2008 Award Winner
The Communicator Awards
Award of Distinction for Copy/Writing
"Wildlife Watching in Your Own Backyard (Almost)," by Dianne Howard
I’m a city girl, but I’m a country girl wannabe. I love animals and dream of living on a farm, or a ranch, or at least some place surrounded by animals. As a child, I wanted to be a veterinarian or work at a zoo, but it turns out I’m not good with blood and guts. I’m not fond of smelly things, either, which certainly doesn’t help.
But I enjoy watching animals, especially birds. I can sit and watch a sparrow for hours. As my interest in watching wildlife grew, I paid more attention to specific details of the birds I saw. When I bought a field guide to Western birds, the challenge of identifying them and extending my life list became a mission. But there were only so many different critters in my own backyard. So I ventured out and found a place just beyond my neighborhood in the northern part of the Phoenix metropolitan area: Skunk Creek Linear Park.
The Park Takes Shape
The streambed of Skunk Creek (which despite its name is NOT smelly) is dry most of the year. It runs through Phoenix, Glendale and Peoria. The Flood Control District of Maricopa County wanted to put this dry streambed to use by creating something that would be “useful and an asset to the community, not a dividing ditch.” Glendale Parks and Recreation Department staff met with the flood control district to help design a natural area for birds and wildlife, as well as a multi-use recreational trail system for area residents.
The flood control district lined the banks of Skunk Creek with “gabion baskets,” wire baskets that contain large rocks. These were covered with dirt and native seed. An equestrian path was bladed through the bottom of the creek bed, and 10-foot-wide, concrete paths were constructed along the upper banks for pedestrians, bicyclists and other users.
Workers had constructed about 3.5 miles of trails by September 2002. The city of Glendale and the Arizona State Parks Heritage Trails fund partnered to pay for trail construction and to design and install 67 interpretive, informational and “You Are Here” mapping signs along the trails. The signs, completed in October 2003, help trail users learn about native vegetation and the birds, animals and reptiles that make Skunk Creek home.
The Skunk Creek Linear Park trail system begins at the Glendale-Phoenix border above Union Hills Road at 51st Avenue, and extends southwest to Glendale’s border with Peoria at 73rd Avenue below Bell Road. It then connects to Thunderbird Paseo Park. This park extends to the southeast across the full width of Glendale to 51st Avenue and Cactus Road.
Although Skunk Creek Linear Park and Thunderbird Paseo Park are two separate parks in name, to the walker or cyclist they feel like one unified park. Skunk Creek Linear Park was voted the Critic’s Pick for Best Bike Ride by the Arizona Republic in May 2007.
Exploring the Creek
On my initial venture to Skunk Creek I saw a loggerhead shrike for the first time. This bird catches lizards and impales them on thorns of trees such as mesquite. I’ve added several birds to my life list since then. I saw a horned lark two days in a row when we had all that rain back in early 2005. (Remember that stuff, rain?) He was hanging out on an 8-inch-tall rock in a vacant lot near 75th Avenue. I would have missed him if he weren’t making noise. I also saw my first black-throated sparrow there, and I have not seen one since.
One time I bent over to get a better look at a wildflower and spooked a coyote that was hiding in a brittlebush less than five feet from me. He moved to another bush about 10 feet away, and I still couldn’t see him in his hiding place. That experience made me realize that wild animals are probably watching me more than I’m watching them!
Greater roadrunners are quite common along Skunk Creek. They are usually alone, but one day I saw three at a time. They are in the same family as cuckoo birds, so needless to say, they are fun to watch. Why does a roadrunner run just a foot or two, then stop and slowly raise its tail, then run two more feet, then stop and slowly raise its tail? I don’t know, but it makes me smile.
I’m used to seeing a lot of cottontail rabbits around my neighborhood, but in Skunk Creek you can see black-tailed jackrabbits. Actually a hare, jackrabbits are lankier than cottontails and have colossal ears. And boy, can they run fast!
I had a staring contest with a kangaroo rat one day when I spooked him and he froze in his tracks. I did too, but I lost patience and he won. I’ve also seen round-tailed ground squirrels standing up like prairie dogs and barking.
Cliff swallows nest under the bridges of Bell Road and 75th Avenue. I like to watch them swoop and glide through the sky. Sometimes there are 20 in the air at a time.
I started out walking the trails, but eventually I bought a bicycle, which lets me travel farther down the path than I could on foot. This has led to more unexpected discoveries. Across from the Peoria Sports Complex there are some horse properties where I’ve caught the horses romping around and playing with each other like puppies. Maybe I’m easily amused, but I had never seen horses playing like that before. The opportunity to be surprised, whether by a new species of bird or a secretive coyote or a playful horse, is one of the reasons I love exploring Skunk Creek.
Backyard Adventures
When we think of watching wildlife, often we imagine great national parks such as Yellowstone, or famous wildlife areas such as the Galapagos Islands. Such places can be far from home and expensive to reach. Finding Skunk Creek so close to my house has taught me that wildlife, and wildlife-viewing opportunities, can be as close as my own (almost) backyard.
If you live in urbanized Arizona, I bet this is true for you, too. If you appreciate nature and wildlife like I do, check out your local parks and trails. Grab a pair of binoculars and invest in a field guide to whatever you’re interested in, get out and explore your neighborhood. You never know what you’re gonna find!
This article was published in the November-December 2008 issue of Arizona Wildlife Views magazine. To subscribe or give a gift, order online.
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