<>Gilbert Water Ranch continues to be one of the better birding sites in the Greater Phoenix area. This trip <>was no exception and the weather was great as well. We started between ponds #1 and #7 looking for the Magnolia and Tennessee Warblers and we able to locate the Tennessee. The Streaked-backed Oriole was not to be found. We did get great views of the Grey Go-away Bird perched in a large tree.
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<>There were 58 birds seen or heard on the trip and they were: Grey Go-away Bird *; Pied-billed Grebe; Great Blue Heron; Great Egret; Snowy Egret; Green Heron; Black-crowned Night–Heron; Wood Duck;American Wigeon; Mallard; Cinnamon Teal; Northern Shoveler; Northern Pintail; Green-winged Teal; Ring-neck Duck; Turkey Vulture; Northern Harrier; American Coot; Killdeer; Black-necked Stilt; Greater  

Yellowlegs; Lesser Yellowlegs; Marbled Godwit; Least Sandpiper; Long-billed Dowitcher; Wilson’s Snipe; Morning Dove; Inca Dove; Peach-Faced Love Bird; Anna’s Hummingbird; Gila Woodpecker; Northern Flicker; Black Phoebe; Say’s Phoebe; Verdin; Marsh Wren; Ruby-crowned Kinglet; Northern Mockingbird; Curve-billed Thrasher; European Starling; Phainopepla; Tennessee Warbler; Orange-crowned Warbler; Yellow-rumped Warbler; Wilson’s Warbler: Abert’s Towhee; Chipping Sparrow; Brewer’s Sparrow; Lark Sparrow; Song Sparrow; White-crowned Sparrow; Northern Cardinal; Red-winged Blackbird; Great-tailed Grackle; Brown-headed Cowbird; House Finch; Lesser Goldfinch; House Sparrow.

Those on the trip were: Donna Smith, Vera Markham, Marcia Grina, Barb Meding, John Arnett, George Wall, Joy Dolhanczyk, Sam Stearman, Julie, Chuck Kangas, Tom Lazzelle, Jed Fulkerson, Lee and Phyllis Rosander and leaders Chuck and Loretta Richards.

* The Grey Go-away Bird is from Angola, the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Namibia, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Zimbabwe, and Botswana. Go-away-birds live in savannas, grassland areas with some trees. The birds generally roost, or stay, in acacia trees. The go-away-bird is named for its call. People think the call sounds like the words, "Go away." Since the bird calls when people approach,  hunters think that the birds are giving a warning to animals. How it got to Arizona is anyone’s guess. Probably, someone smuggled it from Africa and kept it as a caged bird and it escaped.