Birds at Glendale's Recharge Ponds

Just a mile east of the gigantic football stadium that the Arizona Cardinals call home lies part of the New River - Agua Fria Underground Water Storage Project (NAUSP).   Within a grid of six basins, water is collected for seepage and storage into a natural underground aquifer.  This precious resource arrives via canals from the Salt and Verde Rivers, and also the Colorado River via the Central Arizona Project, with additional reclaimed water (your clean-as-new sewer water!) coming from the cities of Glendale and Peoria,  The Salt River Project utility manages this vast engineering endeavor.

The water in these basins creates 125 acres of temporary ponds that attract a variety of water dwelling fowl and plant life, including birds of prey.   The teeming life in this habitat is a paradox in this busy urban corridor which, in addition to the football stadium, is surrounded by freeways, power lines, an airport, a landfill, and all forms of human encroachment.  But still, a natural waterway abuts the site, so I suspect that many migratory birds reach the ponds via the  Agua Fria  and New River riverbed corridors.   At least one riparian zone along the river at the project's western border is maintained in a pristine state, hosting cottonwood and mesquite trees along with grassy reeds, providing habitat for a variety of song birds.  And some farms and small ranches haven't been tempted just yet by the money of lucrative development, so other birds are attracted to their fields and open spaces.

On a recent visit I saw quite a few waterbirds, including killdeer, greater yellow-legs,  American coots and black-necked stilts.  Birds of prey included kestrels, vultures, ospreys and bald eagles.  A number of flycatchers joined two breeds of swallow swooping for invisible-to-us insects.  Great blue herons and great egrets mingled in several groups, with a few making lumbering glides close to the water surfaces.   And at least one belted kingfisher clicked its unique call, scouring a pond's perimeter for prey.

Seeing lots of birds living off the bounty of large bodies of water is not unique.  But with the exception of the forested area near the New River, there were few trees in the hot, sunny and seemingly sterile landscape.   Every horizon revealed a reminder that the West Valley is in the midst of a construction and development boom.  Small planes buzzing the sky and cars zooming on the freeways directed my attention to Phoenix' urban sprawl.  And still the wide, concrete-rimmed ponds brimmed with bird activity, thriving amidst the din in these giant human footprints.

View of one of the six Glendale recharge ponds, with the Arizona Cardinal's stadium on the horizon.

Female northern harrier - a distinctive hawk and most likely a winter visitor.

Female northern harrier in flight.

Black-necked stilts in flight.

Green heron uncharacteristically extending its neck.

Black phoebe, a flycatcher.

Many great egrets and a single great blue heron.

Great blue heron on a power pole.

Great blue heron in flight over a dried and grassy pond.

Great blue heron in flight.

American kestrel taking some shade on a power line.

Osprey on a power pole.

Osprey on a power pole.

Silhouette of a belted kingfisher on power lines.

Belted kingfisher in flight.

Killdeer in flight.

American avocets.

Great egret in flight over Glendale's recharge pond.

Distant bald eagle, half of at least one nesting pair at the recharge ponds.  It's always a good birding outing when there's an encounter with this noble bird.