Where is it? Access? Why go there? Seasonal Checklist Photo Gallery - under construction The Village Creek Year - under construction text and photos by Martin Reid unless stated otherwise; every photo used here was taken at Village Creek - all copyright is reserved |
 Yellow-headed Blackbird |
 Painted Bunting |
Village Creek Waste Water Treatment Plant Drying Beds is a bit of a mouthful, so most people call it Village Creek Drying Beds (VCDB) or just Village Creek. The 240-acre site comprises of c. 45 two-acre ponds surrounded by a levee, plus some swampy woodland and damp meadows just outside the levees. The facility is operated by the City of Fort Worth Water Department and was built in the 50's to process "solid" waste by pumping it into the ponds and allowing natural bacteria to neutralize it and sunlight to dry it into dirt. In 1995 the City replaced this system with a belt-press process and since then, no waste has been pumped into VCDB. Some of the ponds will be maintained as an emergency facility to back up the belt-press system, but the future use of the site remains undecided. The Water Department is currently involved in removing the stock-piled dirt, using contract resources. |
| VCDB is located in Tarrant County, Texas. It is part of the City of Fort Worth but located on the very eastern edge of the city, surrounded by northern Arlington. The entrance road is on the north side of Green Oaks Blvd, immediately west of River Legacy Park (a City of Arlington property). This area is less than two miles north of I30 at Fielder Road, which is to the east of Six Flags amusement park. As the crow flies Village Creek is c. five miles southwest of DFW airport and thus offers fine birding opportunities to anyone with layover time at the airport. With a rental car you can be at the beds in less than 20 minutes. For more details on the exact location, see the map (under construction). |
 Lazuli Bunting |
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For many years the Water Department have graciously cooperated
with visiting birdwatchers, and this continues today. There have
been cases of vandalism (of equipment) that lead to tighter security,
but even during these periods (when the gates are locked) it
is possible to call the Water Department and they will come and
open the gates for birders; the telephone number is posted on
the entrance gate. Green Heron |
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During its heyday as an active treatment facility, VCDB was a major "migrant trap"
for shorebirds because of the numerous shallow ponds teeming
with insects in the nutrient-rich water. This type of habitat
is very limited in north-central Texas (and all inland parts
of the State), so migrants tended to concentrate here. Nowadays the water level fluctuates at the whim of Nature, and the water is less rich in nutrients. Even so, there are are usually enough shallow ponds to attract shorebirds, herons, and wildfowl, but water levels (and thus birds) will be dependent on the weather of the preceding days/weeks/months. The Water Dept. had expressed interest in helping to maintain water levels in some of the ponds, and this is under investigation. |
 sub-adult Swainson's Hawk |
 American Bittern |
Habitat diversity is the key to Village
Creek's fine birding. In addition to the shallow open
ponds there are dry ponds in various stages of regeneration (ranging
from patchy grass to tall grass with large bushes), a small swampy
mature woodland bordered with sedge marsh, dense hedgerows, and
a large section of mature woodland-edge just outside the levee
- this woodland being part of an extensive piece of wooded riverine
bottomland. The Trinity River runs just to the north and provides
a wide strip of varied, undeveloped land (the floodplain) in
an area full of housing and industrial developments. In addition
there is a nearby City of Arlington landfill (private) that attracts
large numbers of gulls to the area in the Winter. A visit in any season should produce 25 - 40 species, with 80+ species recorded during the peaks of migration. A quick peruse of the Seasonal Checklist (under construction) will reveal the character of Village Creek's birding; for a more in-depth understanding visit The Village Creek Year (under construction). |