Birds of Rio Bosque Wetlands Park

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by Rick LoBello

If you have never been to Rio Bosque Wetlands Park now is a great time before we start experiencing the unforgivable hot days of summer. I went to the park last weekend for the first time in a longtime and saw all kinds of migratory and resident birds. My main goal was to take pictures to help get the word out on how the park is seriously threatened by a new cement plant and TxDot highway expansion. Sad to say, unless more people get off their chairs and speak out for the refuge the last major wetland park in our area will be destroyed forever. I am working with park manager John Sproul and wildlife advocate Jon Rezendes in helping to get more people involved. Check out this action alert posted on ILoveParks. com for more information. Time is of essence. Make plans to see for yourself the wetlands and the wildlife living there for a little inspiration too. When you take the trails into the park be sure to head for the areas where the most water is near the border wall. John Sproul reported the following species in early April. Many, especially resident birds, are still there.

Rio Bosque Wetlands Park is a 372-acre City of El Paso park located in southeast El Paso county near the town of Socorro, Texas.  Every month John Sproul sends out bird reports on species recently seen in the park. The pictures below, not including commonly seen Morning Doves and White-winged Doves, are from his April 1-8, 2024 report. They are all examples of El Paso wildlife species that will be affected if the park is not fully protected.

Email Alert from Rio Bosque Wetlands Manager John Sproul

Friends of the Rio Bosque,

You can access a pre-recorded video presentation on the project and all of the exhibits and other information presented at the in-person meetings earlier this week through the TxDOT website from Wednesday, May 1 at 5 p.m. through Thursday, May 16 at 11:59 p.m.  The deadline for submitting comments to TxDOT is May 16. 

Photo Credits
Courtesy Wikimedia Creative Commons

Flight of Blue-winged teal (cover) – Tom Wilberding
Single Blue-winged teal – Ken Mattison
Cinnamon Teal – Henry
Bufflehead – Rick Leche
Virginia Rail – Hal Trachtenberg
Sora – Doug Greenberg
Black-necked Stilt – Doug Greenberg
American Avocet – Mick Thompson
Ring-billed Gull – Ken Slade
Neotropic Cormorant – Bernard Dupont
Green Heron – Matt Stratmoen
Black-crowned Night-Heron – Veit
White-faced Ibis – Wendy Miller
Sharp-shinned Hawk – Wendy Miller
Cooper’s Hawk – Kenneth Cole Schneider
Great Horned Owl – Denis Founier
Burrowing Owl – Wendy Miller
Belted Kingfisher – Andrew Reding
Monk Parakeet – Ingeborg Van Leeuwen
Loggerhead Shrike – John Sutton
Crissal Thrasher – Grigory Heaton
Black-throated Sparrow – Wendy Miller