Lower Salt River AZ (3/4/2019)

Hopefully you noticed that I've been off the air for a couple weeks.  It's not that I've gotten lazy (well maybe a little), but my computer contracted a sudden illness and had to be sent away for repair.  The actual repair was probably a fifteen minute job, but with all the shipping and waiting its turn at every step, it was gone for fifteen days.  Oh well, I'm back in business with more than a thousand photos to sort through as I get time.

The Lower Salt River Recreation Area actually has about ten different areas for public use, along with wildlife, including wild horses.  On this trip, I did not see any horses, but did see some good scenery and a few birds.  My route to the rec area took me over Usery Pass and through some nice neighborhoods.  I pulled off to check out the Trinity Christian school because of its architecture.

Usery Mountain Park has nice views and good hiking trails, but I didn't have time for hiking on this day.

One small mountain had a bit of directional info, presumably for pilots. Commercial pilots wouldn't need such help, but in an area with so many mountains that look alike, pilots of planes without GPS might find this helpful.

One homeowner situated on a hilltop has taken a very creative approach to advertising his house for sale.  Looks like a pretty nice home, too.

The first section of the recreation area I went to was Coon Bluff, always a good place for spotting birds.  However, the first "bird" I saw was this drone being flown by a young man on the river bank.

 Then a few real birds began showing up.

Greater Yellowlegs

Vermilion Flycatcher

Phainopepla

On my way to Saguaro Lake, I snapped a few of the rock formations along the highway.

Saguaro Lake is one of the four reservoirs in the Salt River that provide drinking water to the residents in the Phoenix area.  It's larger than Canyon Lake, but smaller than the other two.  (More about them later.)

In the past, I've seen lots of waterfowl in the lake, but this time there were only a few near shore.  The lake is large enough that lots of ducks could be in a distant cove.  This Lesser Scaup is the only duck photo I took.

By this time, it was nearing sunset so I stopped a few times on the way back to camp to get a few photos of the color.