 The Gilbert Water Ranch is located on the SE corner of Greenfield and Guadalupe Rds in Gilbert, Arizona. From the Superstition Freeway (US 60) exit at Greenfield Rd and drive S on Greenfield for 1.5 miles. Turn east (left) on Guadalupe. The entrance to the parking lot for the Water Ranch is the third driveway on the right. Look for the large boulder with "Water Ranch" on it. Birding Strategy: The Water Ranch is a ground water recharge facility. Water is moved around from pond to pond at the Water Ranch in an unpredictable manner, probably to control mosquitoes (although the ranch is also sprayed regularly) and to dry ponds out so they can be plowed to improve water absorption. At any given time, some ponds will be full, some partially full, some dry, some freshly plowed waiting to be filled and some overgrown with grasses ready to be plowed. The level of water in each pond changes from day to day. The strategy for finding water birds is to find the ponds with the right water level. Ducks prefer full ponds, waders less full ponds and dry ponds can attract sparrows, buntings and finches. You have to check all the ponds to find the right water levels. A scope is very helpful in looking at water birds, especially shorebirds. It is productive to search all the trails in the Ranch for landbirds. A slow steady approach is required - peer into the dense vegetation and try to detect movement and then try to see if you can get on the bird. If you can't, welcome to the challenge of biridng in the Water Ranch! However, if you are short on time, in my experience the most productive paths are: The path between Ponds 1/7 The path between Ponds 3/4 The path between Ponds 2/3 The path between Ponds 4/5 north of the "three telephone poles" The path between Ponds 1/2 as far as the second (southern) camping area A good strategy is to walk from the parking lot down 1/7, follow 2/3 to the second camping area (checking both camping areas if vacant), return to the restrooms and go down 4/5 as far as the the three poles, return and make a complete circuit of Pond 3 by going down 3/4 and returning on 2/3. This strategy misses Pond 6, which is the least productive, but if you return to the parking lot by taking 5/7 and then around the W side of 7 you can return to the parking lot that way and check Pond 6 as well as some additional productive landbird areas. See the maps below and trace this route on them. It does make sense! Links to Maps: PDF Map of the Water Ranch with Pond Numbering system. Click here. Detailed PDF Map of the Water Ranch (beware: 0.76 Mb file size). Click here. |