Mike in the Wild

The vrooms of jets landing and the roar of freeway traffic zipping by overhead are not the usual soundtracks accompanying wonderful birding excursions.  But the noise doesn't detract from the wide range of avian sightings available at the eastern end of Tempe Town Lake where the Salt River feeds a sprawling urban recreational area. The reservoir was created over twenty years ago when the river bed was dammed to created a two mile long body of water that covers over 200 acres.  Today it's circled by sidewalks, bike paths, hiking trails, parks and office towers, all situated directly under Sky Harbor's flightpaths and in the midst of crisscrossing five-lane expressways.  On the ground and water, the area is not only a destination for bikers, kayakers and fishermen, it's home to many species of birds.  The parking lot at the north end of Tempe Marketplace is the ideal location to leave your car and begin an exploration of the local birding grounds.  Cautiously shar...

Everyone knows I like to write about the ducks visiting Arizona's waterways during the winter.  Most of these birds are escaping the colder temperatures of their summer breeding ranges far away in northern latitudes.  One species I've seen regularly this season is the green-winged teal.   While I've not observed any in my Phoenix neighborhood, I have encountered flocks of them at two locations in the state.   The first teals I saw were the several individuals wintering at the Riparian Preserve in the city of Gilbert's Water Ranch complex in early January.  And on a quick stop at Watson Lake in Prescott this past February I observed what appeared to be a larger flock of more than a dozen.    They're not the easiest birds to photograph for a couple of reasons: they're always on the water and they're wary of human spectators.   So with my new 400mm sized Tamron lens attached to my Canon, I was anxious to return to Gilbert and get...