There were only five of us, but we all agreed that we had never seen such great birding in the State of Arizona. Maybe a time or two we had seen more species on a three hour bird trip, but never so many birds in combination with a large variety. We counted 51 species at the Gilbert Water Reclamation Ponds/Wildlife Center at the SE corner of Guadalupe and Greenfield (adjacent the Gilbert Library). Some of the ponds were literally covered with ducks and shorebirds. Our estimated numbers of ducks and shorebirds are totally inadequate. Come see for yourself. Here’s what we saw:

Pied-billed Grebe (5), Green Heron (1), Great Blue Heron (3), Mallard (105), Green-winged Teal (200), American Wigeon (6), Northern Pintail (210), Northern Shoveler (146), Blue-winged Teal (6), Cinnamon Teal (12), Ring-necked Duck (30), Bufflehead (2), Ruddy Duck (5), Northern Harrier (1), Sharp-shinned Hawk (1), Harris’s Hawk, (2), Red-tailed Hawk (1), Peregrine Falcon (1), American Coot (31), Killdeer (52), Black-necked Stilt (59), Greater Yellowlegs (2), Least Sandpiper (200), Long-billed Dowitcher (207, Rock Dove (18), Mourning Dove (87), Inca Dove (1), Greater Roadrunner (1), Burrowing Owl (4), Anna’s Hummingbird (11), Gila Woodpecker (2), Black Phoebe (3), Say’s Phoebe (3), Loggerhead Shrike (1), Northern Rough-winged Swallow (6), Verdin (5), White-breasted Nuthatch (1), March Wren (2), Cactus Wren (4), Ruby-crowned Kinglet (1), Northern Mockingbird (3), Curve-billed Thrasher (3), European Starling (12), Yellow-rumped Warbler (14), Abert’s Towhee (62), Song Sparrow (2), White-crowned Sparrow (70), Red-winged Blackbird (8), Great-tailed Grackle (55), House Finch (32), House Sparrow (20).