Finally -- The Water Ranch

It was warm and sunshiny today. It wasn't raining, the wind wasn't blowing. It was not a school holiday. It was a perfect day to finally go back to the Water Ranch.

The park is part of the City of Gilbert, Arizona's water reclamation project. There are at least five ponds scatter throughout the property. We saw some gorgeous Mallard Ducks. Their green heads were so brilliant in the sunlight, they were almost purple looking.

This is a Ring-Necked duck. You can see the front part of the brown ring around its neck, but the dark ring around its beak is easier to see.

The later in the afternoon it got, the more of these came hopping out of the underbrush --

We saw this cormorant swimming along the edge of one of the ponds --

While this osprey perched above it all watching for a chance to grab dinner --

Can you spot this little green hummingbird perched inside the shrub? We think it could be an Anna's.

A Great Blue Heron --

A Great Egret --

Another Double-Crested Cormorant drying its wings --

A flock of Northern Shoveler Ducks feeding by pushing their spatula bills through the water to strain out food --

On the other side of the pond, a Snowy Egret reflected in the water --

We also saw White-Crowned Sparrows, Abert's Towhees, Canadian Geese, Mourning Doves, Long-billed Dowitchers, Least Sandpipers, Black-Necked Stilts, Killdeer, American Coots as well as several shore birds that were too far away for positive identification. It was a good day for spotting birds!

A Windy Day and A Good Book

We know from the weather forecasts on the Los Angeles TV station that we watch that a winter storm is moving east from the California coast. There has been a forecast for mid-week rain here in Mesa as well. When I got up this morning, there were streaky clouds being blown across the sky. There was a breeze this morning that increased as the day has gone on. It actually got gusty enough for us to bring in the awning. This evening the sky is still clear, but the wind continues.

We had planned to try again today to go birding at the Water Park in Gilbert, but a windy day is not a good day for finding and observing birds. So once again, we have postponed our jaunt.

I finished reading Donna McNicol's new mystery, Not a Whisper, this afternoon. It's the start of a new series and if the following books are as much fun as this one, she's going to have some real hits on her hands. It's got a unique, twisty plot with an unexpected ending. I enjoyed reading it!

I read the book as an ebook on my iPad, but it is also available from Amazon in hard copy.

RVers are familiar with Donna. She writes a blog, 2 Taking a 5th, about the fifth wheel she travels in with her husband Stu and their dog Sadie. She used to write as Froggy Donna when she traveled as a single before she met Stu. Stu is a retired firefighter and they both -- and Sadie -- ride motorcycles.

President's Day

As is usual in our retired life style, we have totally lost track of days and time. We tend to not pay a lot of attention to what day of the week it even is, let alone pay a great deal of attention to holidays. It is easy to remember the two Monday mornings a month that the recycling truck comes through. All you have to do is look down the street at all of the blue bins lined up along the road waiting for their emptying --

It was a lovely warm day, so we decided to go do some bird-watching. We had discovered the Water Park in Gilbert when we were here two years ago and wanted to re-visit it. We remembered seeing lots of birds there. This very full Palo Verde tree is near the entrance to the park. It's an easy tree to identify by its green bark and branches.

When we drove into the park, we realized that today was a holiday. There was absolutely no place to park, in fact there were cars circling the park lot looking for a parking place. There were kids and strollers all over. There was no way any self-respecting bird would show itself... We very quickly decided that we would come back tomorrow.

There are signs of Spring around. On the other side of Magdelena Street was this tree in full bloom!