The month of April is an exciting time for bird watchers. This is the month where Spring migration really starts to ramp up. In the last week I have personally seen Bullock’s orioles, lazuli buntings, Lucy’s, yellow, yellow-rumped and orange-crowned warblers, and a mixture of migratory water birds at our local lakes.
In the past week I have seen over 80 species right here in the Prescott area. Now is the time to be on the lookout for migrants at your feeders. Possibilities include chipping sparrow, Lincoln’s sparrow and American goldfinch. In reality, there’s no telling what might show up in your yard.
I briefly mentioned in my column last week that it is time to get your hummingbird and oriole feeders out. If you are specifically trying to attract orioles to your yard, in addition to sugar water, you can also provide citrus (orange halves), grape jelly, and meal worms.
In the past week I have visited Watson Woods Riparian Preserve, Watson Lake, the Peavine Trail, Willow Lake and the recharge ponds. The number of species observed has been impressive, and the variety has been interesting.
At Willow Lake I saw two species of gulls; Franklin’s and ring-billed, and one species of tern, Caspian. I also saw snow geese, greater yellowlegs, white-faced ibis, and least sandpipers. My most unusual sighting was a black-throated sparrow, a species that typically prefers a Sonoran Desert habitat. The variety of birds at this location changes daily so visit frequently.
At Watson Woods Riparian Preserve and Watson Lake I continue to monitor the bald eagles’ nest. The fledgling is huge—I suspect it could take its maiden flight any day now. It is so exciting to witness firsthand the first-ever successful nesting attempt at this location. I have also seen northern cardinals, belted kingfisher, northern shrike and a common black hawk at this location.
I led a store-sponsored bird walk this past Saturday to the recharge ponds. While the number of species observed wasn’t too impressive, it was the quality looks we had at a number of unique species that really made the bird walk a success.
Some of our better sightings included seeing a male cinnamon teal and a male blue-winged teal swimming side-by-side. To me, that was very special—they are both incredibly beautiful birds. We also got good looks at Wilson’s snipe (there were at least four of them), and a cooperative long-billed dowitcher that I shot some video of. We also enjoyed the spectacle of seeing hundreds of cliff swallows building their mud nests on some of the buildings at the wastewater treatment plant.
This week I will try to post some more bird pictures and videos on The Lookout Facebook page. I’m having fun using a new digiscoping adapter that we just started carrying in the store. I’m using my iPhone as my camera, and my Swarovski spotting scope as my lens. The results are simply amazing.
This Saturday, April 19th, is the annual Earth Day Celebration hosted by the Prescott Greater Outdoor Fund. Please stop by our booth and say hello from 9-2 on Cortez Street, between Gurley and Goodwin as we celebrate our beautiful earth.
Next week is the 25th anniversary of the Verde Valley Birding and Nature Festival at Dead Horse Ranch State Park in Cottonwood. I will be leading three arm-chair birding bird walks, one each on the 24th, 25th and 26th. I will also be teaching a beginning bird identification workshop, leading a beginning bird walk, and teaching a class on optics for birding.
I hope to see you at the Verde next week. Until then, 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 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.
