This past week I led an early (chilly) morning bird walk to Goldwater Lake, off of Senator Highway, nestled in the Prescott National Forest in the Bradshaw Mountains. I’m not a big fan of winter-time early morning bird walks, because I do not like to be cold!
Regardless, early morning really is the best time of day to go birding, as birds tend to me more active and more vocal after enduring a long, cold night. Birds are warm blooded, with an approximate temperature of about 104 degrees. To maintain their metabolism, they have to eat a lot!! When you consider they go from sundown until sunrise without eating anything, they are famished when the new day dawns.
Our birding got off to a great start before we even left the parking lot. At the south end of the main parking lot, there are several bird feeders, providing loose seed, suet, and a seed bell. There was a tremendous amount of activity. Birds were coming and going, taking advantage of the birdy buffet.
While I have been inviting customers, and readers of my column, to participate in the Jay’s Bird Barn 20th Anniversary 2023 Birding Challenge, I am also participating in the Birding Challenge. While at Goldwater Lake, I added two more species to my year list—pygmy nuthatch and Steller’s jay.
From the parking lot we proceeded down to the lake where we saw common goldeneyes and both hooded and common mergansers, along with several duck species including mallard, American Wigeon, gadwall and ruddy duck. We also saw double-crested cormorants and pied-billed grebes.
Our greatest enjoyment came from spotting five Bald Eagles! Fortunately, my Swarovski spotting scope afforded us great looks at two adults and three juveniles. A new or inexperienced birder might confuse juvenile Bald Eagles with Golden Eagles, as they do not obtain their adult plumage (white head and tail) until they are five years old.
If you go out to Goldwater Lake to see them, don’t be fooled by the gigantic brown eagles and assume they are golden eagles. In the thirty plus years I’ve lived in Prescott, I have never seen a golden eagle at Goldwater Lake.
After birding Upper Goldwater Lake, we hiked down to Lower Goldwater Lake and back. This is definitely the best place to see Bald Eagles in the Prescott area. When I was at the lake last week, there were reports from photographers that they had seen as many as 13 Bald Eagles in the past week!
Birding Challenge Tip of the week: White pelican is another species on the 2023 Birding Challenge checklist. There is currently a lone pelican hanging out at Watson Lake. Park in the overlook parking lot off of Highway 89. It is hard to miss the pelican as it is the largest bird out on the lake.
On another note, if you have either children or grandchildren in the area, the Educational Expeditions Nature Camp organization is hosting a Spring Break Nature Camp at Goldwater Lake, during Spring Break, March 13th -17th. The emphasis for this nature camp includes adventure, outdoors skills, teamwork, art, environmental education, and lots of fun! The camp has a limited group size and is for children ages 5-10. The cost is $35 per day, and the camp runs from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. To register, contact Dr. Mariana Altrichter at marianaalt@msn.com or text 928-277-5022.
As I mentioned in my column last week, our new building (1230 Willow Creek Road) is coming along nicely. We plan to open at our new location on Monday, April 3rd. More information will be forthcoming in the next couple of weeks.
Until next week, Happy Birding!
Eric Moore is the owner of Jay’s Bird Barn, Arizona Field Optics, and Hallmark in
Prescott, Arizona. Eric has been an avid birder for over 55 years. If you have
questions about wild birds that you would like discussed in future articles, email
him at eric@jaysbirdbarn.com.
