West Wetlands Park
Cocopah RV Rresort
Yuma, AZ
February 9, 2014
West Wetlands Park is a public park located on the northwest edge of Yuma. It is located along the Colorado River within the Yuma Crossing Heritage Area.
According to
Wikipedia...it opened in 2002 on 110 acres of city-owned land. It is maintained by the City of Yuma Parks and Rec Dept.
It was interesting to learn that from 1910 to 1989, this area was a landfill. After the landfill closed, Yuma citizens took an interest in converting the hazardous and unsightly area into a riverfront park. Arizona State Parks worked with the city to develop a plan, but a lack of funds stalled the project.
The EPA determined that covering the whole site with 6 to 8 feet of clean fill was required to reuse...at a cost of $10 million. Over a three year period, with many grants and volunteers, the master plan was completed. Since that time, volunteers have planted over 450 trees, a pond was added, a butterfly and hummingbird garden planted and a Burrowing Owl habitat established.
Did you know that burrowing owls are not able to dig their own burrows so 20 artificial burrows (made from PVC pipe protruding from the ground) are nestled among large sage bushes.
Unlike most owls, they are active during the day. I was disappointed we didn't see an owl...and I hope to go back before we leave.
We did see several hummingbirds, but they were too far away and too fast for me to get a picture.
We ended up walking about 2.5 miles...it was nice just to be outside and the warm sun felt so good. The trail we took followed the river.
As far as a wetland goes, I was disappointed. There were no marshes...no places where the soil was really wet. I did read a wetland is an area of land whose soil has high water content either permanently or seasonally. Maybe its the wrong season?
The birds were singing, the trail and park were clean, and we enjoyed our morning walk...
Everyday, we have a wonderful time at the pet park...Jack is one Happy Jack!
Can you tell?
Happy Valentine's Day...
Love it...the puppy pictures of course. --Dave
ReplyDeleteThanks Dave. Hope Scruffy is all well! And I love the new tab on your blog..."RV Blogs with Dogs" !
DeleteSuch clean teeth he has!
ReplyDeleteOh wow....thanks Merikay. I can't take credit for that except we do pay the vet who cleans them once a year!
DeleteLove watching Jack. He sure looks like he's having a "ball".
ReplyDeleteHi Wanderin' ....that little guy would play catch all day! He is so much fun to watch and a joy to have around! We call him " the life of the party!" .
DeleteYour snapshots of Jack reminded me of my thousand pics of my cat. We do love our pet. It looked like spring has arrived there in AZ now.
ReplyDeleteI think spring just passed on by MonaLiza.... without stopping.....it's 90 degrees today. I'm loving it!
DeleteLooks like Jack was really having a great time!
ReplyDeleteHe is always having fun George....either wide open running and playing ball, eating, or sound asleep! We sure love the little guy!
DeleteWhat a wonderful idea to transform the once upon a time land fill. Hurray for that group of people to save the environment. Thanks for sharing the story.
ReplyDeleteI love owls! I didn't know that about burrowing owls. Hope you catch one before you leave.
Oh gosh....me too Pam. It would be a thrill for me just to see one and a huge thrill to get a photograph.
DeleteThe park is really nice and big...we only saw a small portion of it. Miles and miles of walking and bike trails.
Jack certainly does look like he's enjoying his time in Yuma. Interesting fact about the Burrowing Owls. I learned something. I am curious to know about the plant in one of your photos. The orangish colored flower(?) that looks like a star burst. What is it? It's very unusual.
ReplyDeleteHi Gayle! The tree in question is a Screwbean Mesquite. The picture is at the end of the season.....after flowers (which are beautiful also)...they are seed pods in the final stage before dropping off the tree. They start out green, then turn brown, then fall off. The seeds actually germinate in the digestive system of the animals that eat the pods.
DeleteThanks Gay for the info. I Googled it to see what the blooms looked like. A very pretty tree considering the germination process it goes thru. HAH
DeleteLooks like a lovely place! Jack is certainly a cutie, too. :-)
ReplyDeleteThank you! He loves the green grass at the doggie park! I love it when he is happy!
DeleteOh Happy Jack what a cute boy you are and you Mom takes beautiful photos of you!
ReplyDeleteThank you Sheila....what a nice compliment. It means a lot!
DeleteYou captured a beautiful photo of an Junco!
ReplyDeleteI had no idea what that beautiful bird was.....and was hoping someone would help me out! Another new bird for me! Thank you!
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