Photos by Jeffry Scott / Arizona Daily Star

More Photos (3):

Other articles by Jeffry Scott:

The Event benefits Boys, Girls Clubs Music from a different time JCC heralds new library A magical night at O'Shaughnessy's 'Dark Ages' see the light They live off the grid ICBM sites resurface An up-close look at cops' life Rough Riders' civic duty Play about violent world

Trades/Construction
arizona portland cement
maintenance electrician Restaurants and Clubs
Zinburger
All Positions General
Alvernon North Apartments
Maintenance Tech PT Education
Ombudsman Educational Servies
Directors and Teachers Driver/Transportation
Pioneer Landscaping
Drivers/End-Dumps Health Care
Carondelet Surgery Center
Billing Education
Indian Oasis Baboquivari Unified School District
Teachers / Principals

The cacophony of birds greets the early morning at Tucson Water's Sweetwater Wetlands, drowning out any sense that one is just a short distance from Interstate 10 and West Prince Road.

"I often come here when I have a little break from work to clear out my head," Randy Kinkade said as he took a stroll on the groomed paths that take you through the wetlands. "The birds like it, too."

Birds are everywhere. Raptors, kingfishers, herons, egrets, songbirds, wading birds and ducks are year-round visitors to the desert oasis, which also serves to treat wastewater through a natural, gravity-fed process. It isn't raw waste; that is taken care of at the nearby Roger Road Wastewater Treatment Facility. But it is backwash from the filters used in the process.

Lynne and Jim Lichtenstein, "avid birders, but not crazy birders," said they have added a number of birds to their life list while visiting.

"It's so close to the city, and you're out here — boom," Jim said. "This is a wonderful project," Lynne added.

The wetlands, 2667 W. Sweetwater Drive, are open dawn to approximately one hour after sunset, Tuesdays through Sundays, and 8 a.m. to about one hour after sunset on Mondays.