M-14 Water Treatment Pond: Ann Arbor
Sewage settling pond behind Wines School, adjacent to M-14
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This pond has a lot of mudflat area next to it, so it's good 
for shorebirds as well as waterfowl.

When you drive over the north side of Ann Arbor on M-14, from 
I-94 to U.S. 23, you go right past this pond.  You can't see it 
from the road, however, because of a high bank.

There are five accesses to the pond, none of them good.

1. WORST -- Driving from west to east on M-14, you can pull off 
the road and climb the bank to view the pond.  The pond is fenced 
on all sides.  It's a low, open wire fence that poses no obstacle 
for viewing.  Pulling off the road here, while there is plenty of 
room off the shoulder, is almost surely ILLEGAL.  You'll be 
viewing the pond from the north side.  If you're there in the 
morning, be sure to stop at the east end of the pond so that you 
won't be looking into the sun when your scope is not pointed 
straight south.  In the late afternoon you need to stop at the 
west end of the pond so that, again, you will have the sun to 
your back.

2. BEST BUT NOT SAFE...and possibly illegal -- To view the pond 
from the same place as described in (1), you can also park at 
Bird Hills Park, at Wines School, or on Sunset Road (off 
Newport), climb down from the overpass (Newport Road crosses over 
M-14 here), and walk west along the fence until you get to the 
pond.  Set up your scope (you'll definitely need one for 
shorebirds) outside the fence.  Don't climb over.  Stay well off 
the highway while walking...and watch for the cops.  :-)  
(Note: There are two schools here.  Wines is an elementary 
school.  Forsyth, a junior high school, is just south of Wines.  
Wines is the one with the long driveway off from Newport Road 
very near to the bridge.)

3. NOT GOOD -- There is an asphalt path that runs along the fence 
on the south side of the pond.  There is a large HOLE in that 
fence.  (I'm almost 100 percent certain that no birder had 
anything to do with the appearance of this hole.)  You can crawl 
through the hole and walk a short distance out toward the pond 
before sinking into the muck.  Even then you're not close to the 
birds.  You will find the aforementioned asphalt path behind the 
houses on Hatcher Crescent, which can be reached from the 
drivethrough at Wines School from Newport Road (turn right after 
exiting from school property), or turn onto Hatcher Crescent from 
Miller Road a bit west of Newport.  The entrance to the path is 
from a short deadend segment of road near Wines School. 

4. BETTER, SAFE -- After school hours (school lets out at 3:36) 
at Wines--say, at 4:00 or later--it should be okay to walk to the 
back corner of the school property (behind the school) and find a 
spot to view the pond through the chainlink fence.  You won't 
have a great view from here, especially if the trees are leaved 
out. 

5. A GOOD VIEW BUT DISTANT -- Take Newport Road to the Riverwood 
subdivision.  There are north and south entrances to the 
subdivisions here.  Go in at the entrance a short distance north 
of the entrance to Bird Hills Park (which is just north of the 
M-14 overpass).  Riverwood is on the WEST side of Newport Road.  
Drive in and go past a city park/nature area marked with a large 
parks sign.  (This is a woods on the left side of Riverwood 
Drive.)  Ahead you'll see a wooden fence on the left side of the 
road.  A row of evergreens is in front of the fence.  Park on the 
street across from the east (near) end of the fence.  Carry your 
scope up the slope to the fence, walk behind the fence (highway 
side), and walk along the fence 50 yards or so until you reach a 
point high enough that you have a good view of the pond across 
the highway.  Alternatively, you can drive farther and park 
across from the house that's near the west (far) end of the line 
of evergreen trees.  Carry your scope up the hill through the 
evergreens to the fence.  Walk alongside the fence until you get 
to its far (western) end.  Walk around behind the fence and walk 
back eastward until you have a good view of the pond. 

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Bruce Bowman
2-18-2002