Phoenix Waste Water Reclamation - Tres Rios, Arizona
"Hayfield Site"

Introduction

For most people the idea of making a weekend visit to the wastewater treatment facility would seem inconsistent with relaxation and outdoor recreation goals. Yet you will be very surprised at the adventure of this visit! Wildlife and flora are abundant here ... after all this is a desert where an abundance of water of any kind makes for an oasis. Modern sewage treatment is a far cry from what it was decades ago. Today the water emerging from the plant is nearly odor-free, and first and foremost it is safe for wildlife and visitors. Certainly the Salt River environment of 150 years ago would have had much more aesthetic appeal, but given that time travel can only be through imagination we should recognize this as a valuable wildlife resource. And, yes, there are beavers in Phoenix!

Birding and nature watching are the primary attractions and with the rapid growth of large willows, mesquites and cottonwoods there are plenty of shaded paths and secluded glades. To reach the facility from I-10 in west Phoenix/Tolleson - Exit # 134, then drive south on 91st Ave about 7 miles. Just before a low bridge over the Salt River is an entrance drive on the east (left) side of 91st Ave with a sign "Hayfield Site". The channel on your right as you drive to the trail head may be filled with water and birds and is often worth checking. Within the preserve are a variety of trails that traverse woods, meadows and walkways along pond edges.

Google Map Link

Birds

The complete list is way over 100 - these are just the more common ones:

Mourning Dove -- S,F,W,Sp
European Starling -- S,F,W,Sp
American Coot -- S,F,W,Sp
Snowy Egret -- S,F,W,Sp
Great Egret -- S,F,W,Sp
Great Blue Heron -- S,F,W,Sp
Green Heron -- S,F,W,Sp
Abert's Towhee -- S,F,W,Sp
Common Moorhen -- S,F,W,Sp
Yellow-rumped Warbler -- F,W,Sp
Orange-crowned Warbler -- F,W,Sp
Northern Mockingbird -- S,F,W,Sp
Killdeer -- S,F,W,Sp
White-faced Ibis -- S,F,W,Sp
Cliff Swalllow -- Sp,S
Black-crowned Night Heron -- S,F,W,Sp
Verdin -- S,F,W,Sp
House Finch -- S,F,W,Sp
Mallard -- S,F,W,Sp
Pied-billed Grebe -- F,W,Sp
Neotropic Cormorant -- S,F,W,Sp
Double-crested Cormorant -- S,F,W,Sp
Greater Yellowlegs -- F,W,Sp
Great-tailed Grackle -- S,F,W,Sp
Anna's Hummingbird -- S,F,W,Sp
Loggerhead Shrike -- F,W,Sp
Black-tailed Gnatcatcher -- S,F,W,Sp
Black-throated Sparrow -- S,F,W,Sp
Gambel's Quail -- S,F,W,Sp --
Brown-headed Cowbird -- S,F,W,Sp
Greater Roadrunner -- S,F,W,Sp
Lesser Nighthawk -- S

Cactus Wren -- S,F,W,Sp
Curve-billed Thrasher -- S,F,W,Sp --
Phainopepla -- W,F --
Belted Kingfisher -- F, W
Black Phoebe -- S,F,W,Sp
Brewer's Sparrow
Common Raven -- W
Black-throated Gray Warbler -- Sp,F

Mammals

Desert Cottontail
Rock Squirrel
Beaver -- the visitor will find chewed tree trunks as evidence of their nocturnal industries

Shrubs and Trees

Salt Cedar (Tamarisk pentandra)
Quail Bush (Atriplex lentiformis)
Four-wing Saltbush (Atriplex canescens)
Velvet Mesquite (Prosopis velutina)
Screwbean Mesquite (Prosopis pubescens)
Tree Tobacco (Nicotiana glauca)
Alkali Seepweed (Suaeda moquinii)
Wofberry (Lycium fremontii) -
Seep Baccharis (Baccharis salicifolia)
Fremont Cottonwood (Populus fremontii)
Graythorn ( Zizyphus obtusifolia)
Desert Senna (Senna covesii) -- planted along roadside
Blue Palo Verde (Parkinsonia florida)
Mexican Palo Verde (Parkinsonia aculeata)
Giant Reed (Arundo donax) - a grass really, looks like bamboo and stands 5 to 10 m tall.
Desert Broom (Baccharis sarathroides)
Alkali Goldbush (Isocoma acradenia)