Highlights Map
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We had something completely else planned for today but due to a weird adventure involving a printer we ordered we changed our plans to pick it up. The printer was marked as delivered by the delivery company and we thought it was stolen as nothing was in front of the door and then the next day they called and said that the delivery driver actually took it away as he thought we are on vacation. Quite weird. Anyway after picking up the printer we go to the nearby Gilbert Ponds to see what birds we can see and right from the beginning we see a killdeer so it is a good start.
It is the height of the flower season and there are quite a few flowers in bloom here. Unfortunately many of them are stinknet which is quite an invasive species that we see more often each year.
There are also of course birds, which is why we came here. Many of them are relatively common like Black Phoebe but there are also some rarer like Wilson’s Snipe.
We really like to follow the Long-billed Dowitcher for a while. There are three of them and they are quite active and fun to watch. We also see an Abert Towhee which is quite rare to see out in the open as they like to skulk through the grasses as they search for food.
We walk through the preserve following the canal first. When we were here with the Audubon group we saw lots of warblers here but nothing today. There are however more Mexican poppies, which as usual are quite beautiful.
Even the tamarisks are in flower with their beautiful lilac flowers while the scorpionweeds provide a nice contrast with their dark purple ones.
The ponds themselves are full of ducks mostly mallards and shovelers with some beautiful gadwalls and green-winged teals mixed in between them.
Not all ponds are full of water and even though we walk along trying to see some “peeps” none are visible today.
Next is San Tan Mountains where we plan a hike through the preserve to find a few caches. But first we visit the visitor center to see the shop and the small reptile exhibit.
There are also a few outdoor exhibits which are interesting especially the one with desert turtles. Even though it says they are hibernating, one is out so that is great as we are able to see it during the visit.
The trail we are starting on is quite large and there are lots of people on it but as we get further away from the visitor center the fewer people there are.
Soon we start to see flowers, many of them including cacti flowers, which means it is also the start of the cacti flower season, yay!
Most of the flowers though are brittlebushes, flowering brittlebush near saguaros, flowering brittlebush near ocotillos, really flowering brittlebushes near everything.
And then there are lupines covering the fields in blue with some beautiful blue/yellow mixes between the lupines and brittlebushes wherever they meet.
There are some scenic spots that we pass along the way especially with the flowers many spots have become quite photo worthy in our opinion.
We see a few birds along the way including gnatcatchers but what we like most are the Harris Antelope Squirrels. They are out in force and everywhere and they could care less about us as we take photos of them while they eat the many flowers and grasses all around them.
The cache is on a ridge right as the trail starts descending towards another trailhead. The views are quite special here and we spend some time just enjoying the flowers all around us.
There are also some great views of the Phoenix outskirts in the distance and they seem to be spreading towards the park, a sign of the ever growing metropolis.
Returning we stop to have a brief snack and also look around for more wildlife. We find a jackrabbit that is too fast for photos, living crust on the ground that isn’t going anywhere and a few birds including a beautiful house finch. And then we arrive back at the parking lot after a six mile hike through the beautiful landscape and it is time to return home a printer richer than when we started the day with.
