Megan Mosby
Executive Director
A Ribbon of Life in the Desert
The Rio Salado beckons. Like a ribbon through the desert, and despite the fact that Rio Salado (or Salt River) is named from the salty quality of the water, it still attracts things to its banks and beyond. The name is well earned, and is a result of a salt formation it runs through up-stream. The potency of the salt is dependent on the amount of water in a given spot, and it does impact what is found there, but a desert river remains an important source of life providing moisture to many native entities.
If you visit, you might see a wide variety of flora and fauna. The image of a ribbon is created by the vegetation of trees, shrubs and grasses growing on and around the banks of the river. Wetlands, natural and constructed, provide a water purification system that enables the plants and wildlife to flourish along the river. It is documented that in this 595-acre desert river habitat one might see over 120 species of birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians…and let’s not forget the many uncounted insects making a living in the area.
Among the bird life, you might see are a cadre of water-loving birds including snowy, great, and cattle egrets. Green herons, black–crowned night herons, and great blue herons stalk their prey regularly along the shallows. Ducks of many species including mallards, wigeons, pintails, ringed necked, ruddy ducks and shovelers fly in on occasion. Black phoebes, Say’s phoebes, ash-throated flycatchers, and western kingbirds pop up during various times of the year. A belted kingfisher has been a common visitor of late. Hawks including Cooper’s, Harris’s, red-tailed hawks and ospreys make a living thanks to the water and its visitors. The night is visited by great horned owls, burrowing owls, and barn owls with an occasional visit by a screech owl. Vultures, song-birds, quail, sandpipers, stilts, and other wading birds can be seen enjoying and making a living on the waterway just to name a few.
Mammals, of course, are common visitors, and if you plan well and play your cards right, you might see a grey fox, coyotes, cotton tails, rock squirrels, black-tailed jackrabbits, various rodents including the largest rodent in America, the beaver. I have sneaked down to the river in the early morning hours to catch a sighting of our resident beaver, aptly named Lincoln by our staff (as in Lincoln logs). He preens on the banks until he takes one gander at me and with the swack of a tail, he vanishes…almost apparition-like. But, evidence of beaver dams up and down the river are proof that he and his extended family are more than just making a living. Their tireless efforts are protecting pockets of moisture all along the course of the river, throughout even the hottest summers.
A variety of reptiles including gopher snakes, king snakes and rosy boas might be spotted if you are lucky and a variety of desert lizards may dart across the Peace Trail as you explore the environs. I take great delight in watching the industriousness of the harvester ants that relentlessly and tirelessly carry seeds to the depths of their chambers to create a fermented food for the queen. The external mound, the ant hill, is made by the seed husks returned to the surface in a determined effort at “house cleaning”.
So visit the Rio Salado and take a chance to see some of those hundreds of species, and I’ve got the perfect date for you … March 2nd’ when we’ll have our Art, Music and Nature Festival. Walk the river, then enjoy art and music throughout the day on our campus.
See you there.
This Week @ Liberty – February 27, 2024
To say it’s been a busy few weeks has been an understatement. Not only are we beginning to see the babies we know are inevitably coming, I decided it would be a good idea to get into a fight with a while I was at home cleaning said knife. I lost, of course, and am now the proud owner of four stitches on my right index finger (heed my warning on sharp objects, friends!).
Be that as it may, life goes on. Events are happening, and we’re getting ready for not only the busy season but the heat that comes with it. We’re prepped and ready to go…how about you?
Eurasian Collared Doves
If you think you haven’t seen a Eurasian Collared Dove, I can assure you, you have. They’re a common passerine here in the valley, with an extremely familiar, relentless three-syllable coo. Both urban and suburban areas are their jam; they especially like to hang around backyard seed feeders, as well as stockyards and silos where grain is likely to spill. For us, we’ll see them on telephone poles, wires, and other high places where perching is available.
If you’re hoping to spot them, they’re certainly going to be an easier one to find than say, a Vermillion Flycatcher. They’re a little bigger than Mourning Doves, with gray-ish plumage and broad white patches on their tail. They also have a black crescent on the back of their neck, with plump bodies and small heads.
And, like most birds moving into spring, they’re already having babies!
Our first Eurasian Collared Dove of the season came in on February 22nd, and as you can see from the photo, is almost brand new. He fell from his nest and has nothing physically wrong with him. As nestlings, these little doves are born with a gray-ish tint to their bodies with bright yellow fluffy-ish feathers. And, in only a matter of days, has doubled in size. With an incubation period of fourteen to nineteen days and a nestling period of less than thirty days (meaning they fledge at the end of thirty days), they grow up fast! Which is why it’s super important for them to get the appropriate diet during that time.
As of now, this little guy is getting tube fed three times a day by our dedicated volunteers. And, once big enough, will move to seed, before he gets moved outside with some friends to learn how to fly.
Off-Site Programs
While we’re certainly getting ready for Orphan Care season, our animal ambassadors and education volunteers are certainly staying busy. With two to three on-site field trips a week, as well as off-site programs, there’s never a dull moment here at Liberty Wildlife. And while I can’t, unfortunately, talk about every program we have, here are a few highlights from the past few weeks:
ANDAZ: Every Friday and Saturday from 8am-10am (winter/spring hours), we head to the Scottsdale Hotel. We hang at the Weft and Warp, ANDAZ’s only on-site restaurant. Here, we peruse the patio to meet with guests. Not only do we get to educate people on our amazing Arizona wildlife, our animal ambassador’s presence alone scares away those little birds who are adept at stealing your food while you’re eating it.
Another ANDAZ program but no less fun, Liberty Wildlife was asked to hang on-site for a conference in town. With the beautiful weather we’ve been having, the work group ate outside, and had some friends to see, too. Education volunteer Ken hung with Iris, the American Kestrel, and let people know not only about North America’s smallest falcon, but what we do here at Liberty Wildlife, too.
Horsense: A camp for kids set out in North Scottsdale, this is a yearly program Liberty Wildlife participates in. Kids join our volunteers and animal ambassadors on several rotations where they learn about wildlife, as well as horses. Here, Education Volunteer Sonia and Wendy hang for the day!
Let the Fostering Begin!
We all know our first baby of the season was a Barn Owl…well, it didn’t take long, because now the Great Horned kids are here! Likely having fallen from the nest, this nestling Great Horned Owl has no injuries what-so-ever; he just doesn’t have a mom to hang with anymore. The good news for him is, we have some of the best foster moms around.
This first round of babes goes to our awesome mom Darwin. She came to us in 2010 as a fledgling with a fracture to her right wing at the elbow. This not only caused her wing to droop, but once healed, did not allow for full use of said wing. While she can fly, she tires quickly, which would make it extremely difficult for her to hunt in the wild.
And if you’re wondering why she’s named Darwin…we definitely thought she was a boy. At some point, she went on a program to show off her amazing Great Horned-ness, and when our education volunteer returned, found she’d laid an egg in her travel enclosure. Hence, Darwin became Darwin-a, but we all still like the name Darwin so it stuck.
Having already laid an egg (which is not viable as she does not have a mate), Liberty Staff Jan and Alex were able to take the egg, and replace it with the new babe. Darwin took to her new charge immediately, and the rest is history. Darwin will raise this kid until he’s old enough to be released, and we already know she’ll do a bang up job of doing it.
**Pictures in this post by Alex S.
Notable Mentions
How is it already the end of February? Well, March is right around the corner, along with lots of nice holidays and everything else that comes with the late season of spring. As always, there’s lots of random photos to be had.
So, without further ado, here are this week’s notable mentions:
- Irwin the American Kestrel shows off his beautiful plumage while being hand feed (1 picture)
- Cottontails galore! A few day old cottontail with a tape split (fractured tib/fib) and a few week old bunnies hanging together (2 pictures)
- Cookie and Oreo enjoy some one-on-one time hanging in the sun (1 picture)
- Our tortoises are now awake and back in their enclosures! (1 picture – by Alex)
- Harley the Hognose snakes looking adorable as always (1 picture – by Ceci)
- Duncan the Red-Tailed Hawk gets some sunbathing in (1 picture)
- A radiograph of a fractured radius/ulna on a Red-Tailed Hawk (1 picture)
Remember, we have lots of things happening coming up! Saturday, March 2nd is our inaugural El Rio Vivo, an art/walk event great for the whole family from 8am-4pm. We also have public hours from 10am-1pm on Wednesday’s, Saturday’s and Sundays. Oh! And don’t forget the Orphan Care Baby Shower happening during public hours on March 16th (with lots of fun activities for the whole family).
As always, thanks for all the wonderful things you all do! Until next time!
Posted by Acacia Parker
Public Outreach Coordinator