Continental Ranch

El Rio Park

I walked a portion of the multiuse path on the west side of the Santa Cruz this morning. I parked near the future site of the Cortaro Bosque and traveled north to El Rio Park, which overlooks Rattlesnake Pond. El Rio is small but my children enjoyed the playground and swings while I divided my attention between them and the birds around - more than 30 species in 15 minutes including Lawrence's Goldfinches, Rock Wren and a Great Egret.

Rattlesnake Pond from El Rio Park

Cortaro Bosque construction

I decided to make a map of the area, since many of the online maps are a year or two old and there's a lot of construction going on.



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Ina Rd update #2

Stopped by this morning and was pleased to find 3 Pectoral Sandpipers. Also present were 179 Black-necked Stilts, 176 Least Sandpipers, 5 Long-billed Dowitchers, both Yellowlegs, 4 Western Sandpipers, a Lark Bunting and a Prairie Falcon.

On Tuesday and Wednesday a Red-necked Phalarope was present (9/25-26).

Here's a panoramic shot from the west bank - it looks like the work is nearing completion, but I have no idea when it will actually be done. The spot I like to sit is to the left, near the red pole.

(click to view larger)

The program I used to create this image is Autostitch, and it is a free download. I recommend it!

Ina Rd Update

I stopped off at the Ina Bridge this afternoon to see what was about. Turns out I was neither right nor wrong about the "No Trespassing" sign - it is still there, but has been pulled up and is laying flat in the dirt. I didn't see it until I had explored a bit of the west bank. Oh well.

Lots of good shorebird habit here right now; there were 79 Black-necked Stilts, lots of of Killdeer, a Lesser Yellowlegs, Least & Spotted Sandpipers, White-faced Ibis, many teal, 2 Wilson's Phalarope, and best of all, two STILT SANDPIPERS. I was able to view them from the top of the bank rather than the partially completed pathway down closer to the water. I didn't want to flush the birds. I think the stilt sandpipers have been there at least since Monday, when I was able to get a very distant view from a different vantage point.

Speaking of that pathway with its newly painted railing, I did some searching on the Pima County and Marana websites but couldn't find much news about the construction other than this:

Completion Date: Summer 2007
Current Status: The contractor has finished the soil treatment work
Projected Activities: handrail work and miscellaneous cleanup.

So it looks like it is almost done... hopefully before shorebird migration ends.

Here's a view from space:



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Santa Cruz north of Ina Rd, 3/12/07

I stopped at the Santa Cruz River on my way home today. There's a place on Ina Rd that's good if you only have a few minutes, on the east side. From here you can look north down into the riverbed. If you have more time you can explore the south side.

Here's an aerial picture for reference; red is on the north side; blue is where I park to bird the south.

There is space enough for a few cars to park:

And here's the view:


Closer inspection (a scope is handy) reveals lots of Black-necked Stilts...

Here's a partial list of what I saw today:
4 Gadwall
10 American Wigeon
10 Cinnamon Teal
40 Northern Shoveler
20 Green-winged Teal
4 Killdeer
196 Black-necked Stilt
7 American Avocet
1 Spotted Sandpiper
20 Least Sandpiper
23 Long-billed Dowitcher


Waterfowl numbers and species are down from earlier in the year; the stilts and dowitchers have been there through the winter. There's a lot of construction on the west side bank; it is part of Marana's work on the new park at Silverbell and Cortaro.