London Bridge and Bird Watching on
Colorado River in Arizona, USA
Associated with my trip to attend my classmate reunion in Las Vegas in the second week of November 2006, I
spent several days touring the lower Colorado River Delta on the boarder between Arizona and California
including Imperial National Wildlife Refuge (NWR), Cibola NWR and Havasu NWR for bird watching and
sightseeing in the first week of November 2006.

1. London Bridge on Colorado River in Arizona

For the purpose of bird watching in Cibola NWR and Havasu NWR in the lower Colorado River Delta, we came
to Lake Havasu City on the Arizona side of Colorado River. We were happy to see the London Bridge which
was moved about 38 years ago from London in U.K. to Lake Havasu City in Arizona, USA as shown in the
following pictures that we took:
London Bridge over Colorado River in Lake Havasu City in Arizona, USA with British flags and US flags.
Another view of the London Bridge in Lake Havasu City in Arizona

Map: Click here to see Google Map showing location of London Bridge
The sign of London Bridge at one end of the bridge. The story of London Bridge in Arizona from the following
two websites:

http://www.roadtripamerica.com/places/havasu.htm

http://www.golakehavasu.com/londonbridge.html

In 1962, it was discovered that the London Bridge, built in 1831, was "falling down," sinking into the Thames
because it was not adequate to handle the ever-increasing flow of traffic across the Thames River. The City of
London decided to put the 130-year old bridge up for auction, and to construct a new one in its place.

Robert McCulloch, Founder of Lake Havasu City in Arizona, and Chairman of McCulloch Oil Corporation,
submitted the winning bid of $2,460,000 in 1968. McCulloch spent another $7million to move the London
Bridge to Lake Havasu City, which took a total of three years. The bridge was dismantled, and each stone
was carefully marked. Everything was shipped by boat 10,000 miles to Long Beach, California, and then
trucked to Lake Havasu City. Reconstruction began on September 23, 1968, with a ceremony including the
Lord Mayor of London, who laid the cornerstone. On October 10, 1971, the bridge was dedicated.
Similar to those near Lake Mead Cruise Landing near Hoover Dam, there are many colorful waterfowl and big
fish under the London Bridge here in the lower Colorado River as shown in these pictures
Big fish in the water under London Bridge in Lake Havasu City, Arizona
2. Bird Watching and Sightseeing in Lower Colorado River Delta

From November 2 to 4, 2006, we toured the Imperial National Wildlife Refuge (NWR), Cibola NWR and
Havasu NWR along the lower Colorado River Delta on the boarder between Arizona and California. The birds
and sceneries in these desert areas are shown in the following.
The "Wave" on Martinez Lake Road in western Arizona desert going from Interstate Highway 95 to Lake
Martinez and Imperial NWR near Colorado River

Map: Click here to see Google Map showing location of Imperial NWR
Many quails are running around in Imperial NWR
A closer view of one of many quails running around in Imperial NWR
Several fishing birds, probably ospreys and cormorants, perching on a telephone cable over a canal near
Imperial Dam.
Imperial Dam on lower Colorado River.

Map: Click here to see Google Map showing location of Imperial Dam

There are several dams along the lower Colorado River coupled with a large network of canals to distribute a
lot of water from Colorado River into very large areas of desert, such as Imperial Valley in southeast
California, for agriculture irrigation. The farm used water then flow into Salton Sea which has no outlet and the
water surface in Salton Sea is 228 feet below sea level as described in my Travelogue web page at:

http://www.shltrip.com/Salton_Sea.html.
Desert mountains viewed from Imperial NWR
Colorful desert (Painted Desert) in Imperial NWR
Painted Desert in Imperial NWR
One of several hawks that we saw perching on trees in Cibola NWR
Colorado River and desert mountains at Cibola NWR

Map: Click here to see Google Map showing location of Cibora NWR
A heron flying just above Colorado River in Cibola NWR
Desert mountains near Cibola NWR
A cormorant flying just above water in Havasu NWR
Needle mountains near Havasu NWR and across Colorado River from Needle City in California

Map: Click here to see Google Map showing location of Needles on California side
Mountains along Highway 95 going to Havasu NWR
About Author                                 Contact Author
Our 2-week trip from October 26 to November 10, 2006 is a large loop in southeast California, western
Arizona and southern Nevada starting at Los Angeles and ending at Los Angeles. The sequence of
Point-Of-Interest in this 2-week trip is the following:

Los Angeles --> Palm Springs  (4 days for touring Palm Springs Aerial Tramway, Wind Turbine Farm, Jenks
Lake, Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge (NWR), Joshua Tree National Park and Morongo
Birding Areas) --> Anza Borrego State Park --> Imperial Valley (Painted Gorge, Imperial National Wildlife
Refuge,) --> Cibola NWR --> Havasu NWR and London Bridge --> Laughlin, NV (near Bullhead City, Arizona)
--> Scenic Highway 68, Scenic Highwayway 93, Hoover Dam  --> Las Vegas --> Valley of Fire State Park in
Nevada,  Mount Charleston, Scenic Highway 158, Hemenway Park --> Class Reunion in Las Vegas (Lake
Mead Cruise, Red Rock National Recreational Area) -->  Los Angeles
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How I use information age technologies to enhance my enjoyment greatly of sightseeing large driving tour
loop of thousands of miles and of one to two weeks in duration covering many Points of Interest is described
on my web page at:

http://www.shltrip.com/Sightseeing_in_Information_Age.html