Dead Horse State Park

Today I went over to the state park while waiting for B and her PT appointment. The park has three ponds with water supplied by the perennial Verde River. I'm not a "real" birder and had to look up these birds ducks. As best I can tell these are Ring Neck ducks from the Audubon Society's bird book.

"How Dead Horse Ranch Got Its Name
Dead Horse Ranch designThe story of the park's name begins with the Ireys family, who came to Arizona from Minnesota looking for a ranch to buy in the late 1940s. At one of the ranches they discovered a large dead horse lying by the road. After two days of viewing ranches, Dad Ireys asked the kids which ranch they liked the best. The kids said, “the one with the dead horse, Dad!” The Ireys family chose the name Dead Horse Ranch and later, in 1973, when Arizona State Parks acquired the park, the Ireys made retaining the name a condition of sale."