Today we cannot go far from Phoenix but we still want to do some hiking. We decide for a very early visit to the nearby State Forest land, when the temperatures are still in their 70s. And early means early at sunrise we are in the parking lot, the only car there.
Even though the final goal is to reach the river we start on the other side of the road so we can find a few caches in the area. It is still cool outside which is nice and we enjoy the desert during a period that we usually cannot visit, as it is too hot. We see the saguaro flowers and fruit everywhere and with them come the white winged doves, the migratory doves that time their arrival with the flowering of the saguaros.
The mourning doves however are permanent residents in Arizona and likely do not feel that charitable towards the invaders, but there is nothing they can do really. We continue on to a nice viewpoint of the river which is our next goal.
To get there we have to cross the road again and here we are planning to follow the Maricopa Trail for a while. However we cannot find the trail so we follow use trails and at each intersection we choose the one that takes us towards the river.
As we get closer and closer there are more birds and even palms. Quite widespread in the area are hummingbirds, we see them both flying and resting all around us.
The trail we are following soon enters the “jungle” that accompanies every desert river. While outside it is starting to get hot, here it is cool and nice and we continue exploring while wondering if the trail will actually reach the water.
And then suddenly the vegetation parts and we are at the river. It is a great view and we really enjoy it while looking for birds along the shore. We see the usual suspects like blackbirds, sparrows and also a very hurried green heron.
We stay for a while but then it is starting to get hot and we have to return home for a phone call so it is time to move back slowly towards the car. There are birds galore along the way and we find a few more new ones for the year and a few that seem special but are actually something that we have seen before, like female verdins. And then we are at the car and it is time for the short drive home, we arrive just in time for the planned phone call with our relatives after a great morning out into nature.
