This past week I led a store sponsored bird walk to Date Creek Ranch, a private ranch northwest of Wickenburg. The ranch headquarters are situated right along Date Creek, a seasonal creek that boast a lush riparian corridor surrounded by Sonoran Desert habitat.
It was a blustery day—we’ve had a lot of those lately—which probably impacted the number of species observed. I treasure my time in nature, and I am particularly fond of the Sonoran Desert. Like any bird walk, there are always surprises. Sometimes we see species that we didn’t expect to see, but more often than not it is the species that we don’t see that surprise me the most.
I certainly had a list of “target” birds I was hoping to find on the field trip, including Harris’s hawk, gray hawk, gilded flicker, and our most sought-after bird was the pyrrhuloxia. Interestingly, we didn’t see any of these target birds, but that is just the way things go sometimes on birding watching trips.
However, we still had a wonderful day with several birding highlights, including repeated looks at zone-tailed hawks, which nest there. We also saw wild turkeys, which I always consider a treat. The species that stole the show, however, were vermilion flycatcher. They are abundant in this location. Other highlights included both white-winged and Inca dove, a stunning male Costa’s hummingbird, black-throated sparrows, and the discovery of a curve-billed thrasher’s nest with eggs!
Here in Prescott, I’ve had several interesting observations this past week—some a little gruesome. On Saturday, while walking on the Peavine Trail, I saw a raven feeding on a deer carcass. The very next day I was on the Peavine again, and the deer was gone. There was absolutely no trace of it having been there, which was pretty startling. It would be interesting to know what carried it off.
This past Saturday, and again on Monday, I observed two bald eagles at their nest in Watson Woods Riparian Preserve. The same day, I saw a great horned owl, a red-tailed hawk, and a common raven all sitting on their nests. I also saw a not-so-common common black hawk in the Preserve. The fact that this small area of riparian habitat can support so many different bird of prey species is an indication of how vital this ecosystem is to so many birds.
This time of year, there are new signs of spring migration every day. When I was down at Date Creek, I was fully expecting to see Cassin’s kingbirds, but didn’t see any. However, the very next day, I saw a Cassin’s kingbird on the Peavine Trail. That was on Saturday, and our Easter snowstorm was the next day. I couldn’t help but think that the kingbird was probably wishing it hadn’t migrated so early!
This week, I have seen Lucy’s warblers and vermilion flycatcher in the Riparian Preserve. I truly believe if you were to bird in this area every day during this time of year, you would see new bird species that weren’t there the day before. Birding during migration season can be very rewarding in terms of unexpected finds.
This week marks our one-year anniversary of our rebranding and moving to our new store location on Black Drive at Willow Creek Road. It is hard to believe it has already been a year! To celebrate, we are hosting a week-long sales event with a different special each day. Check out our website at www.thelookoutaz.com for a list of daily specials. And if you haven’t shopped at our new location yet, we invite you to stop by.
Until next week, Happy Birding!
Eric Moore is the owner of The Lookout, in Prescott, where you will find a Hallmark Gold Crown Store, wild bird products, and Vortex and Swarovski optics. Eric has been an avid birder for over 55 years. Eric can be contacted at eric@thelookoutaz.com.
