Our poor—or should I say abysmal—monsoon season has resulted in low water levels at our local reservoirs, which is impacting bird activity at the five reservoirs surrounding Prescott. For purposes of this column, I will refer to all of our local “lakes” as reservoirs, as they truly are reservoirs, not lakes.
You may be asking, “What is the difference between a lake and a reservoir?” Lakes are natural bodies of water, whereas reservoirs are manmade bodies of water. Watson, Willow, Goldwater, Lynx and Granite Basin Lakes are all reservoirs, as they are all man-made.
Wild birds don’t seem to care if our local bodies of water are lakes or reservoirs. The presence of these permanent sources of water greatly enhances the number and the variety of birds that occur in the Prescott area.
Historically, there were no lakes here, so this area was not used as a stopover point for the many migratory birds that now use our reservoirs. Gulls, terns, pelicans, ibis and a host of shorebirds and sandpipers including plovers, dowitchers, snipe, etc., all stop over during migration.
This is also true of the many varieties of water fowl that use our reservoirs. Throughout the year, thousands of ducks and hundreds of geese, coots, many grebes, mergansers and an occasional loon are present at our lakes at one time or another.
Birding in Prescott would be very, very different without our reservoirs. Since the first of August, I have seen the following species at either Willow or Watson Lake: Bald Eagle, Peregrine Falcon, Ring-billed Gull, Forster’s Tern, White-faced Ibis, Killdeer, Snowy and Semipalmated Plover, Marbled Godwit, Long-billed Dowitcher, Wilson’s and Red-necked Phalaropes, Willet, Solitary, Spotted, and Least Sandpipers, and Black-necked Stilt—just to name a few!
While this might seem like an impressive list, it is just a sampling of the variety of birds being seen at our local reservoirs right now. There are also many songbirds that are benefitted by the habitat that surrounds the reservoirs. For example, since the first of August, I’ve seen five different swallow species, two species of grosbeaks, two species of buntings, two species of blackbirds, orioles, warblers, sparrows, finches, many species of flycatchers.
Many years ago, the National Audubon Society organization designated Watson and Willow Reservoirs as “Important Bird Areas”. This designation is an acknowledgement of absolutely how important (even critical) our reservoirs are for migratory birds. Even with the low water levels, we are seeing an amazing variety of birds, particularly at Watson and Willow.
Be on the lookout in your yard for migratory birds that are already moving south. In the past week, I’ve seen Wilson’s and Orange-crowned warblers, as well as Lazuli Buntings. Hummingbird numbers will reach their highest point of the year between now and the end of the month.
On a different note, we will be hosting a very special presentation at The Lookout on Monday, August 25th at 3:00 p.m. in our conference room. Former Prescott resident, and Jay’s Bird Barn employee, Micah Riegner, will be presenting a free program titled “Birding in Mexico from North to South”.
Micah is a full-time international birding guide at Field Guides, and for the past five years he has been living in Cuernavaca (near Mexico City). His presentation will take you on a journey from the Maroon-fronted Parrot nesting cliffs of Monterrey to the limestone sinkholes of San Luis Potosi where thousands of White-collared Swifts roost, to the cloud forests of El Triunfo, Chiapas, home of the mythical Horned Guan.
Attendance is limited to 40 individuals, so call the store at 928-443-5900 to sign up. It should be an excellent presentation!
Until next week, Happy Birding!
Eric Moore is the owner of The Lookout, in Prescott, where you will find a Hallmark department, wild bird products, and Swarovski and Vortex optics. Eric has been an avid birder for over 55 years. Eric can be contacted at eric@thelookoutaz.com.
I have been doing a lot of digiscoping on this trip—using my Swarovski spotting scope and my iPhone to take both still shots and video. After I get home I will get some these loaded onto The Lookout Facebook page so you can see what I saw!
This past weekend was the winter solstice, the shortest day and the longest night of the year. While I personally do not like the cold, I do love the winter night sky. Each morning when I go outside to retrieve the newspaper, I like to just pause, and look at the heavens and take in the wonder of the night sky.
Maybe like you, unfortunately I live in a neighborhood where some of my neighbors leave their outside lights on all night long. Why? I have no idea. To me it is annoying, and a poor use of precious resources. We live in a time when we need to be so mindful of how we use energy.
One may think it is a little thing, a 100 watt bulb left on all night, but multiply that by hundreds and thousands of lights left on all night and what a huge impact this has on energy use.
There is a dark sky ordinance in some communities. I personally like living in a community where people value dark skies. I like living in a neighborhood where there aren’t any street lights.
Another issue to consider is the impact of lights on wild birds, especially when they are migrating. Lights at night disorient while birds, resulting in window strikes, resulting in an untimely death.
Several months ago the Courier ran an article about outdoor lights at night, and the impact on wild birds. I concur.
