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Showing posts with the label wetlands

Finding a Special Place - Hassayampa River Preserve

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Vermillion Flycatcher There is a place just northwest of Phoenix near Wickenburg AZ that draws birders and nature lovers.   It is a desert oasis with cottonwood trees, palm trees and a pond where frogs and water fowl are found.   The Hassayampa River Preserve was purchased in 1986 by the Nature Conservancy and is being restored.   “ In the Sonoran Desert, riparian areas nourish cottonwood-willow forests, one of the rarest and most threatened forest types in North America. An estimated 90 percent of these critical wet landscapes have been lost, damaged or degraded in the last century. This loss threatens at least 80 percent of Arizona wildlife, which depend upon riparian habitats for survival.”   http://gosw.about.com/od/bestsightstosee/a/hassayampa.htm The Hassayampa River courses 100 miles through the Sonoran Desert and most of the water flows underground.   It looks like a dry riverbed until you dig down a little ways and feel the moist sand.    In the preserve, the wat

The Elegance of the Black-necked Stilt

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Look how close he is! I can see his red eye with the white eye ring. See those long thin red legs? He looks like he is dressed in his best tuxedo White throat and belly with that contrast of black Carefully picking his way through the shallow water Looking for food with his long, thin, straight black bill. He pecks and plunges his head into the water To capture fish and beetles and tadpoles. Ah! The simplicity and elegance of nature! Linda Britt