A birders paradise in the desert, at the Water Ranch!

The Riparian Preserve, at Water Ranch, is a 110 acre city park & wildlife reserve in Gilbert, AZ. The Water Ranch is where the city of Gilbert returns its treated sewage water, to the desert ground water table, through a group of seven ponds. The areas between the ponds have been landscaped with native desert plants. The park is a rare oasis of native habitat in the center of the greater Phoenix metropolitan area.

This is a male Anna's Hummingbird showing brilliant iridescence, photographed at the Water Ranch.

A female Costa's Hummingbird photographed at the Water Ranch.

Entrance to the Water Ranch parking lot.

Great Egrets in one of the ponds.

Feral Peach-faced Lovebirds inhabit the park, and surrounding metropolitan areas.

A Black-tailed Gnatcatcher.

There are a lot of Verdins in the park, but getting a clear shot of one in the thick brush is next to impossible.

This message was edited Jan 20, 2010 11:28 PM

The Curved-billed Thrasher is a rather secretive desert bird, found in the park.

Great shots Gary! The Hummingbirds are gorgeous along with all the others. The Gnatcatcher is adorable. So glad you went to such an incredible place. Thanks for sharing these with us!

Wow, how fun is this little tour! I agree, that's a cute little gnatcatcher!

What a lovely lot of photos. I just love that little gnatcatcher.

Nice shots Grasmussen!! A couple I have never seen before, thanks for sharing.

Nice ones, Gary. Glad to see that you saw, and photographed, quite a variety of new birds.

Great photos, all of them. Looks like you had a great tour with a wonderful mixture of birds. Those Lovebirds were really pretty and interesting. Love those hummers too.

Thanks for all the nice comments.

Abert's Towhee is endemic to the Sonora Desert. It is common in the Riparian Preserve. From a distance it could easily be mistaken for a female Norther Cardinal.

To me, it seemed strange to be seeing a large flock, of wild Canadian Geese, on a pond, in the middle of the desert.

I observed this Say's Phoebe hawking insects, from the same post, everyday for a week.

This Black Phoebe mover around a lot more than its cousin.

Love the Say's Phoebe. Great shots!

A flock of Black-necked Stilts and one confused Lesser Yellowlegs.

A Great Blue-heron.

Great-tailed Grackles are nearly as large crows, and very common.

This message was edited Jan 21, 2010 2:35 PM

A Lawrence's Goldfinch.

Great shots!

The birds just get better and better. I really enjoy seeing photos of the Say's Phoebe-such a pretty bird. The stilts, heron and goldfinch are beautiful, but my favorite is the great-tailed. Beautiful work!

I love the Lawrence's Goldfinch along with the gorgeous Black-necked Stilts! Great shot of the Heron too!

If ever I go to AZ, I will have to make sure I visit this place! Such a wide variety of bird's.