shinned Hawk.  He kept hopping all around the bougainvillea and diving into it trying to nab a sparrow.  Eventually he gave up and perched midway up a pine tree waiting for another opportunity.  In the photo below you can see how small he is in relation to the curb, and the cement block.  Given his small size and coloring I think he's an immature male Sharp-shinned.  Anyone have another guess?

Another hawk on January 18th--  Now I'm not sure if the above hawk is a Cooper's or Sharp-shinned.  This hawk was seen on tne 18th, further up a nearby tree,  and appeared larger than the one seen previously.  So, is it the same hawk or a new one, is it a Cooper's or a Sharp-shinned?  Hard to tell.